BethNH's Reviews
265 recipes reviewed. Showing 251 to 265Sort by: Book Title | Date | Rating 
| Recipe Title
The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, Heavy-Duty Revised Edition
By America's Test Kitchen, Daniel J. Van Ackere, Carl Tremblay
America's Test Kitchen - 2006
These are exactly the same recipe as the chicken fajitas from the same cookbook (though not listed together). Although my boys prefer beef, we didn't love these. I usually have great luck with flank steak but this was just too chewy.
useful (0)
Still Life with Menu Cookbook
By Mollie Katzen
Ten Speed Press - 1988
I made these for someone whose favorite flavors are chocolate and ginger. Sadly, these cookies don't taste strongly of either flavor. I suppose that was to be expected as there is only 1 oz of unsweetened chocolate in the batter but I was hoping for more.
Nonetheless, the cookies do have a nice flavor and I liked them. I just don't think they live up to their name.
useful (1)
Website: All Recipes
I saw this recipe in the All Recipes magazine while waiting for the doctor. I saved it in my phone to try someday and today was that day.
Although there were a number of flavors - honey, brown sugar, Thai garlic ginger sauce - we didn't find any of them contributed to making the chicken sweet, spicy or sticky. I even added some cornstarch to thicken up the sauce and it still didn't cling to the chicken.
This didn't taste bad in any way but it was under whelming and I wouldn't make it again.
useful (0)
Nigella Express: Good Food, Fast
By Nigella Lawson
Hyperion - 2007
This was super easy to make but none of us enjoyed the soggy texture.
useful (0)
The Enchanted Broccoli Forest
By Mollie Katzen
Ten Speed Press - 1995
I really wanted to like this. I love broccoli and tarragon and was looking forward to a nice cool broccoli salad. Unfortunately, it just has very little flavor and the dressing is kind of runny instead of creamy.
Disappointing.
useful (0)
Emeril's There's a Chef in My Soup! Recipes for the Kid in Everyone
By Emeril Lagasse, Charles Yuen, Charles Yuen
HarperCollins - 2002
My son convinced me to buy one of those cast iron corn stick pans just so we could try this recipe. He got the pan for Christmas and we made the recipe soon afterward.
We were sorely disappointed. These are nasty corn dogs. Corn muffin batter + hot doges does not equal corn dogs. Perhaps corn dogs should only be fried.
The boys ate a few but we ended up throwing most of them away. At least the pan is good for making cornbread sticks.
useful (0)
Desperation Dinners
By Beverly Mills, Alicia Ross
Workman Publishing Company - 1997
Disappointing!
It's a very basic recipe but I figured it was worth a shot. In the end, the rice was just too crunchy (brown rice) and had very little flavor.
useful (0)
The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, Heavy-Duty Revised Edition
By America's Test Kitchen, Daniel J. Van Ackere, Carl Tremblay
America's Test Kitchen - 2006
Fail.
It's hard to believe it's the fault of the recipe so it must be the fault of the cook. I followed the directions exactly but the batter didn't stay on the fish and left a huge mess on the bottom of the pot. I rescued dinner by scooping the fish out of the hot oil, putting it on paper towels for a bit and then putting it in a 375 oven.
In the end, the fish was actually pretty good. It retained some of the spice from the batter even if it wasn't battered.
useful (0)
Baking Sheet
(Winter, 2010)
These no bake squares have a peanut butter, graham cracker, butter, confectioner's sugar base and a chocolate topping. The base is pressed into a pan and the melted chocolate is poured over the top.
Although it came together quickly, once the chocolate hard hardened, the bars were a mess when I tried to cut them to take them out of the pan. The peanut butter base was simply too crumbly and fell apart. Perhaps I didn't have enough peanut butter but I used my scale to be sure to have the correct amount.
I wouldn't make these again.
useful (0)
Website: Smitten Kitchen
My middle son won a trail race this week and was awarded a large bag of kale as a prize. Not knowing what to do with kale, I turned to the one recipe I had heard about over and over on the internet - kale chips.
They came out thin, crisp and salty and ... absolutely disgusting. My mother and I both agreed these are inedible. Ugh! Nasty!
My son, however, who won the kale (seriously, who wins kale???) rather likes the kale chips and my youngest son, who likes very little, thought the kale chips weren't bad at all.
I just hope that if he wins the race next week that something else is ripe from the garden.
useful (1)
Baking: From My Home to Yours
By Dorie Greenspan
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 2006
I hope the squirrels like this cake more than my family.
I've had this simple cake bookmarked for years. I was looking for something simple to bake today and had everything necessary for this small cake.
This is basically a glorified coffee cake. Half the batter is added to the pan, a sprinkling of chopped chocolate and a cinnamon mixture is placed on top, then the remaining batter is added. Finally, a very simple chocolate frosting graces the top.
Sadly, nothing about this cake is good. I checked it at the minimum time and it was already cooked though the center looked wobbly. Shortly after coming out of the oven the center caved dramatically. Thankfully, the frosting covered this up.
Even my teenage boys, however, would not eat this cake. Perhaps it was overcooked - though I don't see how. The cinnamon taste is completely overwhelming. Besides the cinnamon mixture in the middle there is a full tablespoon in the batter for a 9x9 pan. No one finished their piece of cake. It will go out to the squirrels tomorrow.
useful (3)
Website: The Food Network
Meh. Not worth the effort.
useful (0)
Martha Stewart's New Pies and Tarts: 150 Recipes for Old-Fashioned and Modern Favourites
By Martha Stewart
Clarkson Potter - 2011
My boys chose this pie for Pi Day 2015. I followed the directions exactly and saw the filling thicken nicely on the stove. It then came off the stove and had butter and alcohol added.
At that point the pie went into the fridge to cool. Sadly the filling never thickened again. It was too thin to even be called pudding. I have no idea what went wrong.
To salvage the pie, I made the whipped cream topping and folded the pudding into it. I then put the whole thing in the freezer. The pie was then eaten as frozen pudding. The taste was good but as a pie it failed.
useful (1)
Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys
By Lucinda Scala Quinn
Artisan - 2009
I made this one night when I had a terrible craving for chocolate pudding. It looked so beautiful in the little ramekins - all dark and smooth and chocolatey.
Sadly, the first spoonful left me wishing I had gone with instant pudding. This was disgusting and inedible. It left a terrible aftertaste.
Sad.
useful (0)
Bon Appetit Desserts: The Cookbook for All Things Sweet and Wonderful
By Barbara Fairchild
Andrews McMeel Publishing - 2010
What a waste of time and ingredients!
I have no idea what could have gone so wrong but these cookies are just plain nasty. They spread so much in the oven that they are completely flat. I thought they smelled funny, too but ignored that until I tasted them. They taste disgusting with some kind of weird after taste.
The Heath bits did not have an expiration date on them but they were not clumped together in the bag nor did they look "off". I threw the rest of the batter away and will toss all the cookies.
useful (0)