I like the one for choc chip out of Mrs Field's cookbook. If you'd like the full recipe, let me know. But I think it's 16 oz cream cheese, 2 c sour cream, 3 eggs, vanilla, etc....Uses about 1.5 C of choc chips (1 cup mixed in the batter 1/2 c sprinkled of over top before baking). Made one for a party this week using the Ande Dinner Mint chips in place of the choc chips. It was very good. Going to try another one, but using oreo cookie crumbs for the crust instead of choc graham crackers.

If you are having many desserts....go with the making ahead and re crisping in the oven. as part of a dessert buffet they will be fine....but as a stand alone present on a plate with a decorative drizzle of chocolate and raspberry...they will not be as crisp/tender as they should be. But with carrot cake and who knows what else.....they will be fine. Not much is as good as freshly made....but we do what we have to do. My favorite Easter desserts... Angelfood cake cut into 3 layers, filled with pastry cream and sliced strawberries and re assembled....topped with whipped cream and serves with more berries. Angelfood cake layered with lemon curd and topped with whipped cream. Lemon chiffon pie...Strawberry pie ( graham cracker crust, fresh berries and strawberry glaze. Strawberry tart... But everything but the angelfood layered with lemon curd has to be made day of.... That's why I am having carrot cake and that's all!!!! Linda C

Thanks brushworks. "Substitute, it is the simple, easy answer." That's usually the case I guess. Actually, Advance was going to be the substitute.:) I've tried the CC. don't like the high sheen. If I use it, I would have to topcoat with water poly to get the right sheen. I guess that's an option though. Argh.... Do you happen to know if the 'Ace' version is as shiny as CC. Also, I'm trying to use a BM color (simply white). I wonder if BM sells a flattening agent.. Hmm.. Thanks for the BM link. Funny, they recommend Impervo (water) as they have another "tutorial" on their site showing best kitchen cab paint to be Advance (white). Here: http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/for-your-home/the-best-paint-for-cabinetry-jobs Anyway, your link refers to Alkyds yellowing. Hence my original question about Advance yellowing as it's not really a true alkyd. At least as far as I understand it. That said, It's probably too new of a product for anyone to really know it's degree of yellowing possibilities. I've found that Impervo (water) goes on like pancake batter and doesn't level at all. Maybe with half a jug of floetrol it might work. Target coatings tinted 6500 lacquer is pretty nice but they can't get the color right. So, I'm back to Advance. Actually, now I'm thinking of just top coating Bins Primer. Ok, I'm off to BM to see if they can tint the CC. More friggin samples I guess...... Sorry if this post is a little incongruent. My brain is fried from all this. It's pretty much the color and sheen that is the problem. Thanks

I totally agree with other posters. You make your offer based on FAIR market value, not on the asking price. Find out what sold recently, consider all factors i.e. location, shape of the house, extras. Find the closest comparable & go from there. Offer a little less to leave room for negotiations. Sometimes a comp is not a comp, although it may be indentical to the house your purchasing. There are circumstances where buyers sell for a lot less. If there is an emergency to sell, time of the year & other, the price usually drops tremendously because the owner needs to get out quickly. You cannot use that as a true comp. Those are the things that you consider when making an offer based on comps. I find asking prices are all over the place. Many buyers assume that everybody prices their homes too high because they are not familiar with close comps. Example: I went to an Open House yesterday. The house was overpriced by at least 100k. These people just put it on the market & threw up a figure, thinking the RE is appreciating like it did in 2004. If I were buying that house, I would make an offer for 120k less than the asking price. When I was selling my house, I already priced it 20k (579k instead of 599k)below comps. I would have been insulted with any offer for less than another 30k (550k) below asking. At that point, I figured 10% below what the true comparable was sufficient for the buyer. That's exactly what happened. I sold it for 550k. They got a good buy & I did ok, seeing that I needed to sell & it was in the dead of winter. Had I been selling in the spring, I would have wanted closer to my already lower than comps asking price. I may have settled around 569k.