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Disgusting Wedding Cake and Cupcakes
I went through this same thing...well sort of. I'm getting married in October, and I scheduled an entire day of cake tastings (my mom lives out of town) and we ate cake ALL day long.
Needless to say we stopped by this one particular bakery and they were all very nice. The owner actually ran the tasting for us and gave us the background of the bakery, it's been around for 30 years blah blah blah. But in the end he spent most of his time bragging about how good their cakes were, and that they used the original recipes from 30 years ago.
So he gave us this mass of cake that had one flavor of buttercream and one flavor of cake. Yellow cake, with vanilla butter cream...which is not bad, but I'm going for a more inventive stance on my wedding cake flavors. I'm also used to bakeries offering several flavors in their tastings, but apparently not this one.
The hunk of cake that we were served looked like a small cake that you might by from a Wal-Mart bakery. And what was even worse, is that it tasted like that too. It was honestly the worst cake that I've ever put in my mouth. We kindly ate our cake, and smiled at that guy, my mom was able to stomach nice words before we quietly left the bakery and vowed never to go back!
Long story short...don't go back to the bakery. Just keep your opinions outside of their store and make sure to tell anyone who's thinking about trying them what they're really all about.
You live where?
The self-proclaimed NYC of the South...Atlanta, GA!
Cook the Book: 'Osteria'
Carbonara, Carbonara, Carbonara. And coming in at a close second would be my glass of Merlot that I drink along side it :)
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Dark Greens...Will they ever be yummy?
Posted by CarolynEats, November 13, 2008 at 11:52 AM
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Worst cooking experience ever?
First let me just say that I've spent the last 10 minutes reading this thread and laughing SO hard that I've been crying and also come very close to peeing once or twice.
My story has to do with a flaming cheesecake as well...although not due to a 900 degree oven. My oven was perfectly fine...turns out it was operator error.
As the ambitious middle schooler that I was, I thought I would make a cheesecake for an after dinner dessert on one of our days off from school. My little brother (4th grader at the time) and I were home alone for the day. I started out with a recipe from one of my mom's cookbooks and went to town in the kitchen. I mixed everything together, made the cheesecake batter and the graham cracker crust, and put it all together in the spring form pan. I had preheated the oven to the said temperature in the cookbook, and proceeded to place the cheesecake in the oven four about an hour to cook. Let me just preface the next part of the story by saying that my mom's stove was old...and the writing on the oven knobs was starting to fade away. 10 minutes after the cheesecake had been in the oven, my brother makes a comment about the burning smell. I said "it can't be burning, it's only been in the oven for ten minutes". So I proceed to leave it in the oven thinking that the smell must be coming from somewhere else. Another 10 minutes later, I decide that I should probably check on the cake because the smell is only getting worse. I open the oven and low and behold...the cheesecake has three inch flames engulfing the surface of the cake. I pulled the rack out of the oven and stood there screaming for my brother (yes, the 4th grader) as the cake remains flaming. He runs from the bathroom to find the flaming cake and proceeds to start hitting it with the kitchen towel. Apparently I had put the oven to broil instead of bake. Needless to say, the 4th grader put the flames out and I scraped the charred substance from the top of the cake and put it back in the oven to cook for the remaining time (on bake this time) and we ate it that night for dessert. And it was horrible...an absolute charred mess. Like many of you here, I have yet to live this story down.
Disgusting Wedding Cake and Cupcakes
I went through this same thing...well sort of. I'm getting married in October, and I scheduled an entire day of cake tastings (my mom lives out of town) and we ate cake ALL day long.
Needless to say we stopped by this one particular bakery and they were all very nice. The owner actually ran the tasting for us and gave us the background of the bakery, it's been around for 30 years blah blah blah. But in the end he spent most of his time bragging about how good their cakes were, and that they used the original recipes from 30 years ago.
So he gave us this mass of cake that had one flavor of buttercream and one flavor of cake. Yellow cake, with vanilla butter cream...which is not bad, but I'm going for a more inventive stance on my wedding cake flavors. I'm also used to bakeries offering several flavors in their tastings, but apparently not this one.
The hunk of cake that we were served looked like a small cake that you might by from a Wal-Mart bakery. And what was even worse, is that it tasted like that too. It was honestly the worst cake that I've ever put in my mouth. We kindly ate our cake, and smiled at that guy, my mom was able to stomach nice words before we quietly left the bakery and vowed never to go back!
Long story short...don't go back to the bakery. Just keep your opinions outside of their store and make sure to tell anyone who's thinking about trying them what they're really all about.
You live where?
The self-proclaimed NYC of the South...Atlanta, GA!
Cook the Book: 'Osteria'
Carbonara, Carbonara, Carbonara. And coming in at a close second would be my glass of Merlot that I drink along side it :)
S.O.S. (...on a shingle): Way or No Way?
WAY...this reminds me of my childhood. Spending the summer with my grandparents...this was a staple breakfast item :)
Top 11 Compounds in U.S. Drinking Water
Wow...that's only mildly scary
Stainless or black appliances?
I went through this with my mom, she's in the middle of remodeling and she was struggling with the same issue "stainless, or no stainless" and I told her about this new stuff that appliance companies are using.
They're starting to come out with a "sheen" that is over the stainless so that the appliance doesn't pick up the fingerprints. I guess it's kind of like scotch guard for your oven :)
This is fairly new, so you won't find every company using it...but it's worth looking into.
Dark Greens...Will they ever be yummy?
Thanks for all of the suggestions! I'll definitely try the different suggested cooking methods.
@dbcurrie: I think you're right about the sensitivity to bitterness...hopefully I can overcome it!
@juliebugsmama: sorry to disappoint, I was born and raised in GA.
In Defense of Breakfast: A Morning Manifesto
I love breakfast, but don't often have the time to take part during the week. However, it's a Saturday morning ritual with the BF.
Can someone deliver the Blueberry French toast to Atlanta? I promise to leave a nice tip :)
New Generation of Foodies
I feel your pain...I'm a 23 yr. old female and have been a foodie forever. None of my friends understand my love for food and it used to really frustrate me. To them, Applebee's is a nice steakhouse...ugh. But I have found that they enjoy my cooking, so maybe you can introduce your friends to your food first and they might be interested in venturing out when they understand the difference between chicken fingers and Coq au Vin!
Fast Food jones?
Chick-fil-A is my absolute all-time weakness. As far as I'm concerned, it may as well be crack. I know this sounds terrible, but it's the mayo that really makes it. I dip everything in their mayo...Chicken Nuggets, Chicken Sandwiches, Fries, the list goes on.
For my burger fix, I usually reach out to five guys.
It tastes better the next day
Darn edit button!!!!
I meant **Whipped Cream** you'll need the whipping cream to make it, but it should be whipped when you fold it into pudding mixture.
It tastes better the next day
@hungrychristel
Ok, here it is:
14 oz. Condensed Milk
1 1/2 C. Cold Water
1 Small package of Instant Vanilla Pudding
2 C. Whipping Cream
36 Vanilla Wafers (this is what the recipe calls for, but we usually wing it)
3 Bananas Sliced & dipped in lemon juice (we normally add more Naner's)
Directions:
In a large bowl, beat condensed milk, water, and pudding mix. Chill for 5 minutes. Fold in whipping cream. Layer the pudding, banana's, and wafers, in a large bowl or trifle dish.
Enjoy!
Easy Comfort Food
Go to the Chiropractor and you won't have to worry about needing comfort
Tiramisu Bliss at D'Amato's in Chicago
I have to say, that looks utterly delish...
It tastes better the next day
@hungrychristel...had to email my mom for the recipe, but I'll get it to ya. It's an awesome recipe :)
Sweet Potato Fries -- Who Likes These Things?
@cybercita--I couldn't agree with you more.
I hate sweet potato fries, and I loathe raisin's...ugh
@Tahitinova--Nothing could lure me into a TGI Fridays...especially not a sweet potato fry
Are you a tyrant or a democrat in your kitchen?
I think I'm a kitchen tyrant.
There is only one person who I can tolerate in the kitchen, and that's my mom. I think it's because we use all the same techniques and we both know where everything goes :)
Other that, I prefer to have people keeping me company in the kitchen instead of helping out.
It tastes better the next day
@Southern Bella...Mmmmm Sangria....Mmmmm
Onto the food:
My mom's banana pudding is amazing the day after. And of course the usual, tomato sauce, lasagna, and cheesecake!
Food Suggestions for Election Night
Unfortunately I'll be chomping on pepto-bismol to prepare for all of the bullshit we're all about to be force fed.
Sweet Tweaks Pumpkin Sponge Cake Round-Up: Cast Your Votes Now!
I'm for the cinnamon panna cotta!! When can we get the recipe????
Pondering Baby's First Meal
I have yet to have a little one, so the concern for the little one's first meal is hardly top of mind...but I know that my mom fed me whatever she was putting on the table that night for the rest of the family. Down the blender it went and I was enjoying everything from steak and potatoes, to knackwurst and sauerkraut all before I could chew.
Worst cooking experience ever?
@blackwdw - HAMALANCHE?!?!?!?!?!, hahahaha, best story ever!
Worst cooking experience ever?
I recently started cooking vegetarian meals for other people than myself (my boyfriend suddenly was interested yay!) anyway...
I tried making a creamy pasta dish with lots of vegetables. First time in my life trying to make cream out of tofu...turns out I didn't buy the right kind of tofu, so when trying to get the right consistency, the tofu creamed only so much, leaving little parts and bits in the cream... My vegetables were a little undercooked and turns out the curry I used was WAY too strong for the recipe. My boyfriend, always willing to please, ate it all but even I couldn't! We ended up ordering pizza.
Another one was when I tried making sautéed vegetables over an old oven my dad had gotten from a friend. I think it was older than both my parents together. In any case I pour some oil in the pan and start sautéing my vegetables just like my dad told me to...and then... some oil got in the burner I think...MAJOR flames, my vegetables catch fire as well as the pan so I chuck the pan in the snow outside, pour some flour on the burner and look at the charred mess and the heavy smoke. My little brother was staring at me with the phone in his hand: Do I have to call the firemen?
My parents still have a hard time letting me near the oven, even if after 4 years of this happening, I've been a very good cook!
Worst cooking experience ever?
@dhorst, I know how hard it is to get cornmeal out of carpet. I once made a plate of cornbread for a friend and left it on the kitchen counter while I ran to the store. I came back and the plate was upside down on the kitchen floor, the plasitc wrap about 4 feet away. I immediately began searching for the dog. I found her, (a 30 pound beagle), lying in the corner of the living room like a beached whale. I also found 3 piles of cornbread barf. It's not easy to get out of carpet.
That dog also ate - on separate occasions - my graduation cap, a 1-lb box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts, and a jar of vaseline. And of course, several pairs of shoes, countless newspapers and magazines, and at least three copies of the book 1984. She was part goat.
Worst cooking experience ever?
A long, long time ago, I had a thing for microwave pancakes. I'd make one or maybe two at a time for breakfast. Instead of setting the microwave for 30 seconds, I set it for 3 minutes. Started doing other things and when I got back to the microwave and stuck a fork in the middle of the cake, it was solid. I thought it was still frozen. So I went for another 3 minutes and got distracted again. Same result. Another 3 minutes. This time I'm sure it can't still be frozen.
Oddly, it didn't burn or scorch, it just got hard and rubbery. Like a flat brown hockey puck.
Worst cooking experience ever?
I knocked over an open container of cornmeal onto the floor. Our pup got excited and started rolling in it. It got tracked throughout the house. I vacuumed and swept and mopped, over and over, but I swear it was weeks before I could go barefoot and not feel cornmeal grit. I haven't bought any corn meal since then.
Worst cooking experience ever?
I threw a large-ish party a few years ago for family and friends. I made a ham, and carefully (painstakingly) sliced it up and put it in a very large Tupperware container, intending to serve it cold. Unfortunately, I hadn't sealed the container completely. As I took the first step down the stairs to put it in the basement fridge, the container slipped from my hands and went bouncing down the stairs, ham EVERYWHERE. It was an avalanche of ham. It is now referred to in my family as the hamalanche. I cried and laughed in turns--and then went and bought a deli platter.
For the person who was having bean cooking problems, I have the same problem and the issue for me is hard water. I have to use a pinch of baking soda to offset it.
Worst cooking experience ever?
Damn, good call, lillibet. I guess I read that "fact" years ago and just believed it!
Worst cooking experience ever?
I have to say latteaday's "ham bomb" story is fantastic. What a great thread.
You live where?
@MACDodge: my DH is from Queensbury
I am originally from Plymouth, MA.
But we are transplants to the culinary wasteland that is Cincinnati, OH.
You live where?
@sammie, there's only 2 of us in the Portland, ME area it seems! I guess we're just going to have to represent Portland's budding foodie community ourselves!
You live where?
Blenheim, New Zealand -- over the "ditch" (ie. Cook Strait. For those that don't know - it's a country of 3 islands to the east of Australia) from cardamompod in Wellington, NZ
You live where?
I'm in the burbs of Philly in Chester Co.
jcrisdo in orlando-where do you like to eat? Family is coming to Orlando on the 4th for a week and we're looking for good but inexpensive food like BBQ, breakfast, ethnic. Don't care much for the park food.
You live where?
Southern-ish Maine. Do not like it. Moving to Brooklyn in a few months for pastry school and planning to stay there. For a while, at least.
You live where?
Originally from So Cal; our permanent residence is 30 miles east of Seattle (just east of a large computer company); but we are currently in the middle of a 2-3 year assignment in Israel. We're renting a house in Caesarea (closest major city is Haifa.)
*waves @ dove3579*
dbcurrie - tell me about it, sounds like the first time I got stuck behind a tractor on my way home from work, or the traffic jam on the highway the first day they put the lambs out to pasture in the spring. My favorite is the farmers that drive their tractors to the store for more beer because they're too drunk to drive a car!
You live where?
I'm a mere hour or two away from you--in Mid-Misery! I'm 30 miles southeast of Jefferson City. I grew up in Idaho and Utah, then I married and moved to Boston. Big time culture shock! I loved living there. Then lived in Tempe, Arizona; El Centro, California (don't ask); and had a glorious 15 years in San Diego. I remarried, and my husband went to grad school at MU in Columbia. It has taken quite an adjustment to living in this small, rural town of 1600 people. However, we've been here almost two years and I'm still relatively sane. Don't know how much longer it will last, though. LOL!!
You live where?
@London-ites - as far as I can figure, that is at least a half dozen of us! Amazing!
You live where?
I like to see Canada representing! But let me add my name to the list of folk from London ON! I lived there for 13ish years, and am only down the street an hour or so now.
I am back fairly frequently and am always happy to see new restaurants open. When I first moved there in 1991, there was not many options for either fine dining or 'ethnic' dining...now I'm glad to see that there are more options of both, if only you get off the main drags (Wellington South etc)
You live where?
Weird, you don't see this much chat about London, Ontario too often! That's where I'm from too.
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Dark Greens...Will they ever be yummy?
Posted by CarolynEats, November 13, 2008 at 11:52 AM
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About CarolynEats
Website: http://www.carolyneats.blogspot.com
Location: CarolynEats
About: I love everything about food...cooking, eating, trying new restaurants! I travel around Atlanta, GA to discover all of the culinary opportunities that we have available and write about them on my blog! Check it out @ www.carolyneats.blogspot.com
Favorite foods: too many to name
Last bite on earth: oh geeze...
First let me just say that I've spent the last 10 minutes reading this thread and laughing SO hard that I've been crying and also come very close to peeing once or twice.
My story has to do with a flaming cheesecake as well...although not due to a 900 degree oven. My oven was perfectly fine...turns out it was operator error.
As the ambitious middle schooler that I was, I thought I would make a cheesecake for an after dinner dessert on one of our days off from school. My little brother (4th grader at the time) and I were home alone for the day. I started out with a recipe from one of my mom's cookbooks and went to town in the kitchen. I mixed everything together, made the cheesecake batter and the graham cracker crust, and put it all together in the spring form pan. I had preheated the oven to the said temperature in the cookbook, and proceeded to place the cheesecake in the oven four about an hour to cook. Let me just preface the next part of the story by saying that my mom's stove was old...and the writing on the oven knobs was starting to fade away. 10 minutes after the cheesecake had been in the oven, my brother makes a comment about the burning smell. I said "it can't be burning, it's only been in the oven for ten minutes". So I proceed to leave it in the oven thinking that the smell must be coming from somewhere else. Another 10 minutes later, I decide that I should probably check on the cake because the smell is only getting worse. I open the oven and low and behold...the cheesecake has three inch flames engulfing the surface of the cake. I pulled the rack out of the oven and stood there screaming for my brother (yes, the 4th grader) as the cake remains flaming. He runs from the bathroom to find the flaming cake and proceeds to start hitting it with the kitchen towel. Apparently I had put the oven to broil instead of bake. Needless to say, the 4th grader put the flames out and I scraped the charred substance from the top of the cake and put it back in the oven to cook for the remaining time (on bake this time) and we ate it that night for dessert. And it was horrible...an absolute charred mess. Like many of you here, I have yet to live this story down.