Peanut Butter Blues

I'm obsessed with Peanut Butter. I think I've mentioned this before (Reese's Cupcakes?), but it's worth mentioning again. I find any excuse to use PB in any and everything. So when big sis Lindsay came home for the weekend and wanted to bake, there was no doubt what I would use. We both have a love for Reese's so this cake just made sense.

I used a basic chocolate cake recipe. My favorite is The Best Chocolate Cake Ever recipe that I used in my S'Mores cupcakes, but I didn't have all of the ingredients so I made this cake from Hershey.com. It was okay, but turned out a little dry (I did forget I left the mixer on and had a panic attack after it had mixed for a minute too long so that may have been the cause). I used a normal PB Buttercream similar to the one from the Reese's Cupcakes a few posts down. (Salted Butter, Shortening, LOTS of PB, Powdered Sugar, and Whipping Cream) I've been adding Whipping cream to my buttercream just because it makes a great consistency. Throw in some chopped Reese's in the layers and on top and sides for garnish and you have a great cake. It's very rich though so a glass of milk will most likely be needed!

I took a little 3 day trip to Atlanta with Mikey and my best friend Jessica and her boyfriend, Jeremy, this past week. We had some Six Flags fun and got to see a Braves game, which they won, of course. We did realize that we are getting a little too old for Theme Parks unless they institute an Adult-Only Day because if you are not really into kiddos like me, it's pretty much torture. At the Braves game, we had the awesome opportunity to meet Walter, an usher for the franchise for 47 years who is an Atlanta native. Walter was extremely generous and so friendly. When given any number from 1 to 100, Walter could tell you tons of random facts dealing with that number. Some facts included Presidents, geography, previous Olympic winners and results, as well as tons of baseball trivia. (The #10 is the best, his knowledge of Chipper Jones is IMMENSE). Walter said that he loves talking to people and learning about them and will often listen to fans conversations merely because he's "nosey." Walter had decided that if he made at least one friend every year that he ushered, he would have 47 new friends. I'm sure he has made MANY more than that. He also knows when to stop talking to people. He said if the eyes start wandering then they've had enough because the eyes don't lie. Walter gave us so much information about everything else that I wanted to know one very important thing about him: What's his favorite kind of cake?

His answer: "Plain. I'm a basic guy. I like the simple things in life. There's no point in going for all the fancy things."

Well said, Walter. Well said.