(1) Appreciation: I think this is a very valuable kind of thing to offer, especially if we're inviting folks to adopt TiddlyWiki as a friendly personal notes app.
(2) Search glitch: Installing the plugin (dragging it to my wiki) does not seem to carry over any visible cues about the need for, or mechanism for, a custom search (to deal with everything being tucked into fields). So, users won't easily understand why they can't find recipes with "molasses" (for example) based on using the standard search interface. UPDATE: I've now found your "dashboard" shadow tiddler *was* installed with the plugin, but I needed to find out the name (by hitting edit at your demo site) and do an advanced search (or troll through the plugin contents) to find it; it doesn't seem to "live" in any convenient place yet, and isn't linked up within the read-me or config tabs for the plugin.
(3) text field: It seems a good practice to use the text (body) field for something text-like, especially if it's likely to look like paragraphs. So, I'm not sure why the default text field of the tiddler wouldn't be ideal for holding the instructions. Unlike with the ingredient list, there doesn't seem to be much special formatting for instructions (apart from having multiple paragraphs -- which of course is what the text field is designed to handle anyway). One benefit would be less of a search gap, since at least the default search would "see" into the instructions if they're in the basic text field. Also, if the plugin gets disabled, or a tiddler gets dragged to a new wiki, a better glimpse of the contents would still be recognizable and display decently.
(4) recipe tag change: If someone changes the "default tag for new recipes" they currently risk losing the recipe template display (and search functions, etc.) for any existing recipe tiddlers. So, when I opt for "recipe" instead of "Recipe" (as I avoid capitalized tags), is it possible to build in an option, right there, to change the tag on any existing tiddlers with the old tag, so that changing the tag doesn't leave those tiddlers behind? (I have access to ways to rename tags, but again I'm thinking of beginners.)
All of the above issues are ones that dedicated TW5 users can work around; my feedback here is just on the level of suggestions for ensuring that the plugin is user-friendly for folks who haven't already become TiddlyWiki converts with a decent sense of how to troubleshoot. Especially if it's refined to be more beginner-friendly, then this plugin, as I appreciate above, will be an attractive "off-the-shelf" solution for the TW showroom.
Thanks again!
-Springer