A little something for a cold evening.

I had planned to spend tonight reading this for my Thursday book club

but instead I am watching this

and I baked and am tasting this.

The TV show - great. Clear your schedule and watch this whole WEEK of specials about photography. See stunning pictures! Hear old cigar-chomping east coast guys talk about driving across the country in a borrowed VW bus in 1954! Seriously, it's quite a quick survey but very interesting and worth one's time.

The cake - worth one's time, but not as interesting. What's good about it: it's sweet, with a crispy sugary outside, and it only takes half an hour and is totally do-able with stuff from the pantry.

I would hate to indicate that I have become such a food snob that I cannot appreciate an easy recipe and a sweet, warm cake. (It may be true, I would just hate to indicate it.) But I kind of want this cake to be something besides just sweet - tarter, or saltier, or crunchier or something. (Hmmm - if you made it as cupcakes, there would be more crispy, sticky edges. You'd have to use pineapple chunks, and it would probably take more butter and sugar in the pans...but that would be lovely, right? Little individual upsidedown cakes? Perhaps with a little squirt of caramel or whiskey sauce? Hmmmm....)

I am digging this book. (Incidentally, unlike the recipe linked above, the book is written in American terms. Hooray! After the BATTLE OF THE FLAPJACK RECIPES, I cannot take this for granted.)Her 'goodness me, I'm adorable' smile begins to wear on one, but the food shots are gorgeous, and I must say - my cake came out looking precisely like hers.