The monthly Cookbook Recipe Critique Club met on October 17th.  Our next meeting is November 21st. and we decided to bring in our own time tested recipes.

we did several recipes for October and these are the results:

Patti used Taste of Home-Dinner on a Dime cookbook.  The following are her critiques:

1. Chicken and Bows- Easy to follow recipe, not expensive to make and taste was GOOD.  Patti said she would substitute low fat soup and use less pasta than called for.  She only used 1 can of chicken and 1 can of mushroom soup in the recipe.

2. Garlic Salmon Linguine- easy to follow, not expensive and taste was NOTHING SPECIAL.  She would substitute canned salmon with fresh salmon and use half the amount of linguine called for.

3. Country Fried Steak- easy to follow, not expensive and taste was NOTHING SPECIAL.  Her comment was that she just would not make it again.

4. Jumbo Banana-Carrot Muffins- easy to follow, not expensive and taste was GOOD.  She used orange extract instead of orange peel.

5. Creamed Chicken Over Beans- easy to follow, not expensive and taste was GOOD. She suggests using leftover chicken.

Patti decided she would use the cookbook for more recipes.

Ruby used Cooking With Two Hot Tamales.  The following are her critiques:

1.Pompope- easy to follow, not expensive and taste was GOOD.  She suggests using less sugar.

2. Spiced Red Sangria- easy to follow, not expensive and taste was WOW.   She wouldn't change a thing.

3. Sally's Oatmeal Cookies-easy to follow, not expensive and taste was GOOD.  She wouldn't change anything.

4. Grammy's Hot Chicken Salad Casserole- easy to follow, not expensive and taste was WOW.  No changes needed.

5. Granny's Black Berry Cake- easy to follow, not expensive and taste was GOOD.  The icing recipe was not enough to cover the cake, should probably double it.

Ruby also used recipes from AT MY Grandmother's Table.  The following are her critiques:

1. Grammy's New Orleans Shrimp- easy to follow, not expensive and taste was GOOD.  She says ti is a delicious recipe.

2. Grammy's Cheese Grits- easy to follow, not expensive and taste was GOOD.. She would use less salt.

3. Kentucky-Style Southern Tea- easy to follow, not expensive and taste was GOOD. Very refreshing beverage.

Ruby said the recipes are affordable and some can be tweaked to your taste.  She would use the cookbook again.

Barbara used The Healthy Heart Cookbook.  The following are her critiques:

1.  Easy Pastry Crust- easy to follow, not expensive and taste was NOTHING SPECIAL.  She would not use this recipe again.

2. Old Fashioned Apple Pie- easy to follow, not expensive and taste was NOTHING SPECIAL.  She would not use this again.

She would probably try this cookbook again.

  Barbara also used A Return to Sunday Dinner.  The following are her critiques:

1. Baked Pacific Halibut- easy to follow, expensive to make and taste was GOOD.  She could not get Halibut so had to substitute Barramundi.

2. Tangy Cheese Broccoli- easy to follow, not expensive and taste was GOOD.

3. Rustic Village Bread- easy to follow, not expensive to make and taste was GOOD.  She said it took a long time to make and would change the way the last rising was done.  She would not put the dough on a lightly floured surface and then move, after rising, to a pizza stone.  For the last rising simply dust the pizza stone with cornmeal and put the dough on that, cover , Not letting the cover touch the dough, and let it rise.

4. Ranch Dressing- easy to follow, not expensive and taste was GOOD.

Barbara said she would use this cookbook again.