Is there a technique or recipe you horde? A little "secret" you're not willing to share?
My future SIL's is her butterscotch fudge recipe. I've been sworn to secrecy on my bc recipe (not that there aren't TONS out there probably just as good!). Gramma's is her holiday bun recipe. A friend's is the chocolate chip cookies.
What's your secret?
I make "magical sugar cookies" for holidays. It's an old from scratch soft & chewy sugar cookie (texture is kinda like chocolate chip cookies) with homemade all butter buttercream frosting spread on top and then dipped in red or green sugar or in non pariels.
EVERYONE loves them and they are extremely addictive!
I refuse to share this recipe. I also make homemade turtles with scratch caramel. The caramel is my great grandmother's recipe, so I won't share that either.
There are three that I won't share...my chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie. Mmm...tis' the season. Anxiously awaiting Thanksgiving and pumpkin pie. (nothing like tooting your own horn, eh? LOL)
Oh, I am the worst, I won't share ANY recipes with some people, and with others, I will only share SOME of them. I am super protective of recipes that I have formulated myself because so much time went into them. My pasta sauce that I use for spaghetti, lasagna, or any other pasta casserole type dish... I will not share it. It has a large number of secret ingredients that make it amazing... I've yet to meet someone who didn't go head over heels for it. It's just my 'thing', you know? I will cook it for anyone, anytime, but I won't share it! 
My carrot cake!! It is unlike any other carrot cake. People are always saying, "I dont even like carrot cake, but i love this!!" And NO, it is not the baby food carrot cake!! LOL
Its not that i'm against sharing, but dh and i want to open a bakery someday, and this will be my specialty!! 
I have a big mouth and share too much LOL. The only thing I have not shared with anyone is my old fashioned Chocolate pie recipe. It is like what my grandma made and is fabulous!
I won't share special recipes that I created, like my Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Biscotti or Praline Pecan Biscotti (tastes like pecan pie). The funny thing is that I've shared a number or recipes, and even shown people how to make them, but they still say they don't taste the same. I never can quite figure that out!
Kathi
I don't share how I get the sweetness and oily aftertaste cut in my frosting.. You know, when you have a frosting and it feels like there's a layer of oil in your mouth afterwards... The regular version of the recipe I use leaves it, but at least it's an easy recipe and everyone likes it!
Other than that, The only recipes I keep secret are the ones who were given to me as secret recipes (in one case, the gal called to give it to us, after she hung up the phone she called EMS to take her to the hospital because her aneurism in her stomach burst and she was bleeding out 
)
No Fair! 
I thought that was half of the fun on this thread... Things we won't even share with others on the boards..
I share any tip or recipe. Even ones I dream up. My grandma had afew tips and secrets. But she loved to share as well. If people asked you got your answer. I do know a few people that would die with there favorite recipe tuck in with them. My MIL cooks great and has past on recipes to us but like someone else said they never taste the same. 
I just wish I had my DH's grandmas recipe for her chicken and dumpling. She past away a few years ago. And I didn't find out how to make them. I keep trying but DH always says close but it ain't the same.
Just teasing! Although I bet it would be worth the gas money! 
grandma's fudge!!!
I just got the recipe last year from my Mom, she is the only living person who had it until she told me, and it is not written anywhere. I don't have it down perfect yet, maybe this year - we only make it at Thanksgiving and Christmas. My Grandma had 4 boys and my mom is the only DIL that got the recipe. She win't even admit to the other DIL's that she has it! Everytime someone else would try to get it out of Grandma she would "forget" something in it and it just wouldn't turn out right! LOL!
That's too funny SweetResults! I have an aunt who is an awesome cook. She will give you her recipes but they never turn out the same as her cooking. We always tease her that she's leaving things out on purpose.
I think I'm going to have to have a "talk" with my friends pretty soon. Although a lot of my recipes are not original, they always ask me what recipe I used, etc. I have a friend who always want to know how I did something. How did you get the sides so smooth? How do you get your cakes so level? Now, she's not one who will try to do it herself. She's just inquisitive and finds the process fascinating but I hate to talk about tips and techniques with those who aren't into baking and cake decorating. So last time she asked too many questions I joking told her she had to stop asking me questions because I couldn't keep disclosing trade secrets. She laughed and hasn't asked as many questions since. Now she'll only ask me how long I worked on a cake. LOL
WOW! Didn't know there were quite so many secrets out there!
After this thread, we'll have to do a "Very Best (Almost) Secret Recipes" I've got a binder with prints and tears of the best recipes that just can't be substituted.
Butterscotch blondies (addictive - altered recipe)
Caramel the family fights over
Those will be my additions!
I always give out my recipes, all of them, basically unconditionally. I won't share my mongolian barbecue crackers recipe unless you come to my house for a hands-on tutorial, because if you just follow the recipe you'll swear you've ruined it.
But everything else is fair game, and yours for the asking. My famous pumpkin cookies are still "mine" even though I've given out the recipe dozens of times.
This thread reminds me of that Everybody Loves Raymond episode. Marie, the MIL tells Debra she'll teach her how to make one of her secret recipes, but leaves Debra with all the wrong spices with all the right labels. She can't figure out what she does wrong until she goes snooping and finds all the wrong spice labels.
My kids think I have a secret Chocolate Chip cookie recipe, but it's really only the Tollhouse recipe only I add cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg. Yum!
I always give out my recipes, all of them, basically unconditionally. I won't share my mongolian barbecue crackers recipe unless you come to my house for a hands-on tutorial, because if you just follow the recipe you'll swear you've ruined it.
But everything else is fair game, and yours for the asking. My famous pumpkin cookies are still "mine" even though I've given out the recipe dozens of times.
Ok, be careful because that sounds like an invitation, and I have family in Az that would love to see me!
Someday we are going to have to do a 'guarded recipe exchange' where we each post ONE recipe that we would normally tear out our hair before giving away... and we would have to all agree to be honest and not have any 'accidental' omissions!
And it's true, you can give six people the same recipe, even the same ingredients, and you will have at least four different tasting dishes! I give some of my recipes to people and they say they just don't think it tastes the same. My theory is that they didn't get to sit on the couch and watch a movie while it was being made, so it just doesn't taste as good!
kaychristensen- I have recreated several recipes from relatives who have died. Once you get it close but not quite, start thinking about the personality of the cook. How he/she would have worked. I tried for years to get my aunt's Ham Balls right. Came close but never quite there. One time I was in a hurry and rather than chopping the onion I just tossed the onion into the grinder and ground the onion into the ham mixture. Surprise, that was the trick. That was when I realized that I should have thought about my aunt and how she worked. She never would have bothered with chopping an onion if the grinder were out. I felt like an idiot when I figured that out. She never would have done something the hard way if there was an easy way to get the job done.
And it's true, you can give six people the same recipe, even the same ingredients, and you will have at least four different tasting dishes! I give some of my recipes to people and they say they just don't think it tastes the same. My theory is that they didn't get to sit on the couch and watch a movie while it was being made, so it just doesn't taste as good!
Melvira, I LOVE that! My mother makes the best apple pie and the best potato salad. I've watched her do both and although she'll share her recipes, mine don't come out quite the same. We've jokingly decided that she spits into the potato water at just the right point during the boiling process, and adds one gray hair minced in with the onions. [
Sorry, Mom, didn't mean to tell the secret!!! ]
As for her apple pie, we can all try to duplicate it, but it will never be the same, so we're just happy that she'll bake them for us!!!
I always complain about that to my mom too, her food always tastes so much better eventhough I use the same ingredients. She will always say
that is because I cook with my heart and you just throw everything in.
I always give out my recipes, all of them, basically unconditionally. I won't share my mongolian barbecue crackers recipe unless you come to my house for a hands-on tutorial, because if you just follow the recipe you'll swear you've ruined it.
But everything else is fair game, and yours for the asking. My famous pumpkin cookies are still "mine" even though I've given out the recipe dozens of times.
Ok, be careful because that sounds like an invitation, and I have family in Az that would love to see me!
Someday we are going to have to do a 'guarded recipe exchange' where we each post ONE recipe that we would normally tear out our hair before giving away... and we would have to all agree to be honest and not have any 'accidental' omissions!
And it's true, you can give six people the same recipe, even the same ingredients, and you will have at least four different tasting dishes! I give some of my recipes to people and they say they just don't think it tastes the same. My theory is that they didn't get to sit on the couch and watch a movie while it was being made, so it just doesn't taste as good!
Melvira - I have to test this theory! Give me your best recipe, I'll make it, then I'll stop by next time I'm in Iowa (hmm, every other weekend!) and you can make it for me! Really, my ex lives in Clinton, IA, and I HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN TO LOST NATION! Never thought you'd hear that, did ya? LOL
Actually, though, some of the recipe creators just don't go by measurements, either. They may do the old-fashioned pour in the hand measuring, or counting seconds for enough flour, etc. I was making Gma's bun recipe that Ma couldn't get right (she is a measure, level, pour type). The problem was that it needed adjusted for humidity! I just added some more flour until it felt right. The ex asked when Gma dropped the buns off! Just remember with ANY recipe you get that you may have to adjust for temp, humidity, or altitude. If it seems dry, too wet, etc, just do what you would with your own recipes!
My dad has a family recipe that was passed down to him going back so many generations. My older brother and sister (who don't cook) have asked for it since this recipe (for meatballs) is served at all family gatherings. Yes, he did swear me to secrecy, but gave it to me! I felt so honored. Oh, he did give it to my brother and sister, only in Polish!! LOL
The only recipe I won't give to anyone (except for my sister) is my cinnamon rolls. They are far superior to any I have ever had. Against my better judgement, I gave it out one time. Six months later the lady said she lost the recipe and wanted it again. I have not given it to her and it's been about 3 years now. I won't do it again. My reasoning isn't for anything mean, it's just that my sister and I literally tried NUMEROUS cinnamon roll recipes while we were growing up-we would sometimes make two different recipes in a day. We never found one that was good to us. When I finally found one and tweaked it a little, I feel somebody else can do all that work to find one too. If I open a bakery someday, you'd better believe these will be in it.
No secrets here.
I have given out a few recipes upon request and they come back and SWEAR I left out something.
Usually find out they won't bake with real butter but can't convince them there's a difference.
Oh well......
That's another issue! Butter (real or not), water, and spices can all differ! We all know vanilla is not always vanilla, what about if the originator used McCormic cinnamon, and we use generic. That could change it. Maybe we need a cupboard snoop certificate with the recipes!
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