Comments on: A Mean Chocolate Chip Cookie

By: Budgie

Budgie — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 13:53:12 +0000

Comment #7 DAVE,
Maybe you guys can save those frozen cookie dough balls if you label them “dog treats” or if you don’t have a dog, “rat poison”???

BRE,SARA,AbbyJoy,DAVE,
I’d love to see your special recipes!

By: kittymama

kittymama — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 02:19:17 +0000

I used a different strategy when making chicken marsala — for a given amount of chicken, I used the largest listed quantity of wine, mushrooms, butter, green onions, and cream from each of 3 or 4 different sauce recipes. It was perfect.

By: Dany

Dany — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 19:26:45 +0000

I average a lot of thigs while baking, it usually works out fine. And as far as recipes go, I’ll usually look at about 10 different ones, take what I like from each one, throw out the rest, and add things I think will make the recipe better and more unique.

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 04:23:50 +0000

While I haven’t done the averaging thing with recipes, I like the idea. My wife & I will often mix & match recipes; like Budgie says above, different recipes will often share a lot of things in common, and it’s always interesting to tweak this & that to see what you get.

I’ll have to try that cookie recipe. The trouble around my house is that when cookie dough is mixed, only a portion of it actually gets baked into cookies. My wife will mix a large batch, then put balls of dough into containers & freeze them so that we can bake a fresh batch on a whim. But my teenage sons will snitch the frozen dough balls for snacks way too often.

By: AbbyJoy

AbbyJoy — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 02:33:56 +0000

I’ve done this many times when I like one part of a recipe and another part of a second and yet something else about a third. All are for the same similar item. I came up with a kick-ass Challah recipe that way! It pays to be adventurous in the kitchen ;-)

By: Sara

Sara — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:49:39 +0000

I haven’t done it with averages, per se, but the Apple Pie I make at Thanksgiving is a recipe I made using about 10 apple pie recipes I found online and using the parts that either seemed similar or sounded like they’d work. Everyone seems to enjoy it. :)

By: Nanc

Nanc — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:21:23 +0000

I have done this multiple times with amazing results. When in doubt, get the mean.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:05:25 +0000

An interesting application of the Wisdom of Crowds idea…

By: Budgie

Budgie — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:34:48 +0000

I never averaged recipes for the ultimate, but pre-internet days (and subsequently), I noticed that several kinds of desserts seemed to have similar components and methods, just in different amounts. These include recipes for brownies, custards, chocolate sheet cakes(Texas sheet cake), and cheesecake.

So, I’ve decided cheesecake can be made using any combination of amounts and types of eggs, cream cheese, milk/cream, sugar, sour cream in any kind of crumb crust, bake until it sets, & it won’t hurt it.

By: Bre

Bre — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:11:17 +0000

My mom made the best Dutch Apple Pie when I was growing up. It had a graham cracker crust and a crumb topping.

When I figured out I could actually cook, I asked her for the recipe, but she couldn’t find it. So, I searched the internet for Dutch Apple Pie recipes, and none of them were exactly like the one she made. I took parts from three different recipes and came up with my own version, which is now the most requested dish at all of my family gatherings.

I wrote the recipe down, gave my mom a copy, and have started assembling a cookbook for my daughter, because I always tweak recipes if I make them often, and they always evolve into something slightly different than the original.