Happy Birthday, Erin. I just celebrated mine a week ago! I did a lot more baking than usual this past month between harvesting apples from our trees and some orders for bakery from some of my customers.
Excellent:
-Lemon Coolers-King Arthur flour. May increase the lemon zest a bit and did not need all the sugar topping.
-Snickerdoodles-Cook's Illustrated. A classic....enough said!
-Irish Cream Cheesecake Brownies-King Arthur Flour. Very rich so sliced very small.
-Cookie truffles-a favorite of my customers (they are just oreo cream cheese balls!!

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-Apple Betty-September Cook's Ill. issue-I modified a bit for my husband to satisfy his nostalgic memory of his mother's betty but excellent!
-Homemade applesauce-simple but delicious. I left it a bit chunky. No recipe....just eyeball apples, cinnamon, sugar, lemon, water, and touch of vanilla
-Biscotti with pistachio, orange, and milk chocolate chips-excellent flavor but next time I will use semisweet chips and probably swap almonds as i am not a huge pistachio fan. The milk chocolate melted strangely in the cookies.
-Halvah with pistachios, citrus, and vanilla-a surprise experiment for my Halvah loving husband and it is actually easy to make and works!
Non sweet hits:
-Cauliflower and Bean Paella-a vegetarian paella from latest Cook's Ill. issue. Surprisingly tasty.
-Miso tahini Ramen Noodle bowls with Soy Ginger grilled glazed tofu-this had so much flavor and is so flexible. The tofu was the star though. Really delicious. Tofu recipe was cook's Ill.
-Turkish Simit-King Arthur Flour-slightly modified to include some whole grains. Very good taste/texture but I still need to work on perfecting my simit shaping skills!!
-Jerusalem Bagels-Adeena Sussman's Sababa cookbook but also modified to include some whole grains. Excellent flavor!
-Barbecued Chicken pot pie with corn, beans, peppers and biscuit topping-I made up
Tried and True:
-Knoepla soup-Molly Yeh. I add chicken and half the amount of dumplings or else there are just too many dumplings to soup.
-Artichoke spinach Chicken Tortellini soup-I made up
-Tuna Noodle casserole soup-I was craving tuna casserole and I took a better homes and garden recipe; then modified it into a soup and it was perfect. Tasted just like a casserole but in soup form.