Why does everyone use ready made cake mix???

[Cathleen]

You could get more interest if you explain that you feel about baking the way I do.

Baking is a passion of mine, it's very sensual and romantic and sexy. Making bread for example, kneading and working the dough is just like working with clay like an artist would. Tasting, mixing, putting feeling, your heart into what your making. And when it's finished and ready to eat there is so much you could do with a slice of freash baked from scratch still warm from the oven bread and some fresh butter.
The crust and soft inside, come together to create an orgasmic mix of flavours for your tongue. Gently hand feed this to someone special or use it in other creative ways and you've got yourself some fun.
Or to stay on topic a fresh baked cake can be used with a naked willing partner in so many different ways. And if you have frosting left over your partner can become a frosted tastey delight. Not only do you feed your body but you also feed your soul when you bake.

mmmm wondering why I suddenly want home made bread..... *heavy sigh*

 

[SanDguy_22]

mmmm wondering why I suddenly want home made bread..... *heavy sigh*

wholewheat, white or a mix of various other things...

 

[SlickTony]

I have a recipe for potato salad that involves sour cream, not mayo, but really, mayo does not deserve its bad rep. The acidity in the vinegar that's in it inhibits the growth of microbes.

I have been eating for over 50 years, and I'm pretty sure I've only had food poisoning once. If I eat food that someone else has prepared, I'm prepared to trust the person and the food; I'm more likely to avoid something because I just plain don't like it.

I'm of two minds about genetically modified food. For the purpose of this discussion I suppose we're talking about food that's been gene-spliced so that it has extra pyrethrins or glows in the dark or something, right? For man has been genetically manipulating stuff ever since Gregor Mendel, or Jacob pulling a fast one with his FIL's flocks.

The objection I have to the genetically modified seed produced by outfits like Monsanto, etc. is this--I think I've mentioned it before. My ancestors were farmers, and farmers tend to be a conservative bunch. Not only in the sense of being reactionary, but in the sense that a smart, far-seeing, organized farmer knew that if he was going to survive the next year, he had to save back some of his corn or wheat to plant next year. He was self-sufficient that way. I've got the impression--correct me if I'm wrong--that the new stuff sort of mules out or reverts to stock and you can't do that with it, so that the farmer is dependent on the seed company year after year, and that just seems Wrong to me.

 

[SanDguy_22]

I have a recipe for potato salad that involves sour cream, not mayo, but really, mayo does not deserve its bad rep. The acidity in the vinegar that's in it inhibits the growth of microbes.

I have been eating for over 50 years, and I'm pretty sure I've only had food poisoning once. If I eat food that someone else has prepared, I'm prepared to trust the person and the food; I'm more likely to avoid something because I just plain don't like it.

I'm of two minds about genetically modified food. For the purpose of this discussion I suppose we're talking about food that's been gene-spliced so that it has extra pyrethrins or glows in the dark or something, right? For man has been genetically manipulating stuff ever since Gregor Mendel, or Jacob pulling a fast one with his FIL's flocks.

The objection I have to the genetically modified seed produced by outfits like Monsanto, etc. is this--I think I've mentioned it before. My ancestors were farmers, and farmers tend to be a conservative bunch. Not only in the sense of being reactionary, but in the sense that a smart, far-seeing, organized farmer knew that if he was going to survive the next year, he had to save back some of his corn or wheat to plant next year. He was self-sufficient that way. I've got the impression--correct me if I'm wrong--that the new stuff sort of mules out or reverts to stock and you can't do that with it, so that the farmer is dependent on the seed company year after year, and that just seems Wrong to me.

the potato salad thing.... mayo is fine... potatosalad is fine...
but mixing the ingredients with the average median temperature in the food danger zone is not a good thing... then leaving the same item on a table somewhere for a day... is not good either.
My main objection to salads like that habens to be the fact to me they look like puke and taste like it too.

the whole gmo thing... people have been selectively breeding animals for god knows how long... 15000-20000 years.. i think is the range.
plants came a little while later...

my objection to the whole gmo thing is that when they produce a plant with a greater capasity to withstand pests etc... by incresing the production of some toxin within the plant etc...
that toxin may have some unknown and unwanted long term sideeffects.
There was a report about a corn variation like that... and aparently the pollen was cutting short the life spans of monarch butterflies etc.

as to the whole gmo corn doing the mulling seed stock thing...
it depends on how they engineer the buggers.
there are variations made where a farmer has to buy from a company seeds which will only grow if they buy a specific chemical from that same company and spray the fields with it.
that corn would also be sterile and it would notsprout if replanted.

oh and by the way... the time, temperature acidity abuse i described earlier... when you mix in an acidic food product such as mayo etc in to a nonacidic or base food... the ph will change and create a better growing environment for bacteria.
which in turn will increase the chances of someone getting food poisoning.

 

[Nightbird]

Speaking of food spoilage. Ever been in a coffee shop where they leave the carton of real cream *Not the edible oil product stuff* out on the table all day long with no refridgeration. Not a good thing.

 

[SanDguy_22]

Speaking of food spoilage. Ever been in a coffee shop where they leave the carton of real cream *Not the edible oil product stuff* out on the table all day long with no refridgeration. Not a good thing.

if the table is in the shade the cream should be fine for about 4 hours especialy if its ultrapasturized. (then even longer)
in any ocation they should change the container every time someone uses it.

but if its freshcream in the sun... they shouldnt do that... its turn on them faster than i can type this message.

also did you know that coffee and they should be atleast 180-190 degree hot. (thats farenheith).... just to kill off the pathogens living on the coffee beans and or tea leaves.

now how many times have you recieved a cup of coffee that hot???
mind you that the temperature is for undiluted straightup pure drinks.

 

[SexyChele]

Cake? What's that? Seriously, I seldom eat cake, let alone make it. I hadn't realized that people still ate such stuff. Maybe it's just because I'm in Cal? Or because most sweet stuff is unappealing to me.

Anywho....on the few occasions in the past where I have made cakes, it's been a mix of things. (actually, no pun intended) Sometimes I made them from scratch, sometimes a mix, sometimes started with a mix and added to it so that it no longer was what was on the box. I'm not a recipe cook, so hope that explains things. Oh, and I cannot, for the life of me, make frosting. If it don't come from a can, the most anyone can hope for is a drizzle of sugar glaze or fresh fruit.

Although it is too time consuming for me to make, I absolutely LOVE my mother's potato salad! And her macaroni salad! She uses Miracle Whip and all the stuff that one is not supposed to use (such as hard boiled eggs), and I could eat a mountain of that stuff. Never, ever got sick. (of course, she uses cooled potatoes and refridgerates immediately, so mayhap that has something to do with it) Absolutely hate the so-called potato salad made with Dijon mustard. Now, that is just wrong. And German potato salad? Ugh! Potatoes and vinegar heated up = beyond awful. (And yeah, my German grandmother used to make this, and I'd have to smile and pretend to like it)

Chocolate pudding warm from an oven? I had a roommate who used to do that. Never understood it. In my mind pudding needs to be cold - almost ice cold. Warm just seems so....oh....off somehow.

 

[midwestyankee]

Chocolate pudding warm from an oven? I had a roommate who used to do that. Never understood it. In my mind pudding needs to be cold - almost ice cold. Warm just seems so....oh....off somehow.

To change your mind on the warm chocolate pudding concept, try eating it from a non-standard serving dish - such as your partner's chest, belly, or even someplace south of there.

And trust me, you won't be giving any organisms time to grow with this method so there's little reason to be concerned about food poisoning.

 

[Ms_Kat]

I believe most of the problem with food poisoning is people not washing their hands before they handle food (especially after using the bathroom - which is disgusting in itself) or placing vegetables on the same cutting board they have just used to chop raw meat. Since the vegetables are not cooked, the bacteria from the meat gets to take an express train to your gut.

I really don't understand the objection to gen-mod foods based on the safety issue. We used thousands of chemicals to grow, pick, ripen, and transport food that we pretty well know causes all kinds of problems. Think of fruits and vegetables being treated with insecticide, fertilizer, herbicides to make it ripe at the proper time, etc. Which is more likely to cause you problems, a known carcinogen or an ear of corn modified so that an insect can't digest it?

I do understand and respect the argument that it hurts low-end subsistence farmers. However, those kinds are very few in the US. It's more of an outrage to me that Monsanto will copyright the genetic profile of a particular kind of bean found in Mexico and then fight to prevent local farmers, without whom Monsanto would have never known of the bean, from using locally produced beans as copyright infringement.

I imagine the guys at Roundup giggle and rub their bellies when they hear people worrying about gen-mod food.

How about growth hormones in milk, while we are at it. The US is the only country in the world that allows recombinant growth hormone, that is proven to be passed on in milk, to be used on dairy cattle. Plus, there's the problem of using "cutter" grade "downer" cows for processing into animal feed - the source of mad-cow disease.

Personally, I grow as much of our vegetables as possible. Nothing is better than fresh-picked. However, not everyone can have a garden like mine.

You don't even want to think about what sugar farming has done to the everglades.



Hugs,



Kat

 

[Nightbird]

In my mind something even worse than giving live stock hormones is giving them antibiotics. The animals are packed into feed lots so tight they are routinely given antibiotics to try and keep them from getting sick. Problem is those antibiotics get in the meat and as a result of us eating that meat we get antibiotic resistant disease. Not good.

 

[SanDguy_22]

I believe most of the problem with food poisoning is people not washing their hands before they handle food (especially after using the bathroom - which is disgusting in itself) or placing vegetables on the same cutting board they have just used to chop raw meat. Since the vegetables are not cooked, the bacteria from the meat gets to take an express train to your gut.

I really don't understand the objection to gen-mod foods based on the safety issue. We used thousands of chemicals to grow, pick, ripen, and transport food that we pretty well know causes all kinds of problems. Think of fruits and vegetables being treated with insecticide, fertilizer, herbicides to make it ripe at the proper time, etc. Which is more likely to cause you problems, a known carcinogen or an ear of corn modified so that an insect can't digest it?

I do understand and respect the argument that it hurts low-end subsistence farmers. However, those kinds are very few in the US. It's more of an outrage to me that Monsanto will copyright the genetic profile of a particular kind of bean found in Mexico and then fight to prevent local farmers, without whom Monsanto would have never known of the bean, from using locally produced beans as copyright infringement.

I imagine the guys at Roundup giggle and rub their bellies when they hear people worrying about gen-mod food.

How about growth hormones in milk, while we are at it. The US is the only country in the world that allows recombinant growth hormone, that is proven to be passed on in milk, to be used on dairy cattle. Plus, there's the problem of using "cutter" grade "downer" cows for processing into animal feed - the source of mad-cow disease.

Personally, I grow as much of our vegetables as possible. Nothing is better than fresh-picked. However, not everyone can have a garden like mine.

You don't even want to think about what sugar farming has done to the everglades.



Hugs,



Kat

Believe it or not but the most common cause for food borne ilness is time/temperature abuse... bad hygeine and poor sanitation practices help it along quite a bit though.

the GMO thing... again... remember the butterflyvs pollen example i gave... just imagine what it might do to you if you stood near that corn field.
the modifications dont mean that the bugs cant digest the plant... its much more to the extent that the plant produces chemicals to either kill the bugs or to make it self unappealing to them.
we do not know as of yet what the effects of those modifications are in the long term.
As to the carsinogenic compounds used on foods for the various purposes... atleast we know how to deal with some of them and their side effects.
also the whole gmo thing... there was a study done with rats
(ill try to find the link... if you want me to) where the rats were fed gmo corn based foods. over a span of a couple of months their stomach lining grew 30% thicker than the stomach linings of rats fed with non gmo foods.
thats not necessarily bad but i betcha its not good either.

My main objection is that untill they do some good longterm studies etc... the use of overly geneticaly modified foods should be avoided.
also... the whole pesticide thing... there are environmentaly safe alternatives available for use... unfortunately they are not quite as effective as the harmfull ones... but its all a question of benefits gained vs possible losses earned...
farmers dont really even need to use that many pesticides etc...
the US govt pays farmers to hold off on producing crops just so that the marketprices can be held at a specific comfortable level.
Any and all excess produce will usualy get buried or burned...

Even if farmers were to stop using pesticides there would still be an excess of food crops produced over the slightly greater losses incured. (in short we would still have uch more than what we need) I think i can find you some graphs and articles about that if you want...

As to the whole madcow thing... it takes an average of 18-24 months for a cow to start whowing symptoms of the disease...
the average hormone/grain fed cow in the US get slaughtered at around 16 months. its too young to show symptoms.... but i betcha some of them have the disease. (the dairy cows get killed much later on ... ergo thehigher prevalence of the disease.)
places like nevada and new mexico there have been reports of deer herds etchaving had contracted BSE after living/feeding on reclaimed bovine pastures. (I can try to find that article for you as well if you want.) so its not just the downers that have mad cow disease.

Oh and just as a point... i dont eat beef all that often and i certainly do not use milk from RBST treated cows. (rice milk is better) that hormone also makes people grow bigger too... they say it gets denatured... but those same doctors and researchers are the ones who back in the day said that steroids dont help enhance athletic performance. (of and the fact that the meat industry is funding their "research" also in no way has affected their findings.)

well thats my batch of paranoid ramblings

enjoy

 

[blondie74]

Okay, I just made a cake from scratch. Feel better?

 

[Pimptress J]

I know, I am late.

I know how to make a cake in the shape of a woman thanks.

I have a cake pan that I bought at a sex-toy party... along with other things.


Saffron is wonderful, I know I am a bit behind the 8-ball here, but you must excuse, as I was in the wild mountains for a few days.

I used to do henna designs on my brother and his friends(before they were old enough to get real tat's), and I would use saffron to get a richer color.

And with chicken, pork, fish and cous cous.

 

[SanDguy_22]

Okay, I just made a cake from scratch. Feel better?

"Eexelent"

what kind???

 

[SanDguy_22]

Re: I know, I am late.

I know how to make a cake in the shape of a woman thanks.

I have a cake pan that I bought at a sex-toy party... along with other things.


Saffron is wonderful, I know I am a bit behind the 8-ball here, but you must excuse, as I was in the wild mountains for a few days.

I used to do henna designs on my brother and his friends(before they were old enough to get real tat's), and I would use saffron to get a richer color.

And with chicken, pork, fish and cous cous.

well i have one 1oz unopened box if your interested... its a nice metal tin with a bag about the size of my palm filled with saffron.
(mind youim a guy who is 6'3" tall and weight 200.. so my palms are pretty big.)

I actualy cut and mold the cakes after they are baked...
that way i can get more color variations.

 

[Xelebes]

it takes about as long and costs about as much to make somehting from scratch than to use the pre made mix...
+ you can make a whole bunch of other stuff from the leftover ingredients.

So i see no reason to use ready mix...

I think this is a fair comparison.

You are being just like a musician/producer who is encouraging other amateur song producers to record their songs with live instruments versus samples and soundfonts. It's great and all but they don't have the time and training and all to be able to use such luxuries. Money is sometimes a factor too.

 

[SanDguy_22]

I think this is a fair comparison.

You are being just like a musician/producer who is encouraging other amateur song producers to record their songs with live instruments versus samples and soundfonts. It's great and all but they don't have the time and training and all to be able to use such luxuries. Money is sometimes a factor too.

pretty much... oh and thanks for indirectly refering to me as an "artist"...

the whole money thing... the cost of the may be grater on the receipt... but the amounts per that price are greater than the prefabricated mix.
as an added plus most of the ingredients used to make a cake from scratch can be used to make other types of food as well...

cream for alfredosauce, bechamelle, veloute... etc...
eggs for... well i wont even go there...
flour... need i say more...
sugar...?????

thats my point mainly... but i do understand what you and other people have said before... about the costs etc...

 

[blondie74]

"Eexelent"

what kind???

A chocolate picnic cake. It was really simple, nothing too fancy....but it was from scratch.

 

[Scarlet Kai]

I never use cake mix for cakes. I make all of my cakes from scratch. But cake mix is really good for quick cookies. I recently made some sugar cookies from the cake mix that gives sprinkle effects. They were super yummy

Usually there's a recipe for cookies on the cake mix boxes, otherwise I wing it.

 

[SlickTony]

The nice thing about making cakes from scratch is that I always have the scratch--usually flour, sugar, butter, eggs, flavoring--in the house, whereas, if I were to make a cake from a mix, I'd have to go out and get the mix.

I know that macaroni salad has its champions, but I have only once ever met a macaroni salad that I liked. The first time I ever had macaroni salad, I was stoned, and you know you don't like something when you've been smoking weed beforehand and it still doesn't taste good.

And sugar cookies out of a cake mix? Seems like a lot of trouble to go through. I have a sugar cookie recipe that has butter, brown sugar, white sugar and flour, and that is all it has.

 

[Nightbird]

To change your mind on the warm chocolate pudding concept, try eating it from a non-standard serving dish - such as your partner's chest, belly, or even someplace south of there.

My Grandmother used to make Chocolate pudding on the stove. I've tried to make it myself but I can never get it right. Man was it ever yummy when she made it. Hmm I miss my Grandmother.

 

[Xelebes]

My Grandmother used to make Chocolate pudding on the stove. I've tried to make it myself but I can never get it right. Man was it ever yummy when she made it. Hmm I miss my Grandmother.

Er... my grandmother makes cookies in a frying pan. Thankfully I had another grandmother who knew how to bake and wasn't so afraid of the oven but now she has become too weak to do it on her own. I miss her apple pies.

 

[SanDguy_22]

Er... my grandmother makes cookies in a frying pan. Thankfully I had another grandmother who knew how to bake and wasn't so afraid of the oven but now she has become too weak to do it on her own. I miss her apple pies.

try to get her to do some light weight bearing exercise... old folk usualy bounce back about as quickly as young ones do...
start small and build up...
that is unless she has skeletal structure problems like osteporosis arthritis etc...
i can find you the article if you want me to...

 

[xeros_girl]

The nice thing about making cakes from scratch is that I always have the scratch--usually flour, sugar, butter, eggs, flavoring--in the house, whereas, if I were to make a cake from a mix, I'd have to go out and get the mix.

I know that macaroni salad has its champions, but I have only once ever met a macaroni salad that I liked. The first time I ever had macaroni salad, I was stoned, and you know you don't like something when you've been smoking weed beforehand and it still doesn't taste good.

And sugar cookies out of a cake mix? Seems like a lot of trouble to go through. I have a sugar cookie recipe that has butter, brown sugar, white sugar and flour, and that is all it has.

would you share with me said cookie recipe? I can do cookies, my french teacher would call me la reine de biscuit, and I just so happen to have all those items as staples.

Please? If not I can dig it.

 

[SanDguy_22]

would you share with me said cookie recipe? I can do cookies, my french teacher would call me la reine de biscuit, and I just so happen to have all those items as staples.

Please? If not I can dig it.

try this...
for 3 dozen cookies.

12 oz AP flour.
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp mace (ground)
4 oz unslated butter (softened)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg.

1 mix flour mace and baking powder. set aside.
2. cream the butter, and sugar till light and fluffy. (just use a mixer on it till its fluffy.) add the vanilla, egg and mix untill fluffy again... gradualy add the flour just to mix it in evenly do not knead to excess.
3. wrap in plastic and refrigerate.

make coocies of desired shape and size.
bake at 325F for 10-12 minutes or untill lightly golden.

for brown sugar recipe... just suplement some or all of the regular sugar with it.