K8memphis

I often use almond bark or candy melts not real chocolate for candy clay, modeling clay whatever it's many names are. Which, I think of candy melts as fake chocolate and almond bark as fake candy melts. However you don't have to deal with chocolate's evil tempered nature. And white seem so much more testy than her siblings of milk, unsweetened, semisweet, bittersweet & the percentage boys to me anyway. So all that to say when I make it, I leave it in my glass bowl that I melted it in. I level it out on top like you do for sour cream so it doesn't weep y'know? I don't know why they say to put it on plastic wrap or whatever. I mean it can still separate some in the bowl but not much. It is harder to remove from the bowl but a little at a time & it's no biggee. And yes the oil stuff does knead back in. I add vanilla butter powder to mine also. It is ridiculously good. Are you sure no water got into it from the sweaty bottom of the bowl you melted it in? And if you overheat it it gets grainy too. Also I stir slowly and it comes together quickly and I leave it alone. I like to add my corn syrup in the bowl to get the same temperature as the chocolate, but I get the chocolate melty-ish first because the corn syrup can boil on yah if you're not careful--but I use the microwave.

I'm cheating because I'm not sure I was technically there in 2006, but we love the Warsaw Inn in Lynnwood Illinois for authentic Polish food smorgasbord. Nostalgic favorite. While I was looking to see if they were indeed still there, I discovered that there's also one in McHenry Illinois. I love these reviews. It's true nobody makes pierogi like Mom but this is the place to go if you are jonesing for some melt in your mouth Polish sausage or all the pierogi, blintzes, or klotchky you can eat. The rolls, soups and pastries are great. But don't leave anything on your plate, they will charge you for wasting their food. How many times we've sat there sipping 7Up so we could burp, make a little room and avoid the extra charge! Is Eduardo's still serving pizza downtown? Love that deep dish pizza!

Fanny, I thought this was a very good thread on that topic. Best of the best to you!!

I'm glad no one can see me licking the monitor screen. And no, I am not slurping! You are a cruel cruel man <Hold your nose and say in a high pitched sing-song voice> "all topped with a little truffle salt" sniff

A couple of weeks ago I had an experience that will explain the situation. First, I love eggs with raw or almost raw yolks! Oddly, I can't stand hard boiled or eggs with yolks that do not run. (I do like a good scrambled egg but loose not too cooked). I love em sunnyside up, poached lightly, on a classic frisee salad, steak tartare--heaven! spaghetti carbonara--my favorite pasta dish, Holly's description of a classic veal dish--I am drooling.. Get the picture? so I recently had my usual egg fresh,from a very reputable organic producer fried with a runny yolk. As usual it tasted heavenly. After years (ok decades) of enjoying raw and lightly cooked eggs, my number came up. Salmonella poisoning. It is a cruel God! Hell hath no fury like someone with serious food poisoning--it is so bad suicide would be a viable option if I could have stopped wretching and...long enough to get to an open window (I am on the 9th Floor). It is a merciful God! This thing lasted for one day. So while it will be quite a while before I get back on the horse (I love raw eggs enough to roll the dice again) I can easily see why there is reluctance on the part of restaurants to also roll the dice. Given the heightened media coverage (having news copter four hovering over your establishment and greta van Susteren assembling a panel to indict your diner) and the proclivity of the public to make a stink and worse, want to hold someone responsible and the plethora of attorneys who are on standby waiting to answer your call to their toll free line--I think i understand why the current scene is what it is. ← I Love sunny side up luscious yellow gooey eggs encircled by pristine white rings like a planetoid of delight on my plate friiiied in bacon grease. Mmmm, come to Momma! It took three, count 'em three near death experiences before I made the logical choice to forego said delicacy permanently having promised God repeatedly if He'd just let me live this one more time... And I had sworn off bacon grease years earlier at that. Although I don't know if it was salmonella as much as it is my age and personal plumbing--tmi. (too much information-sorry : ) But I'm off to finely shred some fresh perfectly timed hard boiled eggs on my lunch salad. JohnL, shredded fresh hot hard boiled eggs are a different animal on a nice salad. Maybe try it some day. Or keep the activated charcoal handy. Runny yolk egg addictions don't die easy. Good thing we didn't either.

You can get graph paper and make little tables and equipment and sink and oven & all your stuff to scale and make a floor plan to scale and mess around with it that way too.

For sure! I could not agree more. I mean I'm encouraged just to read that you said it. Chef-boy had two roommates now has one. He's gonna be so screwed if that one leaves & is not replaced. 10 years would be luxury, try 25. It would take a revolution I guess. 10% to the foh 10% to the boh and 10%increase in prices to cover a greater hourly salary for servers. Wonder if that would be enough to cover the increase in wages. I sure haven't crunched any numbers. I'm just thinking out loud. Let's start a movement, call it ten ten ten. The only way boh hourly folks can get ahead is work ot. Big ot. (overtime)

Wow they look so pretty too, toasted & tasty but still juicy. My roasted pecans go from from raw to scorched so easy. Now sometimes I park it at overdone. But is the recipe posted perchance?? Wonder if you could make them with splenda? But what did you do with the sunflower-y puffy things??? Those are very pretty too.

Welcome to egullet, schmaltz monger, great first post!

Yes, I'm so glad you have a picture of the cut cake, very nice. Great stuff!

A lot of folks use the Deluxe ovens, they are located in Florida. Earlenescakes.com has photos of her shop. But designing your shop is just as Eileen says. And it will be unique to your floorplan. There's probably only a few places where a sink can go, an oven can go. Then plan around that. Do you have a contractor? Oh ok, here's some random ideas. Your decorating area will want the best light, natural light if possible. I mean there's going to be the strategic best place for the floor drain and oven. You would want to keep the oven as far away from the decorating as possible--a separate room is best for decorating. Oven and sink in the same room/area is good. Supplies would be better in the decorating area where the heat & humidity are not as bad like from the steam of cleaning dishes and hot oven. The decorating room needs some air conditioning. Nice clean open bright shelves are better than a pantry so you can see at a glance what you have & what you need. Those nice bins on wheels are so nice that you store under a stainless table like for sugar and flour and stuff. Then you'll want mixers close to tables. Umm, for me, I seem to prefer two tables placed front and back of me rather than L-shape. You want one table to be nice and long for rolling out fondant. Maybe even a nice big board of some kind to whip out and lay on top of a table if you don't have enough room for a continuous nice big one. Dummy storage. A marble top is a nice luxury. Plan for room to maneuver cakes in & out of doorways. Make sure your walk-in/friges don't leak. And that you can open walk-in/frige doors and still function. Make sure your floor plan flows where you don't have to walk through a maze to answer the phone or greet a customer. You need some plastic or stainless shelving where you can store your equipment while it is drying. Good lighting. But I'm sure you knew all that anyway. I'm very happy for you!

I like the artistic balance of the meandering scrollie thing standing between the teardrop shaped holes filled with yam stuff on one side in contrast to the teardrop shape of the orbs of pistachio on the other. That custard is beautiful. Now what flavor is the scrollie thing and is that the same as the vines that connect the pistachios on the custard creation?

Great work, so many firsts! Wonderful job. Hope you are feeling better too!

Your houses are gorgeous, Bo!!!!

As I explained very clearly, I don't need 'extra' legroom. Usually, 99.9% of the tables in restaurants are just fine. This discussion was about what happens if you happen to be taken to a table that's not to your liking (in my case, a particularly cramped table), and how much justification you need for asking for another one, and it was in response to the hostess who said that it was her call whether your reason was "valid" or "frivolous". Busboy already said that the reason of wanting another table to impress your girlfriend was "valid" in his opinion, while the hostess said it was "frivolous". What happens if she decides to gauge the legroom under the table herself and find my request "frivolous" by her standards? The fact that a diner asks nicely for another table should be all that's necessary. (Whether the request can be honored or not is another story.) The hostess can apply her standards when she's the paying customer somewhere. She's clearly 'projecting' a lot of serious psychological issues (I quoted them above) in the customer requests, and that's why I don't want to subject my own needs to her standards. It's an inappropriate attitude, one that she should check at the door when she arrives for work. ← Lots of places have crampy tables. It's a no brainer, Dude. I'm sorry, it's just not that important. And it will never be an issue to an uninformed hostess that you're playing hide & seek with. No offense. All she's doing is getting you a table. The hostess is the gatekeeper. Go for carry-out. The hostesses never said they determine the validity of the request, they determined the feasibility of the request. Then Katie ranted justifiably about idiots as documented by Phlox's encounter with her personal neighborhood terrorist. Katie's ranting here in this forum which is what you're doing and it's all ok. Sorry you got a leg brace. I walk with a cane. But not everybody thanks God for pain in the ass sucktomers.

About the Valentine's Sweetheart: (and wouldn't you like to be his date?) All I can say is, I don't think some of you have come into contact with a no holds barred asshole. (say that fast 3 times ) It is an art form to retain control of an exchange with those types of people. Phlox did nothing wrong. She needs the tools, gloves to know how to handle toxic waste. The above average to brilliant person would be as devastated as she was. The problem with not liking your seat after you get it when you already know you have a personal space issue is that it usurps the hostess' job description. You're not giving her a chance to do her job. It's not her fault you've got a brace. Why make extra work for the hostess because the airlines have to be so intrusive. Why not make her job and your life easier by asking for extra leg room in the first place? I don't think it's very nice to spin the wheel to see if you get an accomodating spot and then make them scramble for you. Especially since you now for sure know it disrupts a busy restaurant and affects a lot of people. We should be thankful they have work too, no? It's easier for you. "We need a table with extra leg room" You don't have to recite your health history.

I have a recipe for bp that when we had potlucks at work we would take up a collection for the bp girl to make to be sure to make for us. I mean we would freaking look for reasons to have a pot luck so we could get some. But I can't find it. hmmm, I'll keep looking though.

So buy three or four smaller tins. They'll stay fresh longer that way too.

Hope there's no next time but if there is another out of control situation, promise me you will go the bathroom. Just say, excuse me I'm going to be sick. You are not being paid to be abused. Answers to Idiots 101: "I answered that question already." smile slightly and repeat as necessary "It's not ok to speak to me like that." "Is there anything else I can do for you?" (on the phone after using all of the above) "I am closing this conversation now. Good bye." Practice these sentences and drop your voice down an octave on the end of the sentence. They really work. Whether you are calm or agitated those sentences are the heat that will cook their goose. Don't be afraid to baste often, idiots are a little deaf, ie, repeat them over and over as needed, then close the conversation by leaving your station and finding help or respectfully hanging up the phone ^^^ described above. A tiny little ghost of a smile on your face or voice will really help back them off. They are effing bullies who relish in finding a soft spot. So he'll be there on Valentine's huh??? Let's get him a table with some food!! dot dot dot

I've got my fingers crossed for yah. Think clean clear hearty flavors. Some people can't do salad without thousand island or ranch. I ran into that at my tearoom of all places. Salad was not salad with vinegar and oil. If these pople are shy of garlic be careful with the feta, maybe serve it as an option on the side. I'm not trying to make you crazy. I do hope all goes very well, can't wait to see pictures and how it all goes! Rootin' for yah! L&P, Kate Maybe layer the jello with a tid tad of yogurt mixed into half so you can layer it similar the rainbow ones we've seen on here. Ok ok I'll shut up.

Not that you asked Cake-Buddy, but if I was asked to do a Warholesque cake I would do it flat on a sheet cake. But because it is cake I would also take my artistic license and make them like half cans (or more like a third can) so they are 3-d anyway. Even though his were all flat. I might not do all 100 cans But I'd do quite a few all in rows like that. Y'know what would be cool? Put the 100 cans or however many fit in proportion onto a big cake can like you were thinking. Like maybe the 6x9 one because you could use buttercream and apply the edible images. ...Just got carried away with some tomato soup thoughts.... Naw, I would do all 100 on like a 17 x 24 inch cake. That's maybe a few more servings than you need but...geez that's a cool order! Have a great time with it!!

Manageable? Compared to fondant it's much easier to handle. But obviously the bigger stuff gets the harder it is to deal with. But a 6 inch (cakes) bean/soup can would still be 9 inches tall. A 5 inch (cakes) bean/soup can would be 7.75 inches tall. A four inch (cakes) bean/soup can would be 6 inches tall. These are approximate figures. I can't say I've rolled candy clay out that big to 26 inches. I've rolled fondant that big (larger even) & it's not easy to harness onto a short flat surface, going vertical would be a disaster (for me). I roll stuff like that out on a big plastic thing so I can pick it up & handle it easier. I think if it was me, I'd opt for the 4 or 5 incher and place it on another cake. Or make a bowl of soup cake to go with it. Sounds like fun though. I still prefer powedered color myself for red because I need usually the whole little container to get to the red intensity and it doesn't mess with the moisture balance as much as liquid. That's just me. Dissolves fine even if I add more to the dough. That's been my experience. But I love the color in the dropper bottles for icing.

I just noticed you are in Chicago, cool! What part if you don't mind saying? Umm, I just get my powdered color from my local cake store. And yes, like Jeanne said, just the 14-16 oz chocolate to a third cup of light corn syrup. Wonderful stuff. Stir gently. If it separates, no worries, just knead it all back in. You might have to microzap it a tid tad to loosen it up, but it's chocolate so go easy. It will warm up & be very nice to use for this. If my calculations are correct, it will be approximately 10-12 inches tall if it's 8 inches around. I think soup cans are slightly smaller than this bean can I measured so... That's kind of a lot of fondant to adhere and get vertical there. The cool thing about labels is there's so many areas that can provide 'cover' for any issues that may arise. Like the list of ingredients and a nice recipe and instructions, the bar code, not to mention the seam where the label gets glued together etc. Freddurf's idea of an edible image is a great one. Baskin Robbins does them too. What I do is go to the copy store and enlarge my image there on a color copier. If it's gonna be 10-12 inches tall you probaby will need two copies for one soup label just depending on how much detail you're gonna use. Then you can take it to the edible image people. Or use it to freehand. Or cut it out and use it to trace the right size proportions onto the cake. Andy will be proud!

Horizontal fondant jobs are not easy. How tall is this?? What size cakes are you using? Freeze your cake so it doesn't completely squash from the weight if you cover the top first. If you label it like the can is labeled, I'd roll out the fondant, lay the frozen cake down on it's side onto the fondant and literally roll it up that way and trimmy trim trim. But better still, I would use candy clay, like Mike of Mike's Amazing Cakes does for gnarly stuff like that. It has more body. Is user friendly in so many ways where fondant is so unweildy for stuff like that. I mean if it's small-ish, no problem-o. You don't ususally go petite on stuff like this though do yah?? For fondant, I would go all white and do the coloring afterwards then add details with edible colored markers & paint brush. It's ok if it dries while you write on it. Petal dust? I would use dry powdered color and alcohol, like lemon extract or everclear. Test a bit of your 'paint' on a scrap to be sure all will be well. Red red is not so easy to get sometimes. For candy clay I would color the red first, roll it together and apply red & white at the same time. Sounds good on paper anyway. Might be easier (get a cleaner line between red & white) to apply them separately. Pictures, would love to see some pictures if possible. In fact I'd probably use some marzipan due to it's taking color so well. I'd probably try to lay a strip of marzipan onto candy clay. Roll it out so it's smooth. I'd try that & see how it goes. But then again, using powdered color into candy clay is sooo easy--you just gotta get it intense enough on the first go 'round. Or be prepared to knead more in later or paint it over to brighten it up. If this is small-ish it'll be easy. Kind of rambling but just some Andy-Warhol-wanna-be thoughts for yah, Chris

Salt in Chicago in March? The streets will be full of it. Dress like you're visiting Antartica. The old adage about the month of March where it comes in like a lion burger and goes out like a lamb chop (just to keep it on food) does not apply to the windy city.