Quick tip: Watch the flyers

Heather says:

Now is the time to start watching the flyers for good sales on items you may need for fall baking.  This week butter is on sale at my local grocer; I’ll be loading up my freezer.  With the corn crop suffering and being diverted to ethanol production, the price of dairy products may spike.  Laying in a good supply now will help protect my wallet.

How sweet it is: A frosting dilemma

Dear Home Ec 101:

I’m in need of a cake icing recipe. One like you would see on a birthday or wedding cake from a bakery. One that can be smoothed fairly well and does not drip, run, or otherwise need refrigeration to keep it on the cake, it’s pretty sticky around here. I also need one for putting into a bag and piping out lettering and roses. All of my tried and true recipes don’t hold up to that sort of thing as I’m normally not a “cake decorator.”

Thanks,

~Drippin’ in Danville

Heather says:

I called in an expert for your query, as I have neither a sweet tooth nor a lot of patience, both of which are a requirement for cake decorating.

Everyone say “Hello” to my friend Carol and her Rolie Polie Olie Cake.

Carol says:

Hello Home Eccers.

I use the basic Wilton frosting recipe, with shortening and not butter. I use artifical butter flavoring for it.

This is a new recipe, and should work well for her in a warm and humid environment.

High Humidity Icing Recipe I

Ingredients:
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 teaspoon Clear Vanilla Extract
4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (approx. 1 pound)
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
In large bowl, beat shortening and butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add vanilla; mix well. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar mixture has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. In small bowl, combine milk and cornstarch; stir until cornstarch is dissolved. Add to icing mixture; beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.

Keep icing covered with damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Re-whip before using

Makes about 3 cups.

This is the one I use, I use all shortening and no butter:

Buttercream Icing

(Medium Consistency)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon Clear Vanilla Extract
4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (approx. 1 lb.)
2 tablespoons milk
In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

YIELD: Makes about 3 cups.

Now, to suit her decorating needs here are the adjustments:

For thin (spreading) consistency icing, add 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk.

For Pure White Icing (stiff consistency), omit butter; substitute an additional 1/2 cup shortening for butter and 1/2 teaspoon No-Color Butter Flavor. Add up to 4 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk to thin for icing cakes.

NOTE: Changes in Wilton’s traditional recipes have been made due to Trans Fat Free Shortening replacing Hydrogenated Shortening.

Google Queries: Fun for all!

Ivy says:

(I used this icon just for you, Margo!)

I love to see what people have googled to get to my sites. Over at Music City Bloggers, we get an awful lot of hits for wet t-shirt contest. I’m sure people are very sadly disappointed when they find we’re not having one, nor are there any photos of one.

Here at Home-Ec 101, we get googled for, well, home related stuff. Suprising, I know. Here are some fun ones:

Get rid of smelly laundry- Yeah, I just usually throw all my smelly laundry in the trash. Okay, not really, but I like the idea of it.

formaldehyde laundry- I wouldn’t try using formaldehyde in the laundry. Then you’d have to google get rid of smelly laundry.

ec-101 cold pour- What???

ec lovin- Sounds scary, yo.

eating clumping litter- Totally NOT recommended by Home-Ec 101. Or anyone with any sanity.

How can I make cat litter box smell good- I don’t think it’s possible to make one smell GOOD. But start by scooping daily.

That’s all I’ve got! What are your best google searches?

Cash, Credit, or Debit: What’s your spending style?

Ivy says:

I have read several bloggers who say they spend less money when they deal only in cash. I am the opposite, it seems to be such a pain to me to have to save the receipt and enter in how much I spent in my financial tracking software, that I hesitate a lot more before using my debit card. On the other hand, if I have cash, I spend pretty freely and then end up broke in no time.

This is one of those things that doesn’t work the same way for everyone. Some people spend more when they have cash, some people spend more when they are using debit/credit. As my mom says, “If I have cash, I spend cash, so I tend to try not to have much cash.”

The key is figuring out which sort of person you are, a cash spender or a card spender and making sure the method of payment you tend to spend more on is generally unavailable. It’s important to make sure you track where you are spending the most money- my downfall is going out to eat, other people’s downfall may be online shopping, while another person may love buying shoes. You have to try to avoid that by making sure you have quick meals on hand, or staying out of the shoe store.

While this all might seem very obvious, tracking your spending may uncover things you never had any idea you spent a lot on- like my restaurant going, which seemed pretty minor to me, until I saw it on a chart.

Are you a cash-only type person or a card person? Where are your spending trouble-spots?

Ask the audience: Dreaded chores

Heather says:

What is your most dreaded regular household chore?

For me, it’s the biweekly stripping, washing, drying, and reassembling of mattress pads. However, if I avoid this chore I pay for it twice over with sneezing and itchy eyes.

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