Rainbow Cake

I promised my friend Rula I would post more. We have a blog pact which I have been neglecting but I know she will both appreciate this cake and the sentiment behind it! This rainbow cake is in celebration of Ref 74 passing in Washington. I am super happy to live in a state where gay men and women have the same rights as everyone else, to marry the person that they love. In Washington, the additional revenue from marriage licenses for same-sex marriage (conservatively estimated at $50,000) will be going to help at risk LGBT youth. We also legalized marijuana but just to be clear, this cake isn't "special". Just beautiful and delicious.

Walnut and Honey Soda Bread

Seattle's summer may finally be coming to an end. We had our first day of rain in 48 days (3 days from the longest dry spell in 1951). I know it isn't officially fall yet but there is definitely a different feel in the air today and in honor of that I am posting this very Fall recipe.

Danishes

 Two friends of mine got married, which was lovely. They had a potluck brunch for their wedding reception. The groom is particularly big in the swing dance scene. It was probably the most impressive wedding I've been to. When the dancing started the dance floor was immediately full of people who clearly knew what they were doing. Girls were being thrown in the air. Basically it looked like a movie in a wedding. It was pretty fantastic.

Pear Muffins

And now for something completely different from macarons, which seem to be elusively difficult to get right these muffins are basically impossible to get wrong.The most challenging part is chopping up the walnuts, which always results in my kitchen having walnut pieces in the oddest places. I could by walnuts already chopped, but I like them to be a bit chunkier than the ones you can find. I like some good substantial pieces of walnuts in my muffins.

Mocha Macarons

 When I went to Paris with my mom and aunt I had macarons for the first time. Real French macaron not American macaron with coconut (shudder). I consider myself a reasonably adept baker but was unable to master the macaron so I was very excited when I saw a French cooking class offered. I learned a lot. Apparently a lot of French cooking is about mastering the properly beaten egg white. We made a pear tatin, marshmallows (which I will have to make and post as they are great fun) and souffles.

Cinnamon Mini-Muffins

I brought these mini-muffins to the Game of Thrones season 2 premier at my friends house. They were a big hit. I read all the books in the series and gradually hated myself more and more for it. The author is a good suspense builder but not really a good writer or storyteller. I'm a huge book snob and could (and have) spend a great amount of time ranting about badly written but popular books so I will restrain myself to saying; do not read the books. Please. For me. Spend your time reading something better like the King Killer Chronicles.

Chocolate-Cream Cheese-Peanut Butter Bars

Hey, guess what: I'm alive! I know it has been hard to tell based on my posting frequency, but I'm hoping this recipe will make up for it. This is a peanut butter cookie bar base with a lay of chocolate, followed by a layer of cream cheese and peanut butter, topped with more crumbled peanut butter cookies. Yeah, I know, you still love me.