The Random Questions thread

I found several recipes for strawberry cake online, but this one seems like one of the better options: Homemade Strawberry Cake - Sally's Baking Addiction. You could use a single layer and freeze the other.

I have mini round cake pans my sister lent me so I will make a two layer cake but will still have leftover batter. My family is oddly not cake eaters so I’ve never baked a “real” cake from scratch. I’d love to figure out if I could just add strawberry puree to a box mix.

It’s worth a try!

Here’s a recipe that might give you a sense of how to alter the recipe to add in the strawberry puree: The easiest doctored strawberry cake recipe.

True, he’s three he won’t care.

ChatGPT will modify the recipe of your choice with any alternative ingredients. You could just enter box cake mix and strawberry puree and it will generate a recipe for you. I just found out about this and I’m having fun tinkering with my recipes.

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Re: strawberry cake for toddler-
A little out of the box thinking , but how about cutting the round cake into a strawberry shape and putting a light coating of red frosting with some little dots or a light sprinkle of poppy seeds and a green stem either of something real ( like carrot tops or basil or mint that you just pull off and don’t serve) - or made of frosting.

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Do you wash brand new clothes or sheets or towels before you use them??

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Always!

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Yes, many have been sprayed with bug and rodent repellent for shipping. Same with clothing.

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Dry clean only formal dresses and suiting pieces? No. Anything cotton, undies, bras, socks, washable clothes and bedding - hard yes. :slight_smile:

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I don’t unless I can feel/smell something that I think may make me uncomfortable.

Interesting. One of my DILs does this all the time, for everything. It never occurred to me until I saw that she does this. So now I know it’s really a thing. Huh.

Wondering if anyone had done a DYI Will (using online form) - and if you thought it okay?

Had a prior will done 20 years ago and just need to update executors and POAs.

Was thinking of either doing a simple new one via online form, or just updating old one.

(my asset distribution super simple - all goes to husband and if he goes first, equally to both kids).

Thanks for any thoughts!

Edit to add: spoke with two attorneys - one wanted $3k and another $1,300 for will and POAsI respect the work needed for estate planning and was about to hire someone - then realized - do I actually need to do it this way? Lol. My situation pretty straightforward…

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Not quite online, but I work with a Public Office Attorney and he drew up a super simple ones for H & I for free. It’s 3 pages long, with the last page being signatures. We needed it updated because our old one had my MIL with Alzheimer’s listed as being in charge of the funding for our minor children! Yikes. Nope. They were grown and independent by then. Now it seems similar to your situation - everything to the spouse, then split between the kids. Name an Executor. We have 1 house, some retirement accounts, some bank accounts, life insurance. Very low balances compared to those on CC, and I do have POD/beneficiaries on anything/everything I can.

Nobody really know how good it will be until you die though, right? But a year or so afterwards, we did go to a very good Elder Care Attorney to draw up other papers. We paid him $1200 total ($600 each). He looked at the will and said it was appropriate for where were are in this stage of life and our assets, and left that in place.

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We hired an attorney my brother recommended. Our estate is a bit complicated because D is a disabled dependent. Yes, we paid a few thousand for his services but he helped us clean up the titles after my SisIL died at no extra charge and was able to speak with the CA estate attorney to be sure everything was handled as the survivors wanted, not what the CA attorney was advocating.

He also recommended an attorney to help us with D’s SS disability case and we will have to consult him soon as our wills are about a decade old.

For us, the peace of mind of having our estate attorney was invaluable.

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Thanks so much for the input. I was all set to pay $1,300 then realized - hold on, maybe I could do this…? For sure if I had a disabled child or anything where I needed care for someone and or specific wishes effectuated I’d go to an attorney with this speciality.

Just feeling like mine is so simple I could manage it…(hopefully!)

I think it also depends on the net value of your assets as well as your asset mix. In our case, we have some real estate as well as some retirement accounts and some cash. We really don’t want to mess up and have loved ones pay extra taxes.

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We redid our will after we moved to California (and son became adult). We did consult an estate attorney (forgot what we paid; this was nine years ago). Because probate is so lengthy and maybe expensive in CA, they recommended putting the house in a family trust. Also got advice on how to set up our financial accounts to avoid probate. They had a long form to set up other potentials like Final Wishes (burial, etc.), General Durable Power of Attorney, Healthcare POA, HIPAA Authorizations, and Advance Health Care Directives. There are also sections with schedules of retirement assets and life insurance assets with account and policy numbers and contact information.

I feel this will be very helpful for our son someday.

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Probate in CA is very expensive and putting property in a trust can save a lot of mandatory probate fees. We saved a lot by having an estate attorney for my SisIL in CA. She was paid and charged a lot but was s cheaper than the probate fees we saved.

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Do you launder clothing before donating?