YUM.neatlysliced.com » Oops

Cake Wrecks

Jennifer — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:08:00 +0000

“When professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong.” I had spent forever looking for this site after hearing about it at a conference. Everyone was referring to it as cake wreckers, so I tried cakewreckers.blogspot.com and other such things, always unsuccessful.

The real site is cakewrecks.blogspot.com, and it is a wonderful time waster for a snow day afternoon.

My current favorite is Fail Blog worthy the ultimate cake fail:

Carbonara vs. Tomato

Jennifer — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:50:46 +0000

I made the chicken parmesan over rotini again, but I love carbonara sauce so much that I decided to ditch the tomato and mix up some egg and cheese.

Well, normally this would be cool, but the chicken has tomato sauce between the chicken and the mozzarella. The tomato sauce completely overwhelms the carbonara. So, boys and girls, when making your carbonara dish, ensure that you are not smothering the flavor with something else in a side dish.

Parmesan Chicken over Rotini

Jennifer — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:17:13 +0000

Kraft foods has a video on cooking parmesan chicken with rotini. I gave it a try, with a few modifications, and it proved quite delectable.

The recipe called for egg white, I used a whole egg. I also used club crackers instead of Ritz. Close enough, and still tasty.I used LaRosa pasta, which I’ve never used before (I had some in stock, and I had run out of my usual whole-wheat pasta). I will never use LaRosa again. It fell apart in moments, and as I stirred it, it was no longer recognizable as rotini. I’ve never had such catastrophic results in a pasta. It still tasted acceptable, but I’ll never use that brand again.

My family gave it a 10 and all wanted seconds. It’s quick to prepare, easy to push together after work. Add this to your quick meals list.

How to Stop a Grease Fire

Jennifer — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:56:06 +0000

Never throw water on a grease fire!

Extinguish the heat source
Dampen a cloth
Cover pan with dampened cloth
Wait to cool

View this safety short on why we never throw water on grease fires.

Confectioner’s Sugar vs. Powdered Sugar

Jennifer — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 02:40:02 +0000

Confectioner’s sugar and powdered sugar are the same thing. There is no difference. So, there you have it. Why can’t we all just be unified in our naming conventions?

Different Types of Creams

Jennifer — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 04:38:03 +0000

I had this recipe for vanilla frosting:

1/2 c. butter/margarine
3 c. sifted confectioner’s sugar
4 T. cream
1.5 t. vanilla extract

I didn’t have any cream, so I tried to buy some next time I’m at the store. I was very much distressed, as I could only find whipping cream, not just cream. Of course, the grocery store attendants are of no assistance, as the only cream they know of is half and half.

After some googling, I found a reference that outlines some of the different types of creams and for what they can be used. Apparently, when a recipe says “cream”, it can be open for interpretation. Creams vary based on the percentage of milk fat the cream contains.

Creams are usually broken down into the following:

Half & Half: 10-18% milk fat
Light Cream: 15-20% milk fat (similar to half & half
Whipping Cream: 30% milk fat
Heavy Whipping Cream: 36-40% milk fat

For use in a frosting, whipping cream or heavy whipping cream works out best.

(see AFoodExperience and Hormel for more information)