theabroma, can I get you to come to Hawai'i and shell all the macadamias from my parent's tree in the backyard, too? I feel your pain, though, about making phyllo from scratch. That's not something I'm going to repeat again anytime in the near future. Although it was really yummy! I don't have any problems with using cake mixes, although like most of you here, I prefer the satisfaction of making my own cakes from scratch - plus it gives me more control over the quality of the ingredients that I use. My sister-in-law decided for her birthday one year that she wanted chocolate cake from a box. With canned frosting. And sprinkles. Any dessert in the world I would have made for her, and she wanted that. :-/