I'm ambivalent about following recipes...to the letter. More often than not, I tweak things depending on my taste and the ingredients I have on hand. Baking though, especially if it's an item I haven't made before, I will following the guidelines closely.
Today I'm making piroshki. This isn't a Polish thing, so I never had it growing up. It's Russian and I'm using my Kachka cookbook. Even though I'm following the dough instructions, I am however changing the filling. I don't happen to have Dungeness crab on hand. Instead I'll use sauerkraut, cabbage, onions, shiitake mushrooms and chopped hard boiled eggs.
Crossing my fingers they'll turn out well!