Berry Crisp using frozen berries

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Mixed-Berry-Crisp-101940

When I made this the topping fell in and the dish became thick as glue. It would probably work better if I'd melted the butter instead of keeping it chilled like the directions say. I will try that next time.

Roasted Almonds

http://www.elanaspantry.com/how-to-roast-almonds/

I roasted some raw almonds and it worked well. The salt did not stick, but the almonds were still very tasty.

Green Thai Curry with Chicken

The instructions on the green curry paste bottle that "Thai Kitchen" makes say to put in 1 or 2 tbsp of paste for 1 can of coconut milk. I made the recipe that way (2 tbsp) and it was so mild I could barely taste any flavor. It really needs 2 or 3 times that amount. It wasn't hot at all either.

I added diced onion, carrots, and potatoes and let simmer until cooked. Also added cooked chicken somewhere in the simmer time. It would have been nice to add some fresh basil but I didn't have any.

We ate it on brown rice. David and I liked it, but it was very lacking in flavor. Also I did not add sugar as the bottle suggested and was glad. It is plenty sweet from the coconut milk.

Baleada Tortillas II - winner! / flatbread

http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2011/03/fresh-homemade-flour-tortillas-in-no.html

I doubled this recipe and used lard from a local farm. It was fantastic. David said it tasted just like what he'd hoped, and similar to what he remembered authentic tortillas to taste like from his mission. I measured 16 oz of flour for this recipe and used less than 1/4 cup during kneading. For the water I microwaved 1 cup of water for 1 minute and the temperature was right. The dough was very easy to handle. Divide into 12 (or 6 for a single batch. I think the video says to do 8 per recipe, but that makes too small a tortilla). I let it rest in a large mass and split up after resting. Then I rolled out between two silpats. My octagon one is the perfect size, the tortillas were the same diameter as that one and were perfect.

If you use this for flatbread you could make them thicker. I think mine were around 7 or 8 inches diameter and they worked well as tortillas.

Baleada Tortillas I - loser!

http://cocinahondurasymas.blogspot.com/2010/03/baleadas-catrachas.html

This recipe sort of bombed. I put in 2.5 TBSPs of soda instead of tsps, and it tasted horribly bitter. The recipe needed more than twice the liquid called for as well (I did 1 cup plus a little bit of warm milk). I will try another recipe before I do this one again in tsps.

Cheddar and Dill Scones

http://kt-recipe-box.blogspot.com/2008/06/cheddar-and-dill-scones.html

These were great. I've had them once before, but several years ago at a melville breakfast. I made the mistake of pressing the dough into 9 inch cake pans instead of pie pans. I guess I didn't read it closely enough and the scones were thinner than they should be. But still good! David really liked them, both texture and flavor.

Sloppy Joes

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/super-sloppy-joes-recipe/index.html

This was great. It is done in less than 30 minutes too. David loves it. We halved the brown sugar.or at least did not pack it into the 1/4 cup, and it was a perfect amount of sweetness. I put in 1.25 lbs of meat as called for. We used giant buns and even then the recipe could easily have filled 6 buns, likely more.

Hamburger Buns

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/beautiful-burger-buns-recipe

I didn't want to go to the store so made homemade hamburger buns. They were really great. David liked them especially. I couldn't really taste it with the rest of the hamburger fixings distracting me, but David said he could and it made it a better hamburger. Maybe I'll make them for special occasions.

Roasted New Red Potatoes

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Roasted-New-Red-Potatoes/Detail.aspx

I followed this recipe and also put in some herbs de Provence.  I did not measure the potatoes, oil, salt, or pepper either. I baked it 25 minutes or so at 450. Worked great! Very tasty.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/fusionrecipes/r/lettucewraps.htm

This would have been better if I'd used fresh chicken breast instead of canned. Also, we used romaine lettuce which was difficult to roll because of the thick spine. Next time we'll try butter or iceberg lettuce or something without much of a spine.

Breaded and Baked Mustard Chicken Drumsticks

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/breaded_and_baked_chicken_drumsticks/
Breaded and Baked Mustard Chicken Drumsticks

This recipe looks promising, but I didn't follow it exactly so it didn't turn out as well. I did not have dijon mustard so used yellow, which made it more bland. Also I used matso meal instead of breadcrumbs, another mistake. Finally, I baked it on a rack instead of directly on the tray so it took an extra 20 minutes to bake, even though nothing was touching and there was plenty of space, but it relied completely on convection so there was no direct heat.

David thought it was "ok". I would make this again if I followed the recipe exactly.

Quick Banana Cream Pie

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/banana-cream-pie-iii/

I made this using a graham cracker crust (using only 2 cups pudding because of the small crust, which I think is the equivalent of 1 instant pudding package)

I layered 1.5 sliced bananas on the bottom and sides. Then blend 1/2 cup whipped cream and 2 cups pudding and spread over bananas. Then put the rest of whipped cream on top.

This pie is not my normal style but did it because it was fast and easy.

Garlic Bread

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/garlic_bread/

This was great. I made it with 3/4 the amount of butter and it was enough. This was very garlicky too which I liked.

Best Brownies

from the Hershey's 100th anniversary cookbook.

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup hershey's cocoa
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Bake at 350. Mix wet ingred first, then add dry. Put in 8x8 or 9x9 greased glass dish for 20-25 minutes. (I use 8x8 and it works great).

Note: I tried making this with 3/4 cup honey instead of sugar and it was totally ruined. It tasted weird and was cakey like I used applesauce instead of butter.
I've also made this gluten free/dairy free by using coconut oil instead of butter and bob's red mill gf flour blend for the flour. It was fantastic. I cooked it 20 minutes and it was at least as good as the original version.

Honey Vanilla Ice Cream

http://kathdedon.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/homemade-honey-sweetened-vanilla-ice-cream/

My mother-in-law can't have sugar, so I like to make honey sweetened desserts when she comes for dinner. I made this one yesterday with my ice cream maker and it turned out well, except it had too much vanilla. I spilled some in when I measured the first teaspoon, but then put in less the 2nd teaspoon, so I'm not sure how much was in there. But next time I'd reduce to 1.5 tsp and see how it is.