Tweety69bird

The first thing I noticed is that the forks are human sized... not HUGE like a lot of the cutlery sets I saw when I was replacing my set last year. It seems that the forks are getting so big that I seriously can't see how a dainty little woman would get it into her mouth. So, you get my vote for the forks. The spoons are decent shapes and sizes, so you get my vote there too. However, those knives look more like spears than knives. The cutting portion seems quite short compared to the handle. Honestly, they look a bit odd. I have a whole theory about how cuttlery manufacturers should sell single sets of cutlery for you to buy and try out at home before you bite the bullet and purchase a whole set....but dont get me started. It took me a long time to find a set that I liked. It's quite a personal choice.

Um... yeah.. the first 3 hours or so was pretty fun ... especially to see that the layers weren't blending together as I poured the new one on top. Honestly, I wanted to eliminated the last layer because it was like 1am and I was just waiting around for each layer to gel up at that point. Deffinately start it earlier in the day than me (8:45pm). It's really quite something to see it when it pops out of the mold in one piece. That made it totally worth all the time it took.

It really does just taste like jello, but more intense, flavour as you are only adding 1 1/4 cups of water to the pack that usually has 2 cups added. I was a little weary about using sour cream, but it's such a small amount that you don't even taste it. I must admit that the last layer of red + sour cream looked a little odd before I turned it out onto the plate. With the great reviews I got, I would deffinately make this again.

Finally I am posting on this thread!! Although this wasn't dessert last night, I was so excited to make the Rainbow Jello Mold for last weekend, and thanks to Rachel Perlow and the others whos very helpful comments made this a great experience. I got rave reviews on it... although I did start is at abuot 8:45pm and finally was done at 2am!! You can see the melted Jello around the base of the plate... I definately left the mold pan in the hot water too long... it should have really been only about 5 seconds.. I will know for next time. Now I just have to learn how to take proper photos!

Chefpeon and JeanneCake and K8, thanks for the replies. I will give it a go on my next wedding cake... although I have no idea when that will be.

JeanneCake, do you think that those bubble straws are strong enough to hold up a 3 tier cake ie: 16 + 12 + 8? I wouldn't want to find out they're not strong enough when I do it!!

I saw it at my local Metro store a few weeks ago, and if memory serves, they had sweetened and unsweetened.

What a gem of information! Thanks for posting.

Welcome michael_g!! Thanks for the information, and you're not too late, I leave on Thursday. I plan to take pics and post later on.... although I'm not too quick with processing pictures.

I wouldn't leave a pasty cream filled anything out of the fridge for more than 2 hours.

With a ganache recipe, you can take a part of it and whip it to make it fluffier for your middle filling, and then leave the balance as is, and warm enough to be flowing and pour that over the whole cake to give you that shiny surface. Ganache would follow many of the criteria you liste above. It will be dark as long as you use dark chocolate, it is shiny when poured as is over the cake. It will hold it's shape for swirls and piping when whipped a bit. I think it's much better when the cake has a chance to sit at room temperature so that the ganache can soften up a bit, and yes as long as it's not a scorcher, it'll hold. And a good gananche will not be grainy, it will be smooth and wonderful. As for what recipe to use, there are so many and reading them isn't enough to give you the proper idea of the end result. Pick one that looks good and make it and see how you like it.

Sooooo glad I started this thread....

My goodness, I can't wait to get there!!! I'm going to stuff myself silly. Can't wait to taste it all. The lemon mint drink sounds so refreshing. Swisskaese, thanks for the tip on the food fair. Very cool. And I will have to pick up some saffron for my mom. Oh, and I plan to eat lots of shawarma too!!

Very interesting. Can't wait for it to open on this side of the border. I can't find any information on it yet....

Everything looks beautiful! I'm sure the host and her guests were very pleased. I have to make some of those alfajores. By the way, I'm still trying to figure out which one is the ugly one, they all look beautiful!!

Don't knock it till you try it. Here is a recipe for a date shake. This recipe includes ice cream. Here it is only made with milk. ← Ok, I won't go searching it out, but if I come across it, I will try it.

And I spent a summer drinking my well documented watermelon juice You must eat a fresh hot potato bureka somewhere. Or cheese. Ah hell, have one of each. ← Ok, I looked them up to learn what they are.... and if I can, I'm going to have a falafel from each of those guys who are across the street from each other! Mmmm watermelon juice sounds delish... I am not sure how I feel about the date shake...

That's the plan for some of the next batch that I will par-boil long enough. What kind of chocolate do you all think? Bittersweet chocolate was what was recommended in the recipe. ← Yeah, I would go with milk to get more sweetness when paired with the grapefruit. You have enough bitter, no? I'd use dark with orange though.

What about passionfruit? Wedding - passion???

Do you think I will be allowed to bring back fresh dates??? That would make some friends and family very happy in place of the falafel mix.... Daniel, I love your story about the falafel wars!!

What if you dip your pretty stars in chocolate so that the sweetness of the chocolate will balance out the bitterness of the peel? Might make them more palatable?

I don't know that I would have put on my whites. What's the point if she's not going to be involved in making anything at the competiton. I think she would look kind of silly and out of place. As Chantiglace says, the people would know who last years winner is, and she could discretely tell people in conversation. No one likes a showboat. And she should have left her cakes at home. This wasn't her time to shine and she should respect her collegues' time in the spotlight and show that she has class. I choose B.

Are you kidding? That cake is B-E-A-U-tiful! Great great job!!!! You should be very proud!

Another vote for Christopher Elbow! His chocolates were the only thing I asked for my birthday and I got them! jenc- Do you know... is there a problem with bringing the chocolates into Canada or is it just that he doesn't ship to Canada? For instance, if I were to bring some on my trip to BC in August, would I get taken away by the airport police?! ← If the airport security try to consfiscate Chris Elbow chocolates from you at customs, chances are that they've heard how good they are too... I think you'll be fine to bring them across.

I've never seen a recipe that said to remove the zest. Wouldn't that ruin the purpose of candying the peel? I mean, all white peel wouldn't look as pretty, and it's more the white pith that is the bitter part, not the peel. Maybe the next time you could boil the peels 5 times instead of 4? See how they taste after you've let them dry and crystalize a bit.