Thanks for the Great advice on Freezing without doing the Pectin sugar syrup way. Also I read back in a book about 10 years ago.. our forefathers and mothers use to take barrels or Brandy and Preserved their peaches that way. Modern times would be is take 24 oz mason jars- Peel and Pit your Peaches cut in 1/2 -Sterilize Mason Jars after sterilized jars set up- Stick a cinnamon stick a the innards of a vanilla Bean (of course both are optional but it's to give it more flavor- fill Jar with peach leaving at least 1in from top-..Warm a Med expensive Brandy (plain Unflavored- Not the cheapest not the most expensive) Or you can even do it w/ Southern comfort- ( make sure you get enough Brandy ( it's not as cheap now as it was back then) warm brandy on medium heat ( do not boil but make sure it's Hot- Take off Heat- and fill up jars- Put on lids and screw on tops . Put in canner and do a hot bath for 10 Min. let it cool down for 24 hours to make sure tops have set and sealed.. Label and set date.. Alcohol is a Natural Preservative.. No sugar or Pectin needed- Can last for probably 3= years- ,, so what do you do with the peaches-?.. Peach Pie.. Peach Jam it with have the flavors of the Brandy and spices but the alcohol will Burn off-- What do with Brandy? well now you have All Natural Flavored Vanilla Cinnamon Peach Brandy-- This could be used as a sipping brandy for special occasions.. Holidays etc.. I Make Rum, Bourbon and Brandy Balls around the Holidays-Make a Brandy Cake (Instead of rum or Bourbon) Marinade a Duck, Turkey Pheasant, or Chicken In a Baking Bag and Let it Cook in a Baking Bag- You will have the most succulent tender bird.. and the alcohol cooks off.. Save enough put it in a Gravy pitcher.. Light it on fire and pour over your Bird.. for a flare of elegance.. (it burns Off)

The trick to protecting plants from cold is not just to cover them, but cover them *including* something that holds a lot of heat. For example, cover them, and the ground under them. The ground holds a lot of heat, and will slowly release that heat during the time when the air is coldest, into the air trapped inside. If you have a tall potted plant, include the pot in the wrap. Same thing. Seal the edges. Don't invite the cold air to get in. If the edges of the tarp are on the ground, throw some 2x4s on the edges to hold them down. What is funny (and sad) is where I see people wrapping a *plant*. Just the plant. Like a tree in a pot with a tarp just around the tree. That's a sure way to kill the plant. What you've wrapped up has no source of stored heat, and the temperature inside will pretty quickly drop to the air temperature outside. A blanket around a person is warm because a person makes heat. A plant does not. Obviously, in doing this, insulation helps. For a really hard freeze, layer multiple tarps. I throw a sleeping bag over plastic tarps. For the worst freezes, and a few square yards of bed, put a 100W light bulb inside on the ground under the tarp, on an extension cord. I've kept some peppers alive this winter, and we've seen multiple hard freezes, with temps going down to the low 20s. Well, it looks like my three year old bananas bit the dust, but my TAMU Jalapenos will survive.

In my family we have a relatively even mix of the "frosting" people and the "middle of the cake" people, so everyone would be happy somehow. I would simply cut the cake into three pieces straight across, then cut the two outside edges into 6 and the middle into 8 or 10, so you'd have a few extra pieces in case someone wanted seconds or dropped a piece, etc. Elery, of course, got out the calculator and is figuring that the pieces should be approximately 2.55 inches thick, we're working on length, LOL. If you cut wedges, you would need each wedge to be 1.559 inches wide on the outside edge. (grin) dlbk, I've found that the easiest filling to cut is good old buttercream, the gloppier fruit or custard fillings are a bit messier and prone to falling apart after cutting. Be sure you have a sharp knife, nothing is going to hack up a cake more than a dull knife. I like serrated but others like a straight blade (which I think crushes the layers if they are delicate). Annie This post was edited by annie1992 on Sat, Jun 8, 13 at 19:35

Tracey! What you are making is very similar to a Dobos Torte (in Hungarian "Drum Cake") without the Dobos ("Drum") layer. It sounds wonderful! If I may be so bold, you may want to take a look at the following link ad actually put the "drum" layer on the top. This is an amazing presentation and will knock the socks off the recipient and anyone else who gets a taste. My mom has made this for me a few times as I was growing up... and I may have to make one jsut because it is unbelievable..... Alexa Here is a link that might be useful: Dobos Torte DrumCake