Have you ever read the reviews at online recipe sites like Allrecipes or Recipezaar?  Sometimes they are very helpful, but the ones that get me…the ones that annoy me enough that I’m sent, grinding my teeth, to my blog to tell you about…are the ones that read something like this:

Great recipe!  I didn’t have shortening so I used butter, but then added more flour to account for the water in the butter.  And I like more cinnamon and less sugar, so I doubled the cinnamon and reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup.  I also substituted applesauce for some of the oil; 2 egg whites for the 1 egg; and added a cup of chopped nuts.  I decided to reduce the oven temperature by 25*, but bake it longer, too.  It was perfect!  Thanks for posting it! 

Hello?  You did not make the recipe I’m looking at; why did you review it?  Your 5 star review means nothing to me as I consider this recipe.  You are useless!  Get off of this site!

I cannot tell you how many times I have encountered similar reviews.  I could see reviewing the recipe if you changed one, perhaps two ingredients.  After all, we don’t always have what a recipe calls for in our pantries.  Understandable.  Those substitutions could be helpful to people. But if you completely rework a recipe with ingredients and technique that will undoubtedly alter the flavor and texture of the finished product, why on earth would you say “Great recipe!” when that’s not the recipe you used?!?

::deeeeeep cleansing breath::