[50+ wedding cakes in Grand Central Station]

I'll be going on the 24th. One of my buddies will have a cake on display.

[Funeral/Wake Food...]

Chili

Baked ziti

[My big, fat, elaborate, lavish wedding feast ...]

I got married in October of 2001 at an Italian catering hall in NYC called Riviera. The food was stupendous and over-the-top. There was so much food that many of my guests thought that the cocktail hour was the main meal.

Cocktail Hour:

Carving Board with Chateaubriand, Loin of Pork, Roast Leg of Lamb, roast turkey and Fresh Salmon.

Baked Clams Oregonata

Fried Calamari

Mussels Marinara

Scallops

Crab stuffed tomatoes

Chicken cacciatora

Stuffed zucchini

Meat and Eggplant Fra Diavolo

Grilled sausage

Pheasant DiLuci

Tripe

Stuffed mushrooms

Risotto a la genovese

Stuffed peppers

Cheese tortellini al filetto di pomodoro

Ravioli with Meat sauce

Linguini with clam sauce

Fresh & Smoked mozzarella with tomatoes

Prosciutto with melon

Fresh fruit

Assorted breads and bread sticks

Sit Down Dinner:

Appetizer: Sliced fresh melon with berries

Soup: Stracciatella alla romana (chicken & egg drop soup)

Salad: Caesar Salad

Guests could choose a dinner entree from the 10 selections listed below. If they were still "hungry", they could choose a second, different entree.

Shrimp Scampi

Roast Duck

Filet Mignon

Baby chicken

Veal Chop

Filet of Lemon Sole

Baked Eggplan

Pork Chops

Red Snapper

Chicken Capriciosa

We also had a full open bar with top shelf brands, full international wine list and frozen drinks.

I didn't eat much from the cocktail hour, but I enjoyed my two dinner entrees (filet mignon and red snapper) along with several pina coladas and champagne. I was a bride with a hearty appetite.

We had about 125 guests. We were expecting 150-165 but many guests bowed out due to 9/11. They were scared to fly to NYC at that time.

Don't think I remembered this whole menu....I have my catering hall contract and wedding menu carefully preserved. Every so often I'll pull it out and smile. :)

[Swiss Meringue Buttercream]

I'd always wondered about the difference between Swiss and Italian meringue buttercream.  I've heard that Cheryl Kleinman and Ron Ben-Israel use Swiss exclusively (because she didn't like the little specs that sometimes appear in the IM).  I've always used IM - it was what I learned in classes, and I love the taste and how it handles. 

But what drives me nuts is the egg whites.  Last year when everyone was on the low-carb binge, egg prices skyrocketed and I experimented with commercial whites.  No matter what, the commercial ones would collapse when I added the sugar syrup - I tried Syso and Papetti and it happened with both. I have been able to use about a third of the weight in whites with them (10 oz out of 30 for the 20 qt mixer) , though but any more than that, forget it.  Eggs have come down a lot (back to 4-6 cents each) so it's comparable to what I'd be paying for commercial whites.

Has anyone else had this problem with commercial whites and Italian Meringue Buttercream?

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I have made IMBC with fresh eggs whites and a product called Just Whites that you find in the grocery store. Both yielded good results in terms of texture and stability. However the IMBC made with the Just Whites had a slightly "off" taste that I didn't care for.

Have you tried the Just Whites product?

[Strawberry cake recipe?]

Just the thread I've been looking for! I've been scouring the internet for a scratch strawberry cake. I came across the first recipe but that was about it. I was hesitant to try it because it seems overly sweet with the Jello and 2 cups of sugar.

Thanks for your posts Patrick.