With the economy being so bad right now many people are making budget cut backs.  Even though we may have less money it doesn’t mean that our kids stop having birthdays or that we stop having anniversaries.  It just means that we have to be more creative.  Have you ever looked at a cake that you’ve spent good money on from the bakery and wondered if you could do it at home cheaper?  Now, I’m not saying that everyone can be a 5 star pastry chef over night, but there are some basic design tips that can help you create a one of a kind birthday cake that your child will love and remember forever because you made it yourself!

1. Decide on a theme, whether it is an anniversary cake or a birthday cake you need to decide on a theme.  Does the couple like to ski?  Maybe you can incorporate that into the cake.  Does your child love dogs?  That could be the theme of an easy and wonderful cake.
2. Determine how many people you need to serve.  If you are having 100 people over for an 80^th birthday party you don’t want to make a single two layer 8-inch cake.
3. Once you decide how many people your cake needs to serve go online and check out cake serving charts to see what size cake you need to make.
4. Don’t want to invest in a bunch of cake pans that you may or may not use again?  Rent them.  Go online or to your phone book and look up cake supply stores and see if they rent pans.  Many will rent character pans for a child’s cake or big round pans for any other type of cake and usually it will only cost a few dollars a day.
5. The same serving chart should list how many cups of batter a specific pan requires.  A box cake mix yields 5 ½-7 cups of batter depending on brand.  If you want to make the cake from scratch look at online cake resources to find cake recipes that work well for stacked cakes.
6. Now that you have your cakes baked and cooled to room temperature you need to level them.  To level a cake you need to take a long knife and cut off the rounded hump that a cake gets on top.  If you are unsure about doing this free hand you can use toothpicks all around to guide the knife.
7. The next step is frosting.  There are many types of frosting.  Butter cream is a common and delicious choice.  There are many recipes for butter cream available, just make sure that it crusts (has a hard finish when it dries).
8. Crumb coat the cakes individually.  A crumb coat is a very thin layer of frosting spread over the cake to seal in any loose crumbs.  Using an offset spatula will make this job a lot easier.  If possible refrigerate the cakes for 10-15 minutes to allow the crumb coat to set.
9. Once the crumb coat is set add the final layer of frosting.  Be generous at first, it’s easier to take frosting off than to put it on.  Make the top and sides of the cake as smooth as possible.  Sometimes an offset spatula dipped in hot water and then dried off will help in the smoothing process.
10. Butter cream flowers can be purchased at many bakery supply stores.  Flowers or any items put on the cake will look better in odd numbers.
11. Using a star tip in a piping bag filled with a coordinating color of icing create a border around the top and bottom edge of the cake, if that is appropriate for the style of cake you are making.  You should practice making individual stars on waxed paper before you apply them to the cake.  A size 16 or 18 star tip is most commonly used in this application.
12. If you’re making a tiered cake you will need to make sure that the bottom tier is at least 4 inches larger than the next tier so that there will be an even 2 inches all the way around the layer.
13. Make sure that you create enough support for the tier by inserting dowels in the bottom tier under where the next tier will be resting.  Traditionally bakers will use one dowel for every inch of the layer being stacked.  For example, if I were going to place an 8-inch cake tier onto a 12-inch cake I would want 8 dowels in the bottom layer under where the tier will rest.  However, with smaller layers you can get buy using fewer.  Each stacked layer needs to be resting on a cardboard round the same size as the layer.
14. Keep it simple.  You are better off with a simple design over one that is too busy.
15. Most importantly, have fun.  Remember that we are often our own worst critics.

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How much time do you spend preparing for a party or event? In general, I don’t spend much time. For some reason today is different. I am preparing to go to a wedding with my spouse (her friends) and we spent at least an hour discussing what we would both wear (okay 55 minutes on her and 5 minutes on me). It came to me that I actually should prepare a little for tonight’s small talk. Then as I was writing that I decided I sounded like a complete geek thinking about small talk for a wedding. Anyway, I marched onward and here is what I came up with:

1. Sports Talk – Well this is a particularaly easy topic for me because I generally watch ESPN every morning while I workout and have a decent knowledge of current events. Some starter topics here include any big games that just got played (lop-sided defeats, nail biters, or games with a lot on the line). Another topic is injuries of big players as that could lead into an interesting discussion about similar injuries for all parties in the conversation (if you can stomach that). You can talk about the latest sports scandal with performance enhancing drugs, the latest big athelete arrested for being stupid, etc. Any recent blockbuster deals or trades are always interesting especially in the NFL, NBA, or MLB. So I quickly realized that Sports is a safe fallback because I can list topics here for days…
2. Go Local – Assuming the other person in the conversation is from the same area and didn’t fly in from somewhere else then local gossip and news stories could be a great conversation starter. Did you see the latest discusion on the transportation system? What do you think about a new sports stadium or the existing one? Wouldn’t it be great if we could get some really good broadway shows to come to our city? You can actually ask them to talk about where they are originally from as well and perhaps how where you are now differs from where they grew up. NOTE: unless you like a good argument, you should stay away from local politics at least until you know the other person better.
3. Family Talk – So I didn’t say making fun of THEIR family although your family is certainly fair game. You can find out how many siblings the other person has or how many children they may have. Once you know that you can ask questions about each of them unless they seem uncomfortable with any questions (some people don’t like talking about their family). You can definitely talk about spouses (significnat others) and kids for quite some time. Be careful though to not be the only person talking about their kids at a table of single people or you will definitely not be popular for long. Also, it’s probably not best to talk about spouses when they are sitting next to you unless you like sleeping on the couch.
4. Music – This can be a real natural conversation because normally at parties music is playing. You can ask about their favorite genre, favorite music groups, worst music groups, etc. You can also talk about recent trends in music and people that are really popular right now. In general there are always a few really controversial and popular music acts to discuss (lady Gaga, Kanye West, Britney Spears – one of them is almost always in a scandal of some sorts). You can also talk about karaoke and what songs you always hear, what you would sing (careful… you may end up singing).
5. Movies – Who doesn’t love the movies? This is generally a great topic that will take off. You can talk about really hot current movies (whatever is leading at the box office) or you can go with best/worst movies of all time. Another fun conversation is the best/worst movies that Sylvester Stallone has been in (or name any actor/actress really). This can actually be a lot of fun especially if you have a decent size group and people that are even moderately outgoing. You can also talk about movies that cost a fortune and if you can really tell WaterWorld versus Avatar, etc.
6. TV Shows – Pretty much everyone will have a favorite TV show (unless you get one of those people that thinks TV is a total waste of time). You can ask about the latest reality TV shows (American Idol, Biggest Loser, Amazing Race, etc.). You can talk about big hits and flops of the TV season (who is being cancelled, etc.). If the person could only watch one TV show per week what would it be? What is their favorite TV show of all time (think about it, it’s a tough decision)? You can even talk about TV fights with the spouse/kids and your gratitude to the inventor of the DVR.
7. Celebrities and Scandals – This can always be interesting. There will almost always be a celebrity saying or doing something absolutely outrageous. You can talk about who cheated on who, who is breaking up, who got caught doing something illegal, and other similar topics (surely 2 out of those 3 will have happened in the last week). You can talk about celebrity causes good/bad and how everyone feels about them. You can ask who their favorite/least favorite celebrities are, who their heros were growing up, etc. You can also go to top 10 people that you would love to meet some day and derivatives of that.
8. Vacations – You can talk about the best vacation you ever took (don’t talk about how much you spent) and what you would recommend or not about it (a cruise, etc.). You can pull some places that you would love to go to someday from your bucket list (things you want to do before you die – a topic on its own). This is a great opportunity to get ideas for your next vacation by hearing what they did or where they like to go. This could lead you to a much better understanding of the likes/dislikes of the other people at the party.
9. Jobs – It’s generally pretty easy to get people to talk about what they do for a living since it consumes so much of their waking hours (usually). You can and should though really listen and want to know about it or just don’t bring it up. It’s pretty easy to tell if you really aren’t interested. You can liven it up a bit by talking about your bosses, co-workers, etc. Think of the TV Show “The Office” and if that parallels anything at their work or your work. Sometimes ideas like that can make discussions about work more interesting and at a level where everyone can participate in the conversation.
10. Weather – If you are absolutely getting nowhere with any other conversation you can give the weather a shot. Man, it’s been cold/hot/wet/dry lately hasn’t it? It’s such a pain when it is cold/hot/wet/dry because it always effects my morning commute, evening commute, etc.

Okay, so I actually feel like I could carry on a decent conversation or two now that I have collected my thoughts. I’m also 100% convinced about how much of a nerd I am for having to think so hard about this today. Well, hopefully my random thoughts and preparation for the wedding will help others out if they find themselves in a similar situation. If I’m lucky I’ll get to talk a lot about people’s vacations and World travels…

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The world of celebrity chefs has just exploded since the creation of the Food Network in November of 1993.  Honestly, prior to be able to watch these chefs cook on the Food Network did the average person know any of them?  Probably not is my guess.  Julia Child started her career on TV in 1963 in The French Chef. She was the first chef we saw on TV.  Following Julia’s show there was another well-known show called The Galloping Gourmet featuring Graham Kerr. These early chefs paved the way for The Food Network and the many celebrity chefs.  Take a peek at this delicious list of celebrity chefs.

1.		Emeril Lagasse was one of the first chefs when The Food Network kicked off their new line-up of cooking shows. His Cajun charm and his signature “BAM!” made him a legend in the cooking world.
2.		Bobbi Flay started his cooking career at the age of 17. Now he owns six restaurants, has written nine cookbooks and has hosted seven different programs on The Food Network. His specialty is southwest flavors.
3.		Paula Deen with her charming southern accent is probably one of the most loved celebrity chefs. She would tell you that she is a cook, but what a cook she is. She has her own magazine named after her show on The Food Network. She has also written four cookbooks and owns a successful restaurant in Savannah, GA. She also hosts a second show called Paula’s Party.
4.		Alton Brown wrote his first cookbook in 2002 called I’m Just Here for the Food and it received the coveting James Beard award for best cookbook in the Reference category. He’s gone on to write several two other cookbooks. His novel approach to cooking has led him to hosting four programs on The Food Network.
5.		Giada De Laurentiis born in Rome spent a lot of time around food and film. Her famous grandfather is film producer Dino De Laurentiis. Giada has a degree in anthropology, but went on to study at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris to follow her passion for food. Her program Everyday Italian has won an Emmy. Giada hosts four shows on The Food Network and she has written three books.
6.		Ina Garten started her food career as owner of a specialty food store called Barefoot Contessa. After 20 years in the business she sold it to her employees and started writing cookbooks. She has written four to date. She also has two programs on The Food Network that she hosts.
7.		Duff Goldman is known as the Ace of cakes. He studied at The Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, California. He worked in many notable restaurants as a pastry chef until he opened his own business called Ace of Cakes. He now has a very popular program on The Food Network by the same name. He decorates “extreme” cakes.
8.		Guy Fieri, while a new face to The Food Network, has made a HUGE splash. In 2007 Guy won “The Next Food Network Star” competition with his signature spiky blond hair. Since then he now hosts three shows on The Food Network. He has also written his first book called “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives”.
9.		Rachael Ray would tell you that she is not a chef, but anyone who has written 16 cookbooks and hosts five programs on The Food Network definitely qualifies as a celebrity chef in my book. She even has her own daytime talk show on CBS. She is probably the most iconic person on this list.
10.		Sandra Lee and her semi-homemade approach to cooking have earned her spot on the Top 10 Celebrity Chefs list. She hosts two programs on The Food Network and is editor and chief of her own magazine called “Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade magazine”. She has also written 16 cooking and entertaining books.

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Why do ordinarily honest and conscientious people think that it’s okay to take things from a hotel without paying for them?  My theory is that many times items in a hotel have the name of the hotel on them.  Therefore these items become souvenirs and since no one is watching you in your hotel room or other areas of the hotel it’s unlikely you will get caught.  So are we really honest people or just afraid of getting caught?  Here’s what I have found to be the Top 10 Things People Steal from Hotels.

1. Towels.  Do you really need more towels at home or do you just want to have something that says the name of the place you stayed.  Most times these items are available for sale in the gift shop.
2. Bathrobes.  Who has enough room in their suitcase to steal a bathrobe?  I say bring a smaller bag and you won’t be able to steal.
3. Ashtrays.  Really?  Ashtrays are not that expensive, just go buy one.  Better yet, quit smoking.  It’s bad for your health.
4. Light bulbs.  Now this is just silly.  Do you really want broken glass in your suitcase if someone smashes it?
5. Batteries out of the TV remote.  Batteries are very expensive so I guess I could see this, but how would you like to be the next guy and not have a remote that works?
6. Bed linens.  Gross.  Do you have any idea what people do on those sheets?  I’m pretty sure housekeeping will notice and you’ll get billed.
7. Shampoo and lotion bottles.  While some hotels may consider taking these as stealing I have to say that these are put there for the guest’s use and if you don’t use them there, why can’t you take them home?
8. Blow dryers.  Do you really want that blow dryer?  In my experience they are never that good anyway.  Go buy your own.
9. Sewing kits.  These are meant to be used in an emergency and really aren’t meant to take home.
10. Bottle openers.  Now I don’t see these very often, probably because someone before me stole it!

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We’ve all heard the old saying that bigger is better.  But is that true?  Is bigger better or just… bigger?  Is there a point when a hotel can just get too big?  Check out the following list of the 10 largest hotel chains in the world and the number of rooms each of them contain.

1.Venetian/Palzzo (Las Vegas) 7128 rooms
2. First World Hotel Genting Highlands of Malaysia 6,118
3 MGM Grand Las Vegas 5,044 
4 Mandalay Bay/The Hotel Las Vegas 4,752 
5 Luxor Las Vegas 4,408 
6 Ambassador City Jomtien Thailand 4,210 
7 The Venetian/Palazzo Las Vegas 4,049 
8 Excalibur Las Vegas 4,008 
9 Bellagio Las Vegas 3,993 
10 Circus Circus Las Vegas 3,774

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What makes a hotel chain great?  Is it location?  Size?  Amenities?  Opinions vary, but according to a survey done by Global Finance business travelers preferred “high quality basic service” most.  Those surveyed were asked to rate things like location, size, amenities, décor and others.  The following list shows the hotel chain chosen as best in the world as well as others we found to be superior chains worth including in this list.

1.Four Seasons Regent was ranked the “best hotel chain in the world”.
2.Hyatt International
3.Inter-Continental
4.Adams Mark Hotels
5.Drury Inn and Suites
6.Astra Worldwide
7.Marriott International
8.Hilton Hotels
9.Accor
10.Ritz-Carlton

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Motel came about when people combined “motor hotel”.  A motel has outside entrances and is one to three stories tall, usually surrounded by a common railing.

A hotel has inside entrances accessed from a shared hallway.  Hotels are generally more than one story tall.

Parking

At a motel parking is generally right in front of the door to the room.  This proximity makes for easy transport of luggage into the room.

In a hotel, parking is in one big parking lot.  Guests often check in at the front desk and take their bags up to their room and then move their car to the parking lot.  At nicer hotels there may be staff to help with the bags.

Amenities

There are very few amenities at a motel.  Motels were developed for short stays for travelers.  Limited amenities at a motel may include daily maid service and there may or may not be room service.

Hotels offer many more amenities because guests often stay multiple nights and need entertainment such as a pool and hot tub.  Many times free Internet connections are offered.  Often hotels will have their own in house restaurant as well.

Pricing

Motels are often far cheaper than hotels.  You are paying for all of those extra amenities and services offered by the hotels.

There are no regulatory agencies mandating the use of hotel or motel so the terms are often used inter changeably.  This is especially true when older properties are purchased and renovated.  When traveling it’s always important to do your research to make sure you’re aware of what kind of lodging you are choosing and that your needs match your choice.

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