I also used one large squash which equaled half the recipe. I followed the directions to the letter using a glass 9 X 13” pan. The directions worked perfectly. I couldn’t “see” the brown sugar, but it sure worked to bring out the sweet flavor of the squash. I would not change a thing about this recipe.

Very flavorful and colorful and more complex than the usual cous cous recipe. The onions, parsley and curry gave it a bold flavor, and the grated carrot, currents, and dark greens of the parsley and scallion gave it a great visual appeal. I liked that this recipe did not call for chicken stock and enjoyed it as a vegetarian dish by itself. Although it also goes well with chicken.

Warning, think twice before making a full batch, it is large! I made a full batch to use the full bottle of tomato juice. I liked her admonition that you don’t want this to taste like V-8 juice as I have often cheated and used V-8 juice when making Gazpacho in the past. I like cucumber seeds so did not see the need to seed the cucumbers. I chopped all the vegetables by hand to get them into the perfect size except for the onion which was chopped finely in the food processor. We cut the vinegar by half to ¼ cup and used apple cider instead of white wine (to reduce sulfites). Day1: we loved the flavor, except the onion came on strong and the next time we would only use one. I used one yellow, one orange and one red pepper, instead of all three red. The main relief from the too red color was provided by the dark green and white contrast of the cucumber. The next time I would probably use two yellow and one orange peppers. Day 2: the cucumber and yellow pepper are slightly discolored, the overpowering onion flavor has mellowed to just right, and the vinegar flavor was not as pronounced – very good. In subsequent days the cumcumber discolored and then became mushy. My husband liked the amount of olive oil.

I just cannot put butter into applesauce, but I think it might have kept it from boiling so hard, maybe 2 TBLS would be enough. I was glad that I put this into a giant Dutch oven as it was obvious from the inside of the pan that it had been boiling and foaming up to the top. I did not believe that 6 pounds of apples could cook in 1 ½ hours in the oven, so was not in a hurry to remove it but should have as it did seem a little over cooked. I would have preferred it a little chunkier. I did add the two peels of red apples to improve the color as suggested, but they had disintegrated too much to remove. Next time I would cut back on the spices, I think they hide the apple flavor. I used half Granny Smith apples and half MacIntosh as suggested and had to double the sugar and it was still on the sour side. This was a surprisingly easy recipe after you get past all the apple peeling. I liked not having to cut the apples more than into quarters and not having to stir.

My boys devoured this chicken and thought it should get a rating of 10 (on a 5 point scale). It was slightly sweet with a nice strong ginger taste that was not overpowering. I was excited to make this with my substitute soy sauce. I am not sure why she specifies “good honey”. I don’t cook with my best honey, but I don’t have any “bad” honey either. The marinade did not soak into all the chicken and I am not sure if that wasn’t because I split it into two pans. As mentioned previously an easy recipe that can easily be made up ahead.

Light airy scones with great maple flavor and a use for those quick oats in the cupboard. I felt like I was back in the Maritime Provinces where maple-flavored baked goods were every where. The second time I made this recipe I remembered to add that pound of butter. The first time without the butter they rose higher and looked prettier, but tasted only slightly better than a boat anchor. I have frozen all that we did not eat at the first sitting and they taste just as fresh every time we defrost one. Like Queezle Sister I did not use a circle cutter, but cut mine into similar sized squares.

Although Baker’s one bowl brownies are still my favorite recipe, it is fun to try new ones. I should have paid more attention to the size of the large sheet pan. At least I lined it with foil and so it did not flow over. Two 9 X 13” pans (or one for half of the recipe) would have been the perfect size. Because it came out too thick it became a little crumbly around the edges. But by letting it rest overnight I was able to cut it into 1 ½ inch squares. I liked the richness from all of the walnuts. I used all dark chocolate chips instead of the mixture of different types of chocolate she used and it turned out fine.

My French bread loaf was rather large, so my toasts were also big. I was delighted to have a use for the Trader Joes garlic flavored olive oil we had picked up on a road trip, and brushed it on the slices. You could also use the garlic oil left over from the broccoli recipe if you made that. I used the pre-grated parmesan that I keep frozen. I did not salt the oiled bread as the bread tasted salty already. I took the croutons out 3 minutes early and they were good and a great accompaniment to the Gazpacho. They also tasted just as crisp and cheesy two days later.

I used mango (4 large) and the local blueberries I have frozen (4 cups) as she suggests changing the fruit. I added ½ of the juice of a lemon as both fruits did not taste as all tart, the full 3 TLBS of flour with the fruit, used the brown, but not the white sugar with the fruit, and only made half of the topping. It turned out beautifully in my large round casserole dish. I should have thawed the blue berries for a more bubbly interior, but the mango did not disintegrate and that was nice too. I prefer the old Betty Crocker crisp recipe with rolled oats and chopped nuts, this was more like a sugar topping.

I was looking for a way to reduce the butter and instead decided to follow the Smitten Kitchen suggestions to halve the recipe and bake it in a 9 X13” pan. I also took her advice to line the pan with parchment. I only used 1 of the original 3 eggs and still had a very buttery dough that was difficult to spread, it helped to put a little moisture under the parchment. I cut the finished cookies into smallish squares. The pecans were perfectly crunchy with nice caramel. I did not care for the butter soaked crust and oily tops of the cookies. The caramel still managed to get under some of the parchment and some seeped under the crust, this was not a bad thing as it seemed to help hold the crust together. The parchment made it manageable to remove the entire cooled bar to a large wooden cutting board for ease of cutting. I was glad I did not cool the cookies in the refrigerator as suggested, as they were firm enough and cut just fine at room temperature. A mostly delicious cookie, but it should be possible to reduce the amount of butter.

Big bold pieces of carrot were different than the usual matchstick cut and were easier to prepare. I hate boiled carrots, but love the concentrated flavor of these roasted carrots. They tasted sweet and almost like lemon juice had been added. This recipe needed to cook an extra 15 minutes for the largest carrot pieces, and I needed to remove the smaller pieces at intervals to prevent over cooking.

The dough came together reluctantly acting like pie dough without enough water. After chilling, it rolled out just fine. I would not have gotten 24 if I had followed the directions to roll them ½ inch thick and use a 3” heart cutter. My thickness was too variable ¼ to ½ inch and I used a 2” heart cutter. I dusted them with the smaller crystal size of natural cane sugar and they looked very nice and tasted like classic shortbread. This was a good classic recipe and next time I will roll them all 1/2 inch, but also cut out 1" hearts as well so that my son can more easily bear to part with them to share with his college friends.

A nice presentation and easy to change the proportions as the amount of sesame oil to add to coat the peas is not stated. I started with pre-washed peas which increased the ease of preparation. The sweetness of the peas was accentuated and more noticeable than eating them plain. It is worth it to seek out the black sesame seeds as it really does make a spectacular presentation. They are not as pretty with the strings removed, but easier to eat. She suggests serving them as room temperature, I like them better with a little chill still on them, and they are more refreshing.