Revisions on recipes from The Pioneer Woman

Mom gave me the cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks this year for Christmas.  I had been wanting it for a very long time, and I was thrilled to finally receive it.  It was also torture to own the book, because I couldn't actually cook anything out of it until about a month ago (I couldn't eat any fat because of my gallstones). As soon as I was feeling better from my gallstone surgery, I started cooking everything I could out of this book.  So far I've made 11 of the recipes.  While I have enjoyed most of them, I do have some useful thoughts and changes that I'd like to share with you.  Each title has the link of the actual recipe (from The Pioneer Woman blog) attached to it.

Iny's Prune Cake - This cake definitely had potential, but I accidentally overcooked the icing and it turned out to be rock hard.  Revisions:  Add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of salt (the recipe didn't call for any).  Be sure to mash the Prunes really well.  Prune chunks are sick.  DON'T OVER COOK THE ICING!  She says that it will turn the color of caramel, and I was waiting for that.  It never happened for me, so I kept cooking and cooking.  That was a bad Idea.
Egg-in-the-Hole - This concept doesn't need a recipe, but I used it anyways.  It calls for way too much butter.  I like a normal egg and toast better.
French Breakfast Puffs - These are like a mixture of muffins and cinnamon/sugar doughnuts.  They are very tasty!  Unfortunately, my muffins did not come out of the pan.  She says to "lightly grease", but trust me on this...HEAVILY GREASE THE MUFFIN TIN!  I ended up having "muffin tops".  Also, the cinnamon/ sugar mixture could be cut in half.
Sherried Tomato Soup - This soup is good, not amazing.  Revisions:  Use half and half, instead of cream.  I omitted the Sherry (it was optional anyways).  Serve with Grilled Cheese.
Chicken Spaghetti - This recipe looked totally weird, but I decided to give it a try anyways.  It was surprisingly good!  It reminded me of a pasta version of chicken enchiladas.  I used a Rotisserie Chicken, instead of the fryer chicken.  It was much quicker.  Just use Chicken broth, instead of the chicken water that the fryer chicken cooked in.
Chicken Fried Steak - This is a good, standard version of Chicken Fried Steak.  Nothing too special, but still good.
Creamy Mashed Potatoes - Very good, although it doesn't need 12 Tbsp. of butter!
Chocolate Sheet Cake - I love this cake!  I've already made it twice.  I added pecans to the second cake that I made, and I didn't like it quite as much.  The pecans are optional, but they didn't work with the cake for my taste.  This cake is super quick and easy!!!

These recipes are not listed on her blog.  If you want the recipe, leave me a comment, and I will be happy to email it to you.

Hot Artichoke Dip - This dip is AWESOME!  Don't change a thing.
Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes - Add more flour.

Simple, Perfect Chili - SO GOOD!  

My sister, Rachel, has made a number of recipes from The Pioneer Woman.  Here's what she made, and her adaptations to each recipe:

Peppercorn Steak and Sauce

Parker House Rolls

Spicy Shrimp

I hope someone will find these revisions useful!

xoxo

j