FREEZING GUIDELINES

As long as your freezer maintains a steady temperature of 0 degrees F., food can be safely frozen indefinitely. Quality, however, will eventually deteriorate.The "maximum suggested freezing time" below estimates how long frozen foodswill retain quality. Food Special Tips Storage Time

Thawing Hints:

Breads: yeast breads, coffee cakes, muffins and quick breads. Cool completely; do not frost or decorate. Place coffee cakes on foil-wrapped cardboard beforefreezing. Up to 1 month Unwrap slightly and thaw at room temperature for 2to 3 hours. Serve at room temperature or reheat, wrapped in foil, at 350 degrees F. for 15 to 20 minutes, or wrap in paper towels and microwave (briefly, to avoid a tough texture) for 5 to 40 seconds.

Cakes: both frosted and unfrosted cakes can be frozen Cool completely. Wrap unfrosted cake in airtight, moisture-proof wrap. Cool completely. Buttercream frosting freezes best. Allow frosting to harden by placing frosted cake in refrigerator or freezer before wrapping. Place layer cakes in cake containers or bakery boxes to prevent crushing. Unfrosted-4 to 6 months Frosted-1 to 3months Unfrosted-thaw at room temperature, covered, 2 to 3 hours. Frost or serve according to recipe. Frosted-thaw, loosely covered, overnight inrefrigerator

.Cookies: baked cookies can be frozen Wrap unfrosted cookies in airtight ,moisture-proof wrap or place in plastic containers. If frosted or decorated before freezing, first freeze quickly on cookie sheet; then package frozen cookies between layers of waxed paper in rigid container for further freezing.Unfrosted-4to 6 months Frosted-1 to 2 months Thaw in package at room temperature. For cookies that should be crisp when thawed, remove from container.

Pies: baked pumpkin or pecan pies and either baked or unbaked fruit pies. Cool baked pies quickly. For unbaked pies, brush the bottom pastry with eggwhite before filling to prevent it from becoming soggy. Do not slit the top pastry. Cover pies with an inverted foil or paper plate and then wrap. Baked: upto 4 months Unbaked: up to 3 months Baked: Unwrap and heat at 325 degrees F.for 45 minutes or until warm or room temperature. Unbaked: Unwrap, cut slits in the top pastry and bake at 425 degrees F. for 15 minutes, then bake at375 degrees F. for 30 to 45 minutes or until the center is bubbly.

Pies: chiffon, custard, pudding, cream and pies with meringue topping do notfreeze well. Do not freeze well.

You can freeze overripe bananas to later use when making banana bread,banana muffins, banana pancakes, banana waffles, as well as banana batteredFrenchtoast. You can either peel them and freeze them on a cookie sheet then putthem in a baggie or you can freeze them in the peel.To use let thaw and mash as normal for the recipe.If you leave them in the peel when you freeze them, you can just cut one endof the thawed out banana and squish the banana out.

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Decorating
When decorating cakes for a variety of occasions, you'll want to make sure that the colors you've chosen are delectable. Certain colors and color combinations may evoke a positive response from the taste buds of your cake-eating audience. Very intense colors are usually less appealing to the palate than are softer colors. Complimentary color schemes, which may work well in a striking graphic design, do not have much taste appeal. Finally, too many colors can create a hodgepodge of hues that compete with each other. Here are three sure-fire techniques selecting tasty color schemes that will appeal to the palate.
USE PASTEL COLORS The safest method for selecting colors is to use three pastel colors. Select the lightest color for the basic icing on the cake. If your colors are sufficiently pale, you can even combine complimentary colors without the jarring effect obtained complimentary colors at full strength. Note that you can increase the strength of one of the colors for a bit of contrast. For example, ice a birthday cake with white or pale ivory icing. Add pink roses (they can be shades of the same pink) with pale green leaves. The red and green on which the pastel colors are based would vibrate intensely if used at full strength, but they are both eye and appetite appealing when rendered in pastel hues. For a shower for a mom expecting a baby boy, ice the cake in pale blue. Add icing booties in pale yellow and white, or select pre-made decorations in the same colors.
Ideas for combining pastel colors are almost limitless, but here are some more suggestions for three-color pastel schemes:
* Pale yellow, delicate peach, and pale green
* Lavender, pale blue, and rose * White, pale blue, and pale blue violet
* Pale yellow, pink, and peach
USE A PASTEL BACKGROUND FOR INTENSE COLORS Clearly, there are occasions that call out for a cake with bright colors. Once again, using a pale icing as the background for brighter colors. This approach is often used for kid's birthday cakes, which may feature a cartoon character or other popular theme. For a clown cake, you'll want to use some bright primary colors. For the basic icing, use white or the palest of pinks. Then, you can use bright reds, blues, oranges, and even black icing or decorating gel to make the clowns features. Because the bright colors are used in small amounts against a light background, they provide both taste and eye appeal.
USE CHOCOLATE FOR A DARK BACKGROUND In general, dark colored icing is not very appealing. Most of us are not likely to greet an acid green, navy blue, or intense red cake with enthusiasm. Without fail, though, chocolate lovers will greet the dark brown color of a cake iced in chocolate or fudge icing with high expectations for the flavor. When you ice a cake with chocolate icing, decorate it with pastel colors. Once again, limit the color palette to two or three pastels. For Father's Day, make a rectangular cake and ice it with chocolate fudge icing. Turn the cake so that the narrower side is at the top. Near the top of the cake, with ivory icing create a shirt collar. Use pale orange to create a necktie below the collar. Add a design to the tie in a slightly deeper orange.
Other colors that look especially nice against a dark brown background are: * pale yellow, peach, and orange * pale yellow, pale green, and white * pale pink, peach, and white * white, pale turquoise, and peach * pale yellow and peach * white and pale orange Finally, as you choose colors for your cake, think about colors that occur naturally in the foods we eat every day. That will help you stay away from colors like chartreuse, intense blue greens, and intense purples, that appear particularly acid or poisonous. Pastel color schemes are the safest, but brighter colors can be used very successfully against a pale background.
Marla

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