Dear Williams-Sonoma,

You are one of my favorite places to shop.  I love to look at your great selection of gourmet kitchen accessories and food products.  The recipes from your catalog and website are always exciting and delicious.  I have really enjoyed building a relationship with you.

It hurts me to say, however, that there is one thing that bothers me about your store that I just can’t get over.

You have the STICKIEST, HARDEST TO REMOVE price stickers that I have ever encountered!  This just happens to be one of my biggest pet peeves.  It frustrates me to no end to have to spend thirty minutes scrubbing and scraping at a price tag, only to have a tacky, gummy spot left on my spatula, bowl, measuring cup, etc.

Maybe you could carry a product in your store that removes the sticky from price stickers.  Or maybe you could just save us all a lot of time and irritation and just MAKE YOUR STICKERS LESS STICKY.

I sincerely hope we can continue our relationship in the future without your price tags getting in the way.

Yours truly,

Karen (who made this super moist and delicious Buttermilk Pound Cake using a loaf pan from Williams-Sonoma, which worked great even with the sticky patch on the bottom!)

Buttermilk Pound Cake

from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook

makes 1 loaf cake

Ingredients

• 2 cups sifted cake flour or 1 3/4 cups sifted bleached all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring the pan
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground mace
• 4 whole eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/4 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing the pan
• 1/2 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup tightly packed dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup whole or lowfat buttermilk (preferably whole) or sour cream

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease and flour and 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch (6 cup) loaf pan, or line the bottom with greased, floured waxed paper.
2. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt, and mace together twice.
3. In a measuring cup, whisk the eggs and vanilla together until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute.
4. In another large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until creamy, about 30 seconds. Add the light brown sugar, dark brown sugar, and granulated sugar and beat on high speed until the mixture is a maple-cream color and has a fluffy texture, about 2 minutes. Add the egg mixture in a thin stream and mix on slow speed about 2 minutes until it has been incorporated and the mixture has lightened in color and become smooth (it may look curdy, which is fine). Turn off the mixer and scrape down any batter clinging to the sides of the bowl.
5. Add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating them with two 1/4 cup additions of the buttermilk. To avoid overworking the batter, gently mix with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula after each addition until the ingredient is just incorporated.
6. Pour the batter into the pan and bake on the middle rack until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the cake’s center emerges clean, about 1 hour. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool in its pan on a rack for about 15 minutes. Then slide a thin paring knife around the edge of the pan and invert the cake.
7. Serve the cake immediately, warm, or let it cool completely on  the rack, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and store at room temperature up to 24 hours. If storing for longer, refrigerate for up to 3 days. Remember to remove the cake from the refrigerator 1 hour or more before serving to take the chill off.