msmla's Profile

I agree that registries are kind of impersonal, and can make the bride and groom look greedy, but unless you want to end up with 15 toasters or a shelf full of vases, you're kind of stuck using them. I usually pick something off the registry that's in my price range, then add a personal touch or two--for example, one couple I know requested a teapot, and I added some nice teas to go with it.

BTW, my husband and I registered for our wedding and still ended up with a shelf full of vases, because my relatives live out of state and apparently didn't have a branch of either store we registered at near them (and because everyone seems to think a vase is just the thing to get). Good thing I like flowers!

You could try looking at other recipes for the same sort of baked good to see whether they use liquid or solid fat--usually the same type of recipe will use the same form of fat (e.g. brownies usually use melted fat, as do quick breads, while cakes usually use softened but solid fat).

My husband's a huge game geek, and has a small collection of games specifically for playing with our nieces and nephews and friends' kids (and hopefully someday our own kid). Two that have been really successful: Gulo Gulo (sort of Jenga-like, but little kids have the advantage because the pieces you need to remove are really small) and Reiner Knizia's Flea Circus (a card game with no reading involved, and you keep score with plastic cats and dogs, which my nieces love). Also, boardgamegeek.com has ratings of hundreds (thousands?) of board and card games, including info on which ones are good for different age ranges.

Thanks for the tips--we live in a 2nd floor condo, are trying to adopt (likely a toddler or somewhat older child), and I've been dreading confrontations with my downstairs neighbor, who hates kids and moved here because she thought it would be kid-free. She's already complained once when our 6-year-old niece was over, just because she ran down the hall ONCE, to get a book, so I can only imagine what it's going to be like when we have a kid around full-time.

Yum! I make lemon curd (usually Meyer lemon) at least once a year, for my husband's favorite b-day dessert: lemon angel pie , which is a hand-me-down from his Grandma. Her version doesn't use butter, though, so it's safe for lactose-intolerant folks like me.

Yeah, actually, if you have several hundred bucks to spend on a 3-D printer (a bargain compared to some kitchen appliances), you can have molded dishware on demand. And assuming you could get the plastic clean enough afterward to go back through the printer, you could make your kids some Legos to play with after dinner. Sounds good to me!

Wow, what a great idea! I wish I'd thought of that a month ago when my oven wacked out and I ended up with Cajun-style pizza and a condo full of smoke. Thanks!

That does sound like it would be really good, but I would definitely follow rmrez's advice and make the crust salty, to balance the sweet of the filling. I'm wondering though if you would still have to add sugar to the crust to keep it together, or if the corn syrup in the filling soaking in would bind it?

Sorry, that looks a little too much like extruded Play-Doh to me. Blech.

Thanks for all the great ideas! My oven just died last night--the broiler element won't shut off unless we shut the whole thing off at the circuit breaker, so I can't even use the stovetop. :( So I guess it's going to be a slow cooker weekend (either that or shivering over the grill).

BTW, love the username, WhereForArt. :)