amccomb

Has anyone used tapioca as a thickener? What about flour? ANy other thickers people prefer? What are the pros and cons of each?

Sure! Actually, I just got it from epicurious.com and altered it a little. Here is a link to Upside-Down Pear Gingerbread Cake. There are tons of other gingerbread recipes on that site, as well as other gingerbread upside down cake recipes. I added some finely chopped crystalized ginger, some fresh ginger, and subbed some rum for the water. I may have added some other spices, too, or maybe added some spice to the pear topping...I can't remember, I'm sorry!

So...my mom has asked me to make her wedding cake. She wants a traditional white cake layer, a red velvet layer, and a marble layer, all with a really nice buttercream frosting. Is anyone willing to share recipes? Also, she would like mums made of icing around each layer (the woman loves icing). Any tips, books, websites that can help me make icing mums? Any pictures of cakes with mums? The wedding is in the fall, and she would like rich fall colors - dark burgandies, reds, rust, orange, and golds. How can I make the icing colors really dark and rich without looking...fake and cartoonish? I really need a good how-to website or book for this stuff! This will be the first wedding cake that I have actually stacked. The wedding cake I made before was on a tiered stand. Oh! And her husband-to-be would like me to make upside down cakes for his groom cake. I have a stand that will work well to hold three different sized cakes (16, 12, and 8 inch) and I figured I would make a pineapple, peach, and cherry, but I thought I might see if anyone had any other ideas! I would love to do rhubarb, and I've made a tasty rhubarb upside down cake before, but it wasn't very pretty. I've also made a pear and gingerbread upside down cake that was really nice, but the groom doesn't like gingerbread. Thanks in advance!

I've been berry crazy lately - brought a berry trifle to a get-together, threw some whole fresh raspberries into brownie batter and ended up with some amazing brownies frosted with chocolate ganache, made a 16 inch raspberry charlotte for a birthday party...let's see, what else? Made a wedding cake for some friends of mine with different mousse fillings (vanilla, banana, chocolate, lemon, lime, and raspberry) all topped with berries. I've been throwing berries into lemonade, and the other day made a raspberry puree (raspberries, a little sugar, orange juice, and chambord, pureed and pushed through a sieve) and added it into some club soda and ended up with a fizzy raspberry drink that people went crazy over.

I just read the thread on grilling duck, so now I'm thinking thin sliced duck on a bed of greens. What would you put with it? I was thinking dried cherries, pecans, maybe some goat cheese, and a sweet, spicy dressing - maybe a hot mustard and maple syrup dressing. Any other ideas?

So, my old grill is finally dead - completely rusted through the bottom. I am in he market to buy a new grill, and I can spend up to $700 (would prefer to spend less, but am willing to spend more for better quality). I am debating about what type to get. I prefer a charcoal grill, but because I often work until 9:00 PM and we grill almost every night during the summer, I am leaning towards a gas grill for ease of use. Is there some sort of hybrid, or a model that can do both? What are some features I should look for in a good grill? Any recommendations? As for what I use my grill for...well, I grill the basic burgers/chicken breasts/steaks as well as almost any kind of vegetable, flat breads and pizzas, fruits, and I really want to be able to grill some large pieces of meat this year, like a leg of lamb or a pork loin. Ideally, I would like something I could smoke in as well - I am determined to smoke a turkey this year. As a side note - any ideas for ome unsual or creative things to throw on the grill, or maybe a new twist on an old favorite? Amanda