I am actually thinking of writing again. I finally mustered up the courage to go to culinary school, got a culinary certificate and some restaurant experience under my belt now. This will be fun to see how much I’ve progressed and how much my posts will be changing. I will have to probably ask you for some cake tips though. Although I do love making them, they are still tricky to me! Have you tried the mayonnaise trick yet? I couldn’t believe how well it worked! Keep’em coming

I’ll give you 2 super simple but helpful tips here. 1st…you were close with the ring around the layer for support and stability, but you want to do it about an inch in and about triple as thick as you did. This will keep cakes from sliding, esp if you go with a filling. IE one of my favs is dark cherries in a black forest cakes.

Which brings me to tip 2….for a killer option, try frosting with real whipped cream. It’s always a good idea to stabilize the whipped cream, so it doesn’t melt & keeps it’s shape more than a couple hours. There are MANY methods, from products you can buy, to adding a small amount of gelatin (my suggestion) to some pudding mix in a pinch. Hit Google. I whip a Chantilly cream (hearty couple tsp of Vanilla & powdered sugar to taste w/stabilizer), frost the cake with that, then decorate. This is where I can give you tons of easy ideas that look like you really know what u are doing. Some of my fav cakes are the black forest I mentioned, a peach cake (killer on a summer day), and a chocolate mousse. And I agree with you….can’t go wrong with Nutella!! YUM! I am an OK scratch baker, but more often than not I use a Duncin Hines mix!! As for decorations, my masterpiece was a tiered wedding cake that had lilac wisteria draping down the cake. You can do this too!!!

Not knowing if u want more tips I I’ll stop here unless I hear from you…but welcome to the wonderful world of cake decorating! It’s fun!!! Anyway, glad I stumbled on your blog today…..off to keep checking it out! Glad to see this lovely cake you made for your friend!

Overall, I really enjoyed Oishii. The atmosphere was great and the quality of the fish was spectacular. I saw Wagyu on the menu, was it around $100? Eek! One day I hope I can try it. I’ve never had Wagyu cooked before but have always wanted to. I did try it raw once; it was thinly sliced and you squeeze lime juice over it to kill the bacteria, also gives it some yummy flavor. (I had it at Q Hot Pot in Chinatown if you are ever curious to try it). I must step up my Wagyu game!

By the way, I’ve only been to Highland Kitchen once for brunch but your review makes me want to try dinner there! If the goat stew is that good, I am looking forward to trying it soon.

Setting cost aside entirely, I highly recommend getting the wagyu if you feel up for splurging there sometime. You cook the tiny strips on a hot stone yourself. It’s a lot of fun!