Now from our correspondent in the DRC...

[[ Amanda Maust, hanging out in the DRC for a year, sent me these reviews.  Thanks, Amanda!! ]]


14. Honey Baked Chicken, pg.  

-I like to make about double the sauce as this is really the best part of the dish and then I can just eat yummy sauce on rice
-They call for way too much margarine...if you use the recommended amount I feel like the chicken is swimming in a pool of grease
-I add some water to stretch the sauce and kind of in place of some of the margarine
-I use about triple the amount of curry powder recommended
-After the dish is baked I will often drain off the sauce into a separate bowl and add a little water and cornstarch to thicken it for a nice gravy consistency

[3.] Oatmeal Bread, pg. 60
-I really like this bread, I did use regular sugar in place of brown sugar which is all but in impossible to find in DRC  [valerie's note:  MWL suggests combining 1 c. white sugar with 2 T. molasses to create a brown sugar substitute, if molasses is more readily available]
-I also added an additional cup of whole wheat flour in place of one of the cups of white flour...I felt even more could have been wheat flour.
-The directions say to let the bread rise twice in a bowl and then divide in loaves and bake.  I did this but I think it would be good to allow the bread to rise in the breadpans for a while before baking...maybe that was supposed to be a no brainer but... [valerie's note: I almost always let my bread rise in their respective pans until they are almost as high as I want them to bake before turning on the oven -- about a half hour, usually.  You'll still get a little yeast jump when they start baking, so don't wait too long!]