Offbeat

Chefs hope to take the cake in record books
HARTFORD, Conn. “”mdash; Mohegan Sun pastry chefs have been working
hard all week to prove that you can have your cake and eat it too.
They are building what they hope will be the world’s largest
wedding cake. The seven-tier cake weighs more than 14,000 pounds
and measures about 17-feet tall, and is making its debut at the
casino in Uncasville on Sunday. “It just keeps going
up,” executive pastry chef Lynn Mansel said. “I still
can’t believe we did it.” Mansel is hoping to top the
Guinness Book world record set by a 5,334 pound cake baked in June
2003 at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla. Mansel and his crew
began assembling the massive white cake last Sunday. The top
ingredients include 10,000 pounds of cake batter and 4,810 pounds
of frosting, he said. The cake rests on a gigantic scale for
measuring purposes, and each tier is separated by steel discs.
“I had to think a lot,” Mansel said of the design.
“I had to think of all the wedding cakes I’ve already
done and then multiply that by 100.” Forklifts were needed to
raise and carefully place each tier, while the crew used a boom
““ a mini-crane ““ to decorate the top of the cake. With
a Sunday deadline, the team was in overdrive, working to cover any
cracks with frosting and adding the finishing touches ““
chocolate bows and hearts ““ to the vanilla-flavored cake.
Mansel came up with the idea this fall as a way to draw attention
to the New England Bridal Showcase at the casino. The event
features wedding planners, photographers and caterers. “Back
then I thought he (Mansel) was crazy,” said pastry chef Brett
Barnaby. “It just seemed so unreachable.” And now?
“Well now, I guess I think anything is possible,”
Barnaby said, laughing. In order to ensure a mention in the
Guinness Book of World Records, the crew has been taking pictures
to verify the size and weight of the cake all week. The Mohegan
Tribal Health Department is acting as an independent party to
record the cake’s ingredients and to make sure, most
importantly, that the cake is edible. “The biggest thing is
that the cake is cake, that it can be eaten,” said Saverio
Mancini, a spokesman for Mohegan Sun. Guests at the bridal show
will have a chance to sample the cake Sunday. All of the evidence
will immediately be sent to the Guinness Book of World
Records’ main office in London where it will be scrutinized,
spokeswoman Kate White said. It can take between one or two months
for an entry to be accepted or denied, she said. “I would say
this has a good chance of making it,” White said.
“It’s more than double the weight of the first
cake.” All leftovers ““ and they expect to have a lot
““ are being shipped to a pig farm in Montville. The casino is
concerned the cake won’t remain fresh by Monday, Mancini
said. But Mansel doesn’t think the pigs will mind all that
much. “Those are going to be some very sweet pigs,” he
said. The New England Bridal Showcase begins at 11 a.m. on Sunday
in the Uncas Ballroom at Mohegan Sun. The final, seventh tier is to
be ceremoniously placed on the cake at 2 p.m., and the first piece
of the cake is expected be cut at 4:30 p.m.

After two years, man finds his dead live-in
brother LONDON “”mdash; Police are investigating the case
of an elderly man who apparently didn’t discover that his
brother had died in their mobile home until 18 months later. On
Dec. 3, Herbert Silver, 72, called police to tell them of the
“sudden death” of his 75-year-old brother, George. When
authorities visited the scene, they found a decomposing body.
George’s cadaver was found in his bedroom in the home in
Fordingbridge, a town in southern England. Police declined to
comment Thursday about what might have happened, saying an inquest
would be held about how Herbert Silver could not have noticed for
so long that his brother was dead. A post-mortem examination could
not find a cause of death, but police ruled out suspicious
circumstances. The inquest is scheduled to begin on Feb. 19, a
Hampshire police spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity.

Smelly menagerie discovered in van in Texas
PALESTINE, Texas “”mdash; A state trooper found 23 dogs, three cats
and a chicken in a van during an East Texas traffic stop, and he
said the driver and her elderly passenger were covered in animal
feces. “When I approached the van I could smell the stench 20
to 30 feet away,” Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper
Jim Cleland told the Palestine Herald-Press in its Thursday
editions. “It was then I discovered the animals.” He
said feces were piled up to one foot high in parts of the van.
Robin Vanwert, 51, of Marshall, was arrested on suspicion of
drunken driving after the Wednesday afternoon stop on U.S. 79 just
east of Palestine, about 100 miles southeast of Dallas. She was
being held Thursday in the Anderson County jail. Bond had not been
set. The passenger was described as an elderly disabled man and was
taken to a local motel, Cleland said. The animals were taken to the
Anderson County Humane Society shelter. Virginia Hightower, a board
member at the shelter, said the animals ranged in sizes and breeds.
They appeared to be in good condition but will be evaluated, she
said. “We think that she was just picking up animals,”
Hightower said. “It looks like the animals have been in (the
van) for months,” said Palestine animal control officer Terry
Garner.

Men disqualified for dolling up their cattle
COLUMBUS, Ohio “”mdash; Three livestock exhibitors at last
year’s Ohio State Fair have been disqualified for allegedly
outfitting their Holstein cows with hairpieces. State Fair
inspectors said the three glued or painted hair from another part
of the animal or from another animal to create straighter backs on
the cows and enhance their appearance in the show ring. Kreg Krebs
and his brother Kenneth of Fredericksburg, and Scott Long of
Clayton, Mich., could be required to forfeit all winnings, said
Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Melanie Wilt. The winnings
had been withheld by fair officials. Wilt said state inspectors at
the fair discovered the fake hair when the cows were leaving the
show ring on Aug. 10. The men have 30 days to request a hearing in
which they could present their cases to an independent hearing
officer.

Utah proposes bill to fight fast food lawsuits
SALT LAKE CITY “”mdash; You might not be able to blame that
fast-food restaurant for your own super size, at least not in Utah.
A proposed Senate bill would shield Utah restaurants from lawsuits
filed by people who claim the restaurant’s food made them
fat. “It’s becoming a national trend and there’s
a potential it could occur here in Utah,” said sponsor Sen.
Howard Stephenson. Utah Restaurant Association president Melva Sine
said her organization helped to draft the bill, which has yet to
surface in this year’s legislative session. “We would
hate for restaurants to spend time, money and effort on something
that’s going to be tossed out anyway,” Sine said.
Nationally, no plaintiff has ever succeeded in obesity-related
claims against restaurants. Last year, a federal judge in New York
dismissed two class-action lawsuits blaming McDonald’s for
making people fat.

Amateur stuntman fails jump, gets fined
SHERIDAN, Wyo. “”mdash; A man who drove an old car into a pond in a
failed attempt to jump over it ““ Evel Knievel-style ““
has been sentenced to 270 days in jail. Wayland Justin Williams,
24, pleaded guilty Tuesday to property destruction, dispensing an
offensive matter in a pond and abandoning a motor vehicle on state
land. Circuit Judge John Sampson fined him $690. For driving
through a fence, Williams must also pay $200 to a rancher who holds
a state permit to graze livestock on the land. According to court
documents, Williams polluted the bass pond with oil and gasoline
when he drove the old Buick into it. The Sheridan County
sheriff’s report notes: “Wayland claimed he had tried
to jump the pond with the green Buick, and that he would have made
it had he built a ramp.” Sheriff Dave Hofmeier was pleased
with the sentence. “It’s also nice to see a severe
punishment for damaging our state lands. This will be a message to
the rest of the public, and hopefully we can get better care of our
state lands,” he said.

Reports from Bruin wire services.