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<p>Similarly, we have pictures of the bridesmaids mugging for the camera with blue teeth. =)</p>
<p>(Delicious, beautiful, but very very <em>blue</em>!)</p>
<p>question for Consolation:</p>
<p>Free range hens? What breed/breeds are you using? Our local mayor wants thinks families here should be able to keep a couple hens in their green city backyards.</p>
<p>One of my closest friends had the WORST wedding cake I’ve ever tasted. And trust me a taste was all most people needed. The exterior was really beautiful, but the cake itself was a horrible shade of nearly hot pink. There were so many slices of uneaten cake that the reception tables appeared to be bleeding. Yikes.</p>
<p>Aibarr, I have to confess that I peeked at your wedding photos in the Ike thread. Yours is one of the prettiest wedding cakes I’ve ever seen - a real piece of art.</p>
<p>I think Peeps are adorable (I gave D a plush Peep for Easter one year), but they taste terrible!</p>
<p>If you put marshmallows in your hot chocolate, try adding a Peep instead.</p>
<p>Peeps also go well with a nice shiraz, if you’re not into the whole looking-for-subtleties-in-your-wine thing. It totally ruins the taste of the wine, but it does wonders for the depth and complexity of sugar-covered marshmallow.</p>
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<p>I would’ve peeked, too-- I love photos! You’re more than welcome to browse if you’d like.</p>
<p>Very nice, aibarr! Clearly you found someone who got into having fun with your theme. Painted on fondant, I gather? (Although I usually don’t think food should be blue, your cake is an exception, blue teeth and all. 
)</p>
<p>Cottonwood513, most of my hens are “Aracaunas” according to the feed store where I ordered them. In reality, they are not purebred Aracaunas (a South American breed), nor do they appear to be officially “Americaunas” (a cross between the former and some other types that has been standardized in several colors) judging by appearance. They are probably more what purists would call Easter Eggers; ie, a cross between Americaunas and something else. They lay eggs in many shades of blue and green (even khaki), as well as a few peachy tones. They have what are known as “peacombs”–that is, very small combs, which I find more attractive–and have a characteristic feather pattern that is “executed” in various colors (white, brown, black, gold, reddish gold, and one pheasant-like effect). I also have 2 Golden Comets. </p>
<p>The “Aracaunas” have a gentler temperament, and are very pretty and lay pretty eggs. The Comets are a bit more aggressive and bold, and one of them has been known to peck toes (!). They lay brown eggs.</p>
<p>Chickens are very easy to care for and fun to have around. My girls come when I call them. (I trained them with parakeet seed, which is like candy to them.) The key thing is to NEVER EVER get a rooster. Roosters are vicious, aggressive, and loud. They crow ALL DAY. They attack everyone. And you don’t need them to get eggs.</p>
<p>aibarr: Your cake is gorgeous. I have made wedding cakes for several weddings. I am not good with those delicate sugar flowers but am a whiz with marzipan flowers.</p>
<p>I do all my baking from scratch. Everything else just tastes like chemicals to me, and no crisco ever.</p>
<p>These weren’t for money – just love.</p>
<p>Consolation – your chickens sound sweet.</p>
<p>and this is why I love CC.
I’m picturing all you brilliant posters pecking your cogent thoughts into the computer with one finger, because your other hand is holding the frosting spoon. You ARE my people :)</p>
<p>I am with you, riverrunner! Such a relief to see this thread and such a pleasure to read!!</p>
<p>I also love to bake, but I don’t do as much as I used to since my kids are “all grown up”. however, one of my married sons has a b’day coming up, so I probably will be making a red velvet cake this weekend (which, by the way, I have also made for my husband every Valentine’s day since we dated in HS in, umm, 1970-something!!)</p>
<p>S2 turns 16 next month and I plan to make the traditional birthday cake - Sour Cream Chocolate cake with Sour Cream Chocolate frosting. The frosting has butter, sour cream, powdered sugar and melted bittersweet chocolate. Not too sweet, and always draws a crowd to lick the mixing bowl. The cake + frosting is divine!</p>
<p>This thread reminds me of the “I Need Cookies” postcard that someone posted here at one point. It’s a postcard that can be printed out, self-addressed, stamped, and given to students as they go off to college, to be redeemed for a batch of homemade cookies whenever needed.</p>
<p>[ClubhouseB</a> - Crafting: Gift Ideas](<a href=“http://breezeb.tripod.com/crafts/giftideas/ineedcookies.html]ClubhouseB”>ClubhouseB - Crafting: Gift Ideas)</p>
<p>I have a much-beloved recipe that I got from a sweet relative of my husband’s which, though it’s not made with the most “pure” ingredients, is pure delight for chocolate lovers. It starts with a mix but to that is added extra sour cream, and entire grated bar of German’s chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate chips and then it’s iced with melted Hershey Bars. </p>
<p>A friend of my d attends Harvard and she sent in this particular recipe to her “house” chef and now this cake is on the menu regularly! Kind of funny, she submitted the recipe as “Miss —churchmusicmom’s----really good chocolate cake”. So I guess one could say they know me at Harvard :)</p>
<p>churchmusicmom, you’re famous Your recipe reminds me of a cake I had at a restaurant long ago called Death By Chocolate.</p>
<p>I’d better stop here - I’m getting hungry and might get carried away ;)</p>
<p>Last night after reading this thread, (and I must confess the anti-breast milk ice cream thread had something to do with it), I made up a bowl of fudge ripple ice cream, strawberry ice cream, sliced bananas, and strawberries. It was so delicious that I slurped up 1/2 the bowl in short order. I saw my husband looking at me with a funny expression so I offered him the rest of my delicious treat. He took the bowl, brought it into the kitchen and dumped it down the sink! Then he made himself a bowl of plain yogurt with strawberries!</p>
<p>My question is this: hero or evil monster?</p>
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<p>My husband and I vote “both”…</p>
<p>(Edit: Yes! Painted on fondant.)</p>
<p>“A friend of my d attends Harvard and she sent in this particular recipe to her “house” chef and now this cake is on the menu regularly!”</p>
<p>Awww…happy memories over here of the “Recipes from Home” program. I’m so glad they still do that. I submitted my mother’s noodle kugel and they served it at brunch in Leverett House.</p>
<p>Much as I enjoy the show “Ace of Cakes,” I am philosophically opposed to fondant because it’s not very good to eat. When’s the last time you bought some balls of fondant or gum paste to snack on? I say, want a smooth and paintable cake surface? Cover it with marzipan! I’ll go out of my way to eat that.</p>
<p>Fondant can be flavored with lemon juice, which when combined with an undercoat/filling of raspberry buttercream made with real, tart raspberry puree is very nice and not too sweet. Especially if you split the layers in two, thereby fitting in more raspberry buttercream, and brush the cake layers with a simple syrup flavored with real Framboise (the clear eau de vie, not the nasty fake red stuff).</p>
<p>I love marzipan, but it hardens too much when rolled thin enough to use on the exterior of a cake, I think. </p>
<p>Rose Levy Beranbaum says that her chocolate fondant is like a tootsie roll. I’ve never made it, but that sounds pretty good to me! :)</p>
<p>Back for more frosting!</p>
<pre><code>Consolation: They sound beautiful and useful. I like those pheasant types. What are you doing with all the eggs, besides cake batter?
</code></pre>
<p>aibarr:</p>
<p>Wow what a cake - simply stunning…</p>
<p>“it hardens too much when rolled thin enough to use on the exterior of a cake, I think.”</p>
<p>My favorite bakery in Chicago covers cakes in marzipan. They’re beautiful and yummy. Both of my married sisters got their wedding cakes there.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.swedishbakery.com/site/epage/27891_222.htm[/url]”>http://www.swedishbakery.com/site/epage/27891_222.htm</a></p>
<p>Hanna, they look yummy. But I bet they add a lot of glycerine to it. I’ll have to consult my sources. (Of course, the non-white thing is an issue for a lot of people, too, although it would not matter to me. Some people reject buttercream made with real butter for that reason also.)</p>
<p>Cottonwood, egg production slows down as hens age, so my girls are producing less these days. There’s also a seasonal element. There are times of the year when eggs are piling up, and times when I actually have to buy the occasional dozen. My H eats 3 eggs most days, so that uses up a lot of them. I also have several friends who buy eggs from me when I have extras to sell. I generally charge less than free-range eggs at the supermarket, just enough to help defray the cost of their feed.</p>