diff --git a/src/plot.jl b/src/plot.jl
index 5f392639..116835c8 100644
--- a/src/plot.jl
+++ b/src/plot.jl
@@ -79,6 +79,9 @@ function plot!(plt::Plot, args...; kw...)
   d = Dict(kw)
   preprocessArgs!(d)
 
+  # for plotting recipes, swap out the args and update the parameter dictionary
+  args = _apply_recipe(d, args...; kw...)
+
   dumpdict(d, "After plot! preprocessing")
 
   warnOnUnsupportedArgs(plt.backend, d)
@@ -393,7 +396,7 @@ end
 
 # special handling... xmin/xmax with function(s)
 function createKWargsList(plt::PlottingObject, f::FuncOrFuncs, xmin::Real, xmax::Real; kw...)
-  width = plt.plotargs[:size][1]
+  width = get(plt.plotargs, :size, (100,))[1]
   x = collect(linspace(xmin, xmax, width))  # we don't need more than the width
   createKWargsList(plt, x, f; kw...)
 end
diff --git a/src/recipes.jl b/src/recipes.jl
index 4ea5845c..6b6090ee 100644
--- a/src/recipes.jl
+++ b/src/recipes.jl
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ plot(recipe::PlotRecipe, args...; kw...) = plot(getRecipeXY(recipe)..., args...;
 plot!(recipe::PlotRecipe, args...; kw...) = plot!(getRecipeXY(recipe)..., args...; getRecipeArgs(recipe)..., kw...)
 plot!(plt::Plot, recipe::PlotRecipe, args...; kw...) = plot!(getRecipeXY(recipe)..., args...; getRecipeArgs(recipe)..., kw...)
 
+# if it's not a recipe, just do nothing and return the args
+_apply_recipe(d::Dict, args...; kw...) = args
 
 # # -------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/src/subplot.jl b/src/subplot.jl
index b8931374..5fc04a10 100644
--- a/src/subplot.jl
+++ b/src/subplot.jl
@@ -220,9 +220,13 @@ end
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
-function _preprocess_subplot(subplt::Subplot, d::Dict)
+function _preprocess_subplot(subplt::Subplot, d::Dict, args = ())
   validateSubplotSupported()
   preprocessArgs!(d)
+
+  # for plotting recipes, swap out the args and update the parameter dictionary
+  args = _apply_recipe(d, args...; d...)
+
   dumpdict(d, "After subplot! preprocessing")
 
   # get the full plotargs, overriding any new settings
@@ -246,6 +250,8 @@ function _preprocess_subplot(subplt::Subplot, d::Dict)
       delete!(d, s)
     end
   end
+
+  args
 end
 
 function _postprocess_subplot(subplt::Subplot, d::Dict)
@@ -295,7 +301,7 @@ function subplot!(subplt::Subplot, args...; kw...)
   # validateSubplotSupported()
 
   d = Dict(kw)
-  _preprocess_subplot(subplt, d)
+  args = _preprocess_subplot(subplt, d, args)
 
   # create the underlying object (each backend will do this differently)
   # note: we call it once before doing the individual plots, and once after