DH had a friend who was a food editor at a well-known magazine. We were told on a regular basis about recipes that were put in the magazine that were “edited” to fit the space allotted and sometimes ingredients and the corresponding step were left out because they needed to leave room for an ad. When I make something for the first time that doesn’t seem right, we always wonder if she worked on that section!
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The only recipe I have refused to share was when I was 24 years old and a new teacher. We had a potluck in the teacher’s lounge and I brought slice and bake cookies. So many people asked me for my recipe and because I was so embarrassed, I refused to share it.
Gulp.
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lol. There’s a thread on reddit called r/ididnthaveeggs. (I didn’t have eggs). It’s about all the reviews on recipe sites where people say “I think this is great! (or awful). I didn’t have regular oil so used coconut oil, some almond powder instead of flour and stevia instead of sugar. Not sure why it didn’t come out as good as all these five star reviews would indicate.”
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I have two stories to share–
When I was in college I made a lasagna for a potluck. One classmate enjoyed it so much and kept talking about how it was better than his mother’s lasagna. You should have seen his face when I told him it was made with a jar of Prego sauce and cottage cheese. In hindsight, he was a starving student just like the rest of us so anything “homemade” tasted great.
At my previous job, we used to have regular potlucks and one department always brought meatballs in a crockpot. One person from a different department raved about the meatballs and kept asking for the recipe. They finally relented and told him that if he washed all the dishes from the potluck, they would give him the recipe. He spent about an hour cleaning up and was given the recipe of–pour one jar of Heinz chili sauce and one jar of grape jelly in a crockpot then add a bag of frozen pre-cooked meatballs. Stir to coat and “cook” until heated through.
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Lol! I made that same meatball recipe a few times when I was a grad student and everyone responded similarly. I was embarrassed to finally relent and tell them the ingredients. They were in shock. But many of them opted to write it down nonetheless to make for themselves or to take to parties.
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For the record if the food is really good I’m not any more impressed or disappointed if it was from scratch or was easy to make (which incidentally still means homemade!)
Easy to make is different than bought the cookies in a box at the stor!
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I notice that all the time, I nearly always read recipe reviews and wonder, why do you bother reviewing the recipe you did not make?
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I don’t mind sharing recipes and telling people any adjustments I make. I love to cook and take it as a compliment if someone wants the recipe of something I made.
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My friend in the '80s used to do meatballs with BBQ sauce and grape jelly. It was popular.
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Often the reviewers are right on the button about the changes they made.
Chili sauce and cranberry sauce here. Same idea.