| Picture it: the perfect romantic evening. The crystal is | | | | Instead of just picking out random copycat |
| set, candles lit, your grandmother's best silverware | | | | restaurant recipes to try, use a reviewed recipe that |
| and china grace the table. You chose the flowers and | | | | someone else has tried out, so you know that at |
| music carefully, and the table is set up next to the | | | | least two people approve of the recipe. These sites |
| sliding glass doors that overlook the deck. Outside, a | | | | are a little harder to find, but they are out there. |
| wonderland of artificial twinkling minilights leads out to | | | | Then do a dry run of the recipe before your big |
| a velvet-black sky set with stars. | | | | night. That way, you know all the pitfalls, and you |
| Only one thing is missing: his stupid cheese sticks, a | | | | can taste the results yourself and even make |
| favorite from your first date at Chili's. And your more | | | | modifications if necessary. |
| sophisticated stuffed mushrooms from the Olive | | | | Second: |
| Garden's appetizer menu. And, well, a decent main | | | | One of the big tricks used by restaurants is to only |
| dish. Your answer: copycat restaurant recipes. The | | | | use the freshest possible ingredients. This does two |
| really good news: you can find these recipes online in | | | | things: it removes all the sodium and other |
| a variety of places. | | | | preservatives that are found in frozen and canned |
| There are people, from gourmands to home chefs, | | | | foods, and it gives you a pure, healthy, fresh-tasting |
| who spend a great deal of time figuring out the | | | | base for all your recipes. This means you must do |
| ingredients to recipes like On The Border's cheese | | | | your shopping the night before, and be extremely |
| dip, and then post them for free online. So start with | | | | picky. |
| the Internet, and look up a few of your favorites. | | | | Third: |
| While this sounds like hard work - duplicating the | | | | To make sure the rest of your night goes well, do |
| efforts of professional chefs for your own home | | | | some pre-prep on your copycat restaurant recipes. |
| uses - just a few simple rules will make cooking | | | | Put together sauces and dishes, chop your veggies |
| copycat restaurant recipes a piece of cake. | | | | and store them (in water, if they're hard veggies like |
| First: | | | | potatoes, celery, or carrots) in sealed containers in |
| Make sure that the recipes you find really are the | | | | the fridge. |
| classic favorites you remember from the recipe. | | | | The more stuff you have done ahead of time, the |
| While there are tons of these recipes online. you'll | | | | better everything else does. Try to have enough |
| quickly find that the ingredients vary widely, and | | | | time to take a quick shower before dinner. You'd be |
| some of the copycat restaurant recipes are no good | | | | surprised how much food odor your hair can pick up! |
| at all. | | | | Once your dinner is together, you can drape yourself |
| Others, however, are spot-on, or eve a little better | | | | in a peignoir or whatever floats your boat - nothing is |
| than the original recipes. And choose them carefully; | | | | fine - and have a lovely dinner, in private, with your |
| Olive Garden restaurant recipes are among the | | | | restaurant favorites inside, the sparkling lights and |
| easiest to duplicate and hardest to ruin, for example, | | | | stars outside, and each other for dessert. All thanks |
| while Outback Steakhouse recipes are perfect for | | | | to your copycat restaurant recipes! |
| outdoor grilling. | | | | |