@Carm50
My husband and I live in beautiful Northern California where we can easily visit both the mountains or the ocean to camp and enjoy the outdoors as often as possible. In addition to enjoying the outdoors, I also enjoy reading, cooking, and spending time with family, friends, and my pets. I've been enjoying Zaar for quite some time now, but thought it was time to step out of anonymity and at least honor the many wonderful cooks out there by posting reviews of the recipes I try. I am not a "natural" cook like my Mom who could make something out of nothing and I don't experiment very much other than making minor tweaks, e.g., adding heat, garlic, less butter, to existing recipes so I try to limit myself to recipes that I think we will like the first time. Although I have a busy full-time job, I try to cook a few times a week and it is not unusual for me to try two or even three new recipes a week because I subscribe to several cooking magazines and have quite a cookbook collection. Plus my husband is easy to cook for and doesn't mind trying new foods. I try and keep my cooking quick and healthy during the week, but I like to cook more time consuming and comfort foods on the weekends. Rating scale: I will probably not rate dishes that have dozens of ratings because I usually don't have anything new to add. I will try to rate those recipes that don't have too much feedback though. 5 stars - Excellent, maybe some very minor changes to suit our tastes, will definitely make it again, and wouldn't hesitate to make it for company or recommend it to others. 4 stars - Very good, may make minor changes, and will probably make it again. 3 stars -Good, but needs something and will keep it, but may not get around to tweaking it and and making it again. 2 stars - OK, but something is not right...and it could be me! In any case, one or both of us didn't care for it enough to try again. 1 star - This would be inedible but I know our tastes and won't try anything that is beyond my cooking talents or I don't think at least one of us will like. I haven't made anything that would rate a 1 star.