What a beautiful cake! Sigh..I loved all the wedding hoopla and wish them a long and happy life together. I must say, I was more intrigued with William's groom's cake than the actual wedding cake...Oprah had Diana's former chef on yesterday and he said it was a biscuit cake which I've never heard of. Looks like crunched up cookies coated in chocolate and shaped into a cake. Has anyone made this before? Anyways, I think I'm going to have to make this! Chocolate Biscuit cake Ingredients 1/2 tsp. butter , for greasing 8 ounces Rich tea biscuits 4 ounces unsalted butter , softened 4 ounces granulated sugar 4 ounces dark chocolate , for the cake 1 egg 8 ounces dark chocolate , for coating 1 ounce chocolate , for decorating Directions To make cake: Lightly grease a 6" x 2 1/2" cake ring and place on a tray on a sheet of parchment paper. Break each of the biscuits into almond-size pieces by hand and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until the mixture starts to lighten. Melt the 4 ounces of dark chocolate and add to the butter mixture while constantly stirring. Beat the egg into the mixture. Fold in the biscuit pieces until they are all coated with the chocolate mixture. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake ring. Try to fill all of the gaps on the bottom of the ring because this will be the top when it is unmolded. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. To coat and decorate: Remove the cake from the refrigerator and let it stand while you melt the 8 ounces of dark chocolate. Slide the ring off the cake and turn it upside down onto a cake wire. Pour the melted chocolate over the cake and smooth the top and sides using a palette knife. Allow the chocolate to set at room temperature. Carefully run a knife around the bottom of the cake where the chocolate has stuck to the cake wire and lift it onto a tea plate. Melt the remaining 1 ounce of chocolate and use to decorate the top of the cake. .. Here is a link that might be useful: Picture of the grooom's cake

When I worked weddings back in the 80s most weddings averaged around 150-200 guests. It was a moderately-priced venue - you could do fancy but most people stuck to the basics (stuffed chicken!). Family-style meals were also common (and probably the least expensive option I think). We didn't do buffets for weddings. There were weddings in the 200s but over 300 was extremely rare. Anything larger couldn't fit in our building so that's why we didn't see the really big ones. There could have been plenty of those big weddings at other venues for all I know but I doubt it

Here's a couple pictures of the faucet. You can see the hot/cold levers on the left and right side of the faucet. The lever in the center is how you choose between the faucet and the sprayer. When it is vertical, it sends water to the faucet and to use the sprayer you turn it 90 degrees to the left. If you look at the picture of the sprayer, there is a metal ring that you can slide over the handle to keep it depressed and be "hands free." We never use it. Also, the spray comes out in a fan shape which works great for spraying stuff off. It really doesn't flow that much water when you use the sprayer and I like that. However, the faucet puts out a really good flow - which is nice when filling pots. The sink is a Whitehaus WH3018 and is 30" wide by 18" to the back by 10" deep. We really like having one large sink instead of the traditional two. We also purchased the metal grate that goes in the bottom and had to purchase the drain fittings specific to this sink as well (we don't have a garbage disposal but it was an option). We bought it from bluebath.com but it is available many other places. I can't remember where we bought the sprayer from - I think I just kept Googling the model number and went with the best price I could find. As far as cleaning the faucet goes, we just use Clorox wipes. It has some nooks and crannies that take a little work to clean out but it's not too bad at all. The "spring" part at the base of the hose slides up and down so cleaning it is easy (though it really doesn't get that dirty). Again, I highly recommend both the sink and the faucet. Have had no issues with either. I looked around at some of the quasi-commercial faucets from some of the big-name manufacturers and they were way too expensive. I don't know what these faucets cost today but I don't think we spent more than about $300 or so. But it should last us FOREVER.

Well I'm NOT a blue person. Indoors I have NO blue. My husband doesn't understand this. I have no idea why I feel this way. Outdoors things are different! I have a blue/yellow/white garden bed which I love. Yes, delphineums, catananche, campanulas, baptisia and more, are mixed with trollius, coreopsis moonbeam, peony Claire de Lune and low growing white clematis and aquilegia. It is a big mix and wouldn't be any fun at all without the blue! There are loads of clematis that are purple or blue/purple, but also some very nice blues I think. You do get into the question of "what is blue?" My husband and I think this could well be a male/female issue! Also, by saying a flower is blue, perhaps a catalogue gains more sales? * Posted by: coolbeans (My Page) on Sat, Feb 2, 02 at 13:12 This is my VERY favorite thread, and I totally agree with all those who feel that there is just "something" about blue flowers; they ARE magical, they ARE very special; and they make me happier than any other color flower. Don't know why...I just started a flat full of Bluebird delphinium seeds I saved from my one lonely plant last year. A bunch of them germinated, so now I can't wait to have a huge stand of them! Maybe they won't bloom this year, but maybe they will. And also "true blue" penstemons, I'm trying for the first time. I can't get enough of this precious color. * Posted by: Anne_Marie_Alb (My Page) on Tue, Feb 5, 02 at 17:47 WOW....... Did anyone realize that this thread started almost 5 years ago... on Feb. 15, 1997!!!!! I am amazed it has survived that long. Probably, the oldest thread still on the top page! I wonder if "Clare B" (who started the thread) is still an active member of the Garden Web!!! I personally love blue flowers (I mean blue, and not purple, which I also like). I can't believe how many blue flowers I am starting from seeds this year... and that was just a pure coincidence! I also love RED flowers.. Maybe, I should start a "red flower" thread! I will first check the archives! * Posted by: Clare (My Page) on Thu, Feb 7, 02 at 20:34 Yes, Ann_Marie, I am still here! I will be a bit sad to see this thread fade away when it hits the 100 posts mark. After that, the threads are closed. I don't think I have any true blue flowers still. "Victoria Blue" Salvia is the closest thing. I use it a lot. It is such a heavy, long bloomer, and about one in twenty of them will survive winter here. Just wish I could predict which would survive so that I could save seed from those alone and perhaps work up a more hardy strain. By the way, the Hydrangeas in Memphis, Tennessee are incredible. Some are so saturated blue that I'd have to call them navy. * Posted by: Dswan (My Page) on Sat, Feb 9, 02 at 22:37 I'm going to add to this extremely long thread only because there really is something to true blue. I grow from seed a very difficult plant to propagate called Penstemon cyananthus or Wasatch Penstemon. I cold stratify and plant these every year in hopes of gettting one or two in my garden every year. Absolutely gorgeous. * Posted by: Rosa (My Page) on Mon, Mar 11, 02 at 10:24 Did no one mention Gentians-now those are blue! (along with my favorite penstemson of course-some are indeed blue). * Posted by: pineshade7b ) on Mon, Apr 15, 02 at 11:02 i agree with gloria mc coy. i love blue and green , they are my favorite colors in anything. just look in my house and closets. blue..ocean, blue jeans, my own eyes are blue and my husband's are green. many reasons to answer -why blue. although i do not "hyperventilate" , if i should go into a nursery and ask for a blue -flowering plant and the staff looks down their nose at me, i'll know now that they are only doing it because they think I'M a snob. until i adopted gardening as a serious hobby i had no idea that blue was a "snob" color. i just naturally began to look into flowers in the colors i liked personally. you learn something new everyday. i would have been hurt and confused to walk into a nursery and be looked at like a pariah, what did i say? now i know, thanks clare. * Posted by: DesertGardner (My Page) on Fri, Apr 19, 02 at 12:38 Wow - I never knew there was such a controversy over the color blue in the garden. After reading all the posts, I now understand why some gardeners prefer the color. And I have to say that I've never met any gardeners whom I would consider snobbish. Most of them are really quite down to earth! (if you pardon the expression...) I recently tried planting a red, white and blue flower bed, with 'Victoria Blue' Salvia being my blue color. It's a little too purple and doesn't look right as a "patriotic" design. I will probably tear out the red and white and keep the "blue" (purple) since it seems to like this desert heat. Someone mentioned black flowers, and I remembered seeing black pansies in the most recent Burpee catalog. They're a beautiful velvety black with a spot of yellow in the center. I think I'll plant some this winter, and start an obsession with black flowers! (just kidding Clare...) -Kara [* Posted by: yeona_sky (My Page) on Mon, Jun 24, 02 at 0:37 I just bought a blue poppy and am nervously watching its progress. My success with blues has been an up hill battle, but that hasn't changed my desire to spotlight it in my garden. Why blue?, again it's a passion with me. Clare, I hope you get the last word on this thread, and I hope you understand Why blue, a little better. * Posted by: Duster (My Page) on Wed, Jun 26, 02 at 23:56 I agree with the many others about getting annoyed when purple is referred to as blue. Maybe that's why I take up the cause of truly blue flowers! 99% of my Delphiniums are the true electric blue ones. I'd love one of the Himalayan Poppies but just not right for my little yard. I like the blue flowers, rather than the blue foliage plants. And no, blue is NOT my favorite color - I have nothing blue in my home decor. I just like the uniqueness of the TRUE blue and my stubbornness to get people to stop calling it purple!!!!