The 33's Chief Meteorologist Rebecca Miller talks about all things weather -- and more
Jun
2
4:11PM | June 2, 2009 | posted by Rebecca Miller | comments: 3
Kroger Cake Decorating Contest
I'm always up for a good challenge, especially if it does someone some
good and if I know I'm going to learn something. So when I was invited
to participate in Kroger's 3rd Annual "Bringing Hope to the Table"
cake decorating contest, I was there. I've participated in food drives
since I was in television, and the North Texas Food Bank and Tarrant
Area Food Bank would be the beneficiaries of a $1000 donation made in
Ch 33's name. That is, if I won. Otherwise, the donation would be
made in the winner's name.
When I got to Kroger on Mockingbird, I met with the wonderful pastry chefs and the other contestants, some of whom I already knew, so it was a little reunion for us. (Hi Autumn and Teresa!) Each of us contestants was paired with a gifted pastry chef. We were given a blank sheet cake, a bunch of frosting thankfully already put into pastry bags, and a cornucopia of fruit with which to decorate the cake anyway we wished. There were food bank logos to include in our design.
My pastry chef expert, Kim, and I quickly came up with an idea: do the Food Bank logo on one side of the cake, and make flowers out of the fruit. We were given 20 minutes to decorate the cake. 20 minutes!!!! Now I (sort of) know what the people on the Cake Challenges on Food Network go through....and they have 8 HOURS. It's nerve-wracking!
After frosting the cake (the frosting kept falling off! How does that even happen??) and starting the first decorations, my arm was already numb from squeezing frosting. Pastry chefs must have arms like Popeye. Kim nudged me and told me the contestant right next to us was doing the exact idea we'd just come up with! Wha...???? It's easy to come up with similar designs when you're given the same frostings and toppings, and three of our cakes looked very similar. Anywaaaaay.....the pastry bags of frosting also had decorating tips with them. My leaf tip (you cake decorators know what I'm talking about) was bent or something. It was making horrible leaves! Who likes yucky leaves? Who would EAT yucky leaves? I scraped them all off and heard gasps when I did that. Maybe it was a mistake. Kim found a better leaf tip, and we were back on track.
I wanted to "filet" the strawberries and fan them out to look like flowers. I'm sure there's an actual name for that, but I have no idea what it is. I must ask Jon Bonnell, of Bonnell's restaurant, as he taught me how to do that long ago. We had no knife. We had scissors. I used the scissors and got some very rough looking strawberry flowers. I added a few mandarin orange slices and some blackberries, Kim REALLY wanted sprinkles so I threw some of those on, made a "33" from pineapple, and time was called. It wasn't a pretty cake. When I looked at all the other contestants' cakes, I was blown away! Their cakes were SO pretty. Their strawberries were perfectly cut! I asked how they did that...and they all had knives!!! Ha-ha...so I learned to ask for knives in cake decorating contests if I don't have one.
One cake had big frosting smiley face balloons on it. One had a giant, thick icing rainbow and a TON of sprinkles. (That's the one I would choose to eat.) One was a wreck. It really was...it depicted two cars crashing into each other to symbolize two competitors "crashing out". The other cakes were pretty similar: we all had the Food Bank logos with fruit flowers.
Who won? Not me and Kim :( The giant, thick icing rainbow cake won! Congrats, Robbie. Yeah, I would have picked that one, too...not only to eat but to look at. It was very pretty and it said, "You give us hope" on it, which is what the contest was all about.
So next time you're having a big dinner or piece of cake, think about those who are less fortunate and make a donation to the North Texas Food Bank or the Tarrant Food Bank. Both accept food for pets as well. Next time you shop at Kroger, pay careful attention to all the food with the yellow labels. For a two week period, yellow shelf tags will be displayed in front of certain products. Everytime a yellow tag product is purchased, a portion of the proceeds will go to the North Texas area food banks.
I'm not sure if Kroger cakes have the yellow tags on them, but the cake tasted great! We were allowed to take our decorated cakes with us (after all, no one would buy mine!!) But the crew here at The 33 enjoyed the cake. Last time I looked in the kitchen, there was one piece left.
So thank you, Kroger, for helping North Texas and Tarrant Area Food banks, and for giving me the opportunity to help. Ch 33...if I ever am invited to another contest, I'll practice first :)
Here's the finished, non-winning cake!!! It was still delicious :)
When I got to Kroger on Mockingbird, I met with the wonderful pastry chefs and the other contestants, some of whom I already knew, so it was a little reunion for us. (Hi Autumn and Teresa!) Each of us contestants was paired with a gifted pastry chef. We were given a blank sheet cake, a bunch of frosting thankfully already put into pastry bags, and a cornucopia of fruit with which to decorate the cake anyway we wished. There were food bank logos to include in our design.
My pastry chef expert, Kim, and I quickly came up with an idea: do the Food Bank logo on one side of the cake, and make flowers out of the fruit. We were given 20 minutes to decorate the cake. 20 minutes!!!! Now I (sort of) know what the people on the Cake Challenges on Food Network go through....and they have 8 HOURS. It's nerve-wracking!
After frosting the cake (the frosting kept falling off! How does that even happen??) and starting the first decorations, my arm was already numb from squeezing frosting. Pastry chefs must have arms like Popeye. Kim nudged me and told me the contestant right next to us was doing the exact idea we'd just come up with! Wha...???? It's easy to come up with similar designs when you're given the same frostings and toppings, and three of our cakes looked very similar. Anywaaaaay.....the pastry bags of frosting also had decorating tips with them. My leaf tip (you cake decorators know what I'm talking about) was bent or something. It was making horrible leaves! Who likes yucky leaves? Who would EAT yucky leaves? I scraped them all off and heard gasps when I did that. Maybe it was a mistake. Kim found a better leaf tip, and we were back on track.
I wanted to "filet" the strawberries and fan them out to look like flowers. I'm sure there's an actual name for that, but I have no idea what it is. I must ask Jon Bonnell, of Bonnell's restaurant, as he taught me how to do that long ago. We had no knife. We had scissors. I used the scissors and got some very rough looking strawberry flowers. I added a few mandarin orange slices and some blackberries, Kim REALLY wanted sprinkles so I threw some of those on, made a "33" from pineapple, and time was called. It wasn't a pretty cake. When I looked at all the other contestants' cakes, I was blown away! Their cakes were SO pretty. Their strawberries were perfectly cut! I asked how they did that...and they all had knives!!! Ha-ha...so I learned to ask for knives in cake decorating contests if I don't have one.
One cake had big frosting smiley face balloons on it. One had a giant, thick icing rainbow and a TON of sprinkles. (That's the one I would choose to eat.) One was a wreck. It really was...it depicted two cars crashing into each other to symbolize two competitors "crashing out". The other cakes were pretty similar: we all had the Food Bank logos with fruit flowers.
Who won? Not me and Kim :( The giant, thick icing rainbow cake won! Congrats, Robbie. Yeah, I would have picked that one, too...not only to eat but to look at. It was very pretty and it said, "You give us hope" on it, which is what the contest was all about.
So next time you're having a big dinner or piece of cake, think about those who are less fortunate and make a donation to the North Texas Food Bank or the Tarrant Food Bank. Both accept food for pets as well. Next time you shop at Kroger, pay careful attention to all the food with the yellow labels. For a two week period, yellow shelf tags will be displayed in front of certain products. Everytime a yellow tag product is purchased, a portion of the proceeds will go to the North Texas area food banks.
I'm not sure if Kroger cakes have the yellow tags on them, but the cake tasted great! We were allowed to take our decorated cakes with us (after all, no one would buy mine!!) But the crew here at The 33 enjoyed the cake. Last time I looked in the kitchen, there was one piece left.
So thank you, Kroger, for helping North Texas and Tarrant Area Food banks, and for giving me the opportunity to help. Ch 33...if I ever am invited to another contest, I'll practice first :)
Here's the finished, non-winning cake!!! It was still delicious :)
Jun
18
2:17PM | June 18, 2009 | posted by Rebecca Miller | comments: 3
Is it "hot" when it's not 100º ???
It's a discussion I hear all the time. Call it "hot" when it's in the 90s, and a slew of e-mails arrive saying it's not officially "hot" until it's 100º. And while the heat index has been 100º or higher this week, the actual temperature has reached its highest reading of 98º Tuesday afternoon. Close, but not 100º....
The heat index is another story. Based on how hot you feel when the humidity is factored into the temperature, it's completely subjective. I actually do not like to use it at all...I don't like to tell people how they feel. There's no way I could know how you feel in the heat.
Being from New Orleans, this week has been just fine by me. I'm used to much higher humidity. Take someone from the desert, and 100º might not feel too bad, either, but throw in our humidity, and it might feel extremely oppressive to that person.
So if you find yourself feeling worn down by the heat and humidity, make sure you take precautions: dress in light colored, loose-fitting clothing. Take plenty of breaks when working outdoors. Drink plenty of fluids...anything containing caffeine will dehydrate you; alcohol is also not helpful in dealing with heat. Make sure you provide shelter and plenty of water for outdoor pets. Heat and humidity affect them, too. Check on the elderly or those who are ill.
Heat is the number ONE weather killer.
The heat index is another story. Based on how hot you feel when the humidity is factored into the temperature, it's completely subjective. I actually do not like to use it at all...I don't like to tell people how they feel. There's no way I could know how you feel in the heat.
Being from New Orleans, this week has been just fine by me. I'm used to much higher humidity. Take someone from the desert, and 100º might not feel too bad, either, but throw in our humidity, and it might feel extremely oppressive to that person.
So if you find yourself feeling worn down by the heat and humidity, make sure you take precautions: dress in light colored, loose-fitting clothing. Take plenty of breaks when working outdoors. Drink plenty of fluids...anything containing caffeine will dehydrate you; alcohol is also not helpful in dealing with heat. Make sure you provide shelter and plenty of water for outdoor pets. Heat and humidity affect them, too. Check on the elderly or those who are ill.
Heat is the number ONE weather killer.
Jun
29
3:36PM | June 29, 2009 | posted by Rebecca Miller | comments: 1
FINALLY! Some "cool" air, but how long will it last?
Saturday and Sunday marked the hottest temperatures we've seen so far this year at the official reporting site, DFW airport: it was 103 both days. On June 26 and 27, 1980, we hit the hottest temperatures ever recorded here: 113, so I guess you could argue that it could be worse. Still, this is only the beginning of summer, and it typically hits 100 or better 16 days each summer. So far, we've had 5 triple digit days. 11 more to go :)
The average first 100 degree day is July 1, so we weren't too far off this year. Once it hits 100, people start asking when the heat will end. We've hit 100 as late as Oct 3, 1951 when it was 106! My personal rule of thumb is that we don't really cool off until the Great State Fair of Texas comes to an end. This year, it ends on October 18.
The average first 100 degree day is July 1, so we weren't too far off this year. Once it hits 100, people start asking when the heat will end. We've hit 100 as late as Oct 3, 1951 when it was 106! My personal rule of thumb is that we don't really cool off until the Great State Fair of Texas comes to an end. This year, it ends on October 18.
