K8memphis

Can we get a picture of the waterfall when it makes it's maden voyage??? And ummm, wull you never know till you ask: could you make it a scratch & sniff too?????? Question though - If you don't mind me asking - On the fancy beautiful pastries - do you have it down to such a science that you actually will show a profit there or do the sales of other goods make up for a loss or a breakeven??

Whoa~ whoa ~ whoa ~ whoa ~ whoa!!! It's Colonel Mustard in the Conservatory with a Chocobana!!! Do you deliver???? Oh my gosh it would take months to try one of everything - one a day - Wow - way too cool!!! Chocolate water fall!!! Be still my heart!!! What a way to start the day!!

Wull, besides the link, I have the pictures of the swans and cameo cookies in the gallery - I'm picture impaired - can't seem to get them on the post.

Wull, these are soooo easy and sooo impressive especially for a party for a girl, swans and cameo cookies. Wull, I tried to plant a picture here - but anyhow the link should work. Check out the captions & pictures starting in the second row continuing into the third row. The captions give you most instructions. Choux pastry is very easy. Get any recipe.

Your leaves are beautiful! And you cut them all with a pattern & knife - wow insert clapping hands smilie faces Great job.

Which is why styrofoam and toothpicks/bamboo skewers is so perfect for me anyway. - They do not tip over - fits handily in a drawer - like one inch deep styro - it's easy to re-arrange - it's easy to remove & replace tips - no build up of dust or grease on seldom used tips. If you don't have a drawer, a block of styrofoam goes in & out of a cupboard perfectly. And and and if you don't like it you can do the nice wooden one Don't be afraid of easy. Something like an inch high for a drawer or thicker if it's gonna' go in & out of the cabinet. And set a cardboard on top of it for going in & out of cabinet. No cabinet? Set it in a pan & set the larger cake pans on top of it. Could you keep it on the top shelf of your rack on a sheet tray?????? Or or or on the bottom shelf with a sheet tray right on top so no one will see it/know it's there???? Just some thoughts. I loved mine!! I need to set up a new one in a shallow drawer.

Oh dude! Waiting patiently (insert tapping foot smilie face)

Wull, I just stuck toothpicks into a piece of styrofoam and that into a drawer/cabinet. It's not sexy but it's a beautiful thing to open that drawer & wa-a-a-la your tips at a glance. I also had mine set onto a short little lazy susan that fit into a drawer.

This sounds dangerously delicious - I've never heard of this cake before. And wow I've never heard of making rum syrup with all rum. I'm going to start gathering ingredients and try this. Sounds purely amazing - I love rum cake!! Thanks for bumping this up, CanadianBakin' and Thanks to Vogelap for an intriguing recipe!

Steve, with all due respect, this would be the ideal society, utopia, right??? While, I agree it would certainly help tremendously to be privy to the elite, what then should those poor masses who will never see elite work & work habits, what should they do with their aspirations???? I'm not really sure where you're coming from with all this - but I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt in the meantime. So this slippery sided valley of mediocrity not being equal to art is resolved by doing what???

Dude, you gotta' be kidding - I'm in TN and my kids' wedding is, would you believe, Memorial Day weekend!!! So are her parents in East or West or mid-TN????

I'm sure you will get some great ideas. Here is a wealth of information that I received the other week. And many congratulations on your upcoming nuptials.

Ok it's his dvd that has four basic flowers covered, the rose, the rubrum lily, the orchid and an apple blossom. His book is still packed with like 150 different selections. Great selections! I would like to heartily recommend that you get a video on it from someone. The videos take that flat page of instructions and put a wonderful dimension on it for you. I have Scott's dvd - he's actually in process of editing his next one - I have heard that Nick Lodge's videos are really good - there is more dollar value in Nick's stuff - but I know these two guy's stuff is excellent. Happy flower-making. Hey, here's my free tip - when you get to the part about the wires that you glue in to the leaves and petals & stuff, key word 'moistened' - you can wipe off the excess 'glue', usually egg white. I always had to baby my stuff because it was always slipping off my wires until it dried - duhr on me stick the end of the wire in the glue and wipe it off - the cloth covered wire remains plenty moist enough to hold the item.

Cool - thanks for the fyi.

I say something like, "Oh, I'm fighting off a cold and I don't want to spread anything." And I'd be squinching my face like I was disappointed all the while squeezing my own hands together so there would be no opportunity presented. At that same moment, your husband could cough into his hands or you could say, "We are fighting off a cold..." Just keep mentioning health concerns passively and in an effort to 'protect' him. He'll catch on. And say hello with your facial expression and a friendly nod but drop your hands - keep them in your lap. Or maybe something like, "Oh, good to see you btw we've been asked to help recruit volunteers for the TB sanitorium where we just got off duty"

In a previous life when I was a an office supervisor - I unashamedly made a big deal about germs - would simply not allow people to speak up close & personal with me - and why is it especially when someone is sick they want to whisper and brea-hhh-th all over your face??! But I digress, I lavished communal work areas with lysol spray, I used an air cleaner in my cube, I recommended everyone use lysterine regularly. I kept those clorox wipes in my desk and wiped faxes, phones & copiers down daily - and it worked too. A little dot of antibiotic ointment just inside each nostril. I know this may sound weird or something but I don't have a very efficient immune system and this kept me and most of my people from getting sick when it started to circulate through the department. They have that 'Airborne' stuff now too - developed by a former school teacher to prevent the spread of 'stuff.' Especially since you deal constantly with the public ('past' and present) and you're often running on fumes, Mel, consider being aggressive with preventative measures. signed, Mother Hen

Wull sure they will - do you have any cake decorating tips - the little round ones y'know??? Wull a star one with the like teeth - put it on your finger and letting it point straight down & press around the top edges of your pie crust with the teeth - it not only makes a pretty flute it scallops it. The motion you are making is like the donger in a bell - hitting the top edge of the crust but hitting it all around one next to the other with the decorating tip stuck on the end of your finger. Now I've only done this with cream cheese dough that I recall. Works to perfection on pecan sassies y'know??? But but but your pie crust might puffy up too much & loose the distincitons but maybe it would work - but I just used my regular muffin pans the other day & made quiches. Totally works no problem-o. Or or or just use the tines of a fork. And I have only used grocery store lard. Notice yours is called 'Tenderflake' - oh yeah, well named!!!

Yes yes yes Lard makes far and away the best pie crust in the Milky Way and surrounding universes. probably wanna get it cold though.

It's the professional series in particular that is truly truly flawed. I've never heard of any of the artisan line going bad but I've heard of lots of the pro series sucking big ones. I'm glad you got a good mixer! The book for my old 5 qt says to do no more than 2 loads of bread at one time - the newer 6 qt book doesn't say that - but I don't have confidence to do one batch of bread dough in it. But but but wanna hear a good KA story??? 20+ years ago I was very pregnant and came down with bronchitis & my husband took such good care of me - he even made me cinnamon bread per the KA little cookbook - who'd a thought - there's a typo in the recipe!! It calls for 2 tablespoons of salt It was the thought that counted, not to mention he cleaned the house & made me chicken soup!! So I still have the slightly flawed book - it was beautiful dough though

The bread should be served hot. As much emphasis as is placed on serving the courses at a certain certain temperature - I am pleasantly surprised albeit a rare occurance when the rolls are served the correct temperature. Lukewarm rolls are after all lukewarm. So maybe not exactly denoting the presence of a classy dining experience but the absence of heat not only knocks even the classiest time down a notch or two for me it's presence raises the bar on the most mundane fare.

Exactly correct. Hey guess what - I gotta workhorse K5ss it is however only 300 watts - 5 quart - going strong for like 25 years - and and and I have a newer 6 quart KA 525 watts - piece of sh*t. KA is running on the fumes of it's previous reputation. I can totally attest and personally agree with the tech's assessment. While old faithful does have the little screw in the back to remove the cover just like you're stating the real screw job is on the newer models, huh?!

i'm left-handed, and something that i do instinctively is to hold the zester "upside down" on top of the fruit when i zest, so that the zest is caught in the "channel" of the inverted microplane, rather than falling to the counter. (does that make any sense? i wish you could just see my hands right now as i hold the imaginary orange and microplane...) it all stays neatly in place until i'm ready to deposit it somewhere. several people have given me the "wtf" look when they first see the technique, but then the light goes on when they see me "download" the goods into the batter bowl. ← yes yes yes - upside down - and the little edges that are rolled up hold all your great stuff and because you have that great eye contact with the surface of the fruit, you get perfect perfect zest - wa-a-a-la ain't we good??!! and it's not that awkward scratch & turn it over to see where next to position it

I know they are out there too - but since you have asked so many times here are some thoughts - place them on a very cold surface - I don't think there's anything to really get them round/round unless it's a concave, that is a rounded very cold surface like so many plastic mini-easter egg halves mounted on something that you pop in & out of the freezer. But surely the experts will speak up here soon :) But something like that would get you closer. You could also mess around with a cold center but that would surely be problematic real fast. You'd have to keep your chocolate a constant temperature - the cold middles that you dip in would keep lowering the temp in the choc pot. Probably if you had a lotta chocolate that could mostly hold it's temp - the cold center would not affect it too much. Play with it some more.

Wull, I got a 20 quart mixer early and one of these. So Santa was very good to me. Patrick, your microplane - an idea - if you are right handed - hold the fruit in your left hand and rub the microplane over it with your right hand - it's so much easier than the other way. I always marvel at the chef's on tv that do it the opposite way - it's much more economical to move the plane than the fruit. Just a thought.