pumpkin cake

I made a pumpkin cake. Because I had a can of pumpkin.

Pumpkin Cake
recipe found online....

2 cups (400g) sugar
1 cup (236ml) vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 cups (250g) all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1-15 oz can of pumpkin puree

Oven 350F.
Grease a traditional size bundt pan. 
Whisk sugar, oil and eggs for a couple of minutes until well combined.
In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.
Slowly add in the dry ingredients into the sugar mix, until well mixed.
Stir in pumpkin puree until just combined.
Pour batter into pan.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top sptings back when lightly poked.
Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes in pan, then unmold onto a plate and cool completely.




My LA trip has come and gone and it didn't quite work out as expected. My flight in was nearly an hour late because they 'couldn't find the plane' for a bit. The friend I was staying with ended up having to work most of the weekend and the pouring rain made walking around kind of miserable. I did end up going to a few cool spots that made the trip. 

First was Intelligentsia coffee in Silver Lake, which was about a half hour walk from the apartment. The most hipster of hipster places I have been in quite a while. The location was awesome, right next to a cheese shop and across from Mohawk General. I ordered a Red Eye, which at 6.50 was probably the most I have ever paid for a cup of coffee. But despite my initial reaction to tell the mustached guy behind the counter to go F off when he told me the price, I paid and waited the few minutes for my coffee. And it was a pretty damn good cup of coffee. I sat outside on their covered patio area and watched all the tattooed, vintage wearing kids walk by. 

Another place was the Annenberg Space for Photography. My friend said he was taking me somewhere on Sunday that was going to be a surprise. Despite all my pestering, he wouldn't tell me where we were going. Even on the drive their. So we pulled into the parking garage, and he led the way. Then I saw the sign and instantly got excited. I had never heard of this place but I was intrigued. They are all National Geographic images, plastered over all the walls, on screens playing with short descriptions and a film going on in the back. The images were gorgeous. They all showed so much emotion and life. The colors were vibrant. And the Martin Schoeller portraits of twins and people of mixed races were some of my favorites. They showed so much of the person.

My last enjoyable moment of the weekend was walking around the Original Farmers Market next to the grove. It was like a little maze of amazing food, produce and lots of people. By the New Orleans food one, their was live music and people dancing. Their was an ice cream shop that I had seen mentioned on some food program before. One with a bunch of pastries and giant croissants. It was impressive. I found the LA Market cookbook to bring back for a friend. For my last day their, when the rain had stopped, this was a good final stop.