#with chocolate ganache and peanut butter in the middle

[lyssified]

i made cupcakes any1 want some ❤️

[incorrectbatfam]

Do the batfamily members ever get too into their undercover work? (Undercover in an office and theyre worried about spreadsheets, working in a warehouse and coming home complaining about missing parts)

Bruce: Status updates on your undercover missions. Dick, you first. What have you got down at the docks?

Dick: I haven't confirmed the Killer Croc sightings yet, but more importantly, our catch hasn't been measuring up to last year's. Tuna we're doing okay on, but the salmon population seems to be on the low end. I've contacted the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries but it'll be another 3-5 business days before they can come down and check it out.

Bruce: At least you're doing something to help. Jason?

Jason: Class was okay. I think the kids are warming up to me as their substitute while Mrs. Maloney is out on maternity leave. The average on the last vocabulary quiz was 83.53% so either I'm doing my job right or they need to be challenged. I'm worried about Tristan Lancy, though. He's normally a good student but his grades have been dropping recently and his parents don't seem like safe people to tell. I'll talk to him tomorrow and try to pair him up with a peer tutor if he needs it.

Bruce: Also see if he has any alternate contacts besides his parents. Tim, any updates at the chemical plant?

Tim: If by updates you mean OSHA violations, I could go on all week. We got a batch of new recruits today and they were just thrown into the work—no PPE, no safety training, nothing. This is what happens when you place production over employee well-being. I'm gonna file a complaint after this meeting. Also, I think the union will have something to say about the manager cutting people's lunch breaks short.

Bruce: I see. Damian? Please tell me you found something volunteering at the zoo.

Damian: Depends on how you define "found." While I have not obtained evidence of a mutant larvae black market, I did help some of the animals at the sanctuary make progress with their recovery. Bobo the monkey is healing from his broken arms and we're gradually getting him re-acclimated to climbing higher surfaces. Suzie the black bear was born a little prematurely but seems to be catching up to her peers in terms of growth. Lastly, we got a grant for additional wildcat research and enrichment. As an aside, we are having an educational seminar on European mountain goats this Friday at 3:30 and I expect all of you to be there.

Bruce: I'll put that on our calendars. Steph?

Steph: It's not really undercover work for me, just work. Anyway, yes the newest Batburger location is being used for money laundering. But I really need to vent about the customers for a sec. We don't open until 10 and at 9:30 this morning some moron was banging on our door demanding Jokerized cheese fries. Then right in the middle of the lunch rush, Janie got sick so I had to fill in as the cashier and it was hell. After that, I had to step in between a fight at the drive-thru because the customer claimed we only gave him nine pieces of his ten-piece Robin nuggets and tried to beat up the kid who took his order. And to top it all off, an entire high school hockey team came in five minutes before closing.

Bruce: Cass?

Cass, blowing balloons: Can't talk. Arranging bat mitzvah.

Bruce: Duke, you're my last hope.

Duke: Margie's bringing a peanut butter chocolate cake to the bake sale. I swiped her recipe and we can easily beat her. Her ganache is way too watery and just runs off the top of the cake, which isn't even leveled. She's also trying to do something with a raspberry filling that isn't working at all. It's like she couldn't decide on what to bring. The bake sale committee also asked if we can bring some apple pies because the original baker has to go out of town for a family emergency. I think we'll win if we bring them with some ice cream and a touch of caramel, even though this isn't a contest.

Bruce: Thank you. At least our most critical case has been taken care of.

Barbara: ...I'll save my book launch for later.

[shoku-and-awe]

Okay, I had no idea you could make such rich brownies with just cocoa powder! Very impressed. And they are not kidding that these are fudgy. After cooling, the texture was more like a flourless chocolate torte. After a couple nights in the fridge, they are basically ganache. Delicious, but very very VERY dense and moist.

The recipe tells you to take these out of the oven while the middle is still slightly underbaked, so next time I might bake longer and see if the texture is different. I also used more add-ins (120 g of peanut butter cups rather than 80) so that might have affected the texture as well. (Though I think it could have used even more; the peanut butter didn't really come through.)

I should also say that these are very fun to make. Melting almost a whole box of butter in a pan, incorporating cocoa powder into that until it's gooey and dark and rich and smells amazing...... I felt like Willy Wonka!

[teganduplessis]

Chocolate Tart with Nut Crust

Makes 1 12″ tart

Ingredients

Crust

75 grams melted butter

2 1/2 cups mixed raw/unsalted nuts (walnuts, pecans, blanched hazelnuts, pistachios, almonds, peanuts)

6 tbs granulated sugar

3/4 tsp sea salt

Ganache

12 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 cups heavy cream

90 grams butter, room temperature, chopped

flaky sea salt

Directions

Prep: 

Grease 12 inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom

Preheat oven to 350F with rack in the middle of the oven

Crust:

Pulse nuts in a food processor until coarsely chopped. 

Add sugar and salt and pulse again to combine. 

Drizzle in melted butter and pulse until it begins to clump together. 

Using your hands, firmly and evenly press mixture into bottom and up sides of pan (it doesn’t need to come up all the way). 

Bake crust for 25 mins until golden brown. 

Ganache:

Place chocolate in a medium bowl. 

In a small saucepan, heat cream until just starting to bubble at the bottom.

Immediately pour over chocolate. Let sit undisturbed for 5 mins.

Add butter and mix with a spatula until smooth and glossy. 

Pour into crust and smooth out any bubbles. 

Chill, uncovered, for 1 hour. 

Serve:

Remove tart from pan, sprinkle with sea salt. Cut with hot knife. 

Can freeze if not serving right away. 

Original recipe https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/chocolate-ganache-tart

[selfcaredicas]

Chocolate Ganache Gooey Brownies

Ingredients

375 g / 2 1/5 cups Chocolate (I used a sweet dark chocolate, but use whatever you prefer)

3tbsp Peanut Butter (creamy)

160 g / 1 ⅓ cups Plain White Flour (all-purpose)

60g / ½ cup Cocoa Powder

250g / 1 ¼ cups White Sugar

½tsp Salt

120g / ½ cup Butter (vg)

1 ½tbsp Vanilla Extract

120ml Soy Milk

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C/ 356°F. Line your baking tray with baking paper and grease the sides with a small amount of vg butter. Note, I used a small 15cm baking tray with a removable bottom for this recipe. If your baking tray is bigger, bear in mind that your brownies will be thinner than mine photographed. To combat this, you could increase the ingredient amounts. In a saucepan, melt your butter on a low heat. Once melted, add your milk, sugar and vanilla extract and combine. Then add 150g (0.8 cup) of the chocolate. Take off the heat and continue stirring until the chocolate is completely melted. In a large bowl, sieve the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Combine together with a spoon. Pour the wet ingredients into the large bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix together. Pour the brownie batter into the lined baking tray. Bake for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, remove the brownies from the oven. They should have developed a crackly top but will still be lovely and gooey in the middle. Leave the brownies to completely cool. Once the brownies are completely cool, it's time to make the chocolate peanut ganache topping! In a saucepan, melt the remaining chocolate (225g / 1 ⅓ cups). Once melted take the chocolate off of the heat. Mix the creamy peanut butter into the chocolate until all combined.

Pour the ganache on top of the brownies immediately after you have made it. Leave it to set in the fridge (at least 1 hour).

[aiweirdness]

AI-generated donuts

If you're going to open a late-night donut shop, you're going to need a unique set of over-the-top donuts to set the proper festive atmosphere. But how to keep the ideas coming?

I decided to see what donut ideas I could get using OpenAI's GPT-3 text-generating models. I collected seven of the weirdest donuts and descriptions I could find (such as a pizza donut, or a dirt-themed donut), and presented them as a list for the AI to complete. I've drawn a few of the best donuts it added to the list.

[human illustrations of some of the ai-generated donuts below]

When I say I used "GPT-3" for this project it's hard to be exact about it, because OpenAI often updates the models. The newest GPT-3 versions (as of May 2022) actually did the worst at this task - they kept presenting me with real donuts that they'd seen during their online training, and not even particularly weird donuts. They were trying to match what was most common online, not what I was asking for. But the original early-2020 GPT-3 models were more willing to deliver the weirdness. Here are some more of my favorite results from the various models!

The biggest model, DaVinci

Violet Beauregarde - A lemon glazed donut with blue raspberry eyes and a raspberry center The Candleberry Flu - A chocolate doughnut filled inside with ganache plus a dripping candle on top that's dripping liquid sediments Brick of Yum - A glazed doughnut sandwiching American cheese, with red pepper jelly inside The Confusatron - A doughnut sliced into three layers - vanilla, coconut, and chocolate, dipped in chocolate ganache and topped with sugar pearls that look like circuit boards The Purple Stuff - Chocolate, oreo, and purple stuff sprinkled with powdered sugar

Curie, the second-largest model

Heckleberry - A strawberry donut smothered with blueberry syrup and crushed vegan Crunchies Donut of Doom - Rainbow donut filled with Frosted Flakes, black sprinkles, and sour candy The Alligator Rising - A spiral donut, frosted with chocolate and filled with a filling of chocolate hard-boiled egg and green apple slices Hell Raisin - A jelly donut with a filling of peanut butter and hot dogs Dark Crystal - A donut filled with candy corn and white chocolate chips I ♥ My Gay Ex - A rainbow Jell-O donut with white frosting, red sugar sprinkles, and pink glitter Fish N' Chips – Topped with chocolate and tangy tempura-flavoured icing

Babbage, the second-smallest model

Mr Crepe - Topped with tapioca pudding, green sprinkles Little Red Apples - Topped with pumpkin bread crumbs and small red apples Chalkista - Stationary donut with chalk dusting Horns - Cupcake gripped in both of the animal’s horns Julius Rooms - A pair of bottomless donuts Doughnut Forest - A profusion of donuts spread throughout the French Quarter Flintlock fennec - bacon, fried okra, and burnt thermochromic alcohol Baffle - cocoa powder, giraffes, and vanilla wafers

Ada, the smallest and definitely weirdest model

Bath Roll - Three donuts melted hot on one side Friar Flats - Topped with tomatoes, honey, red paint and ceramic chili caps Ponder Owls - magical, yellow-feathered donuts covered in icing with puffiness and shine By Soul - filled with firecrackers, black bean dip, red pepper syrup, and watermelon Coconut Fun - Sulphure hasn’t been wiped off, a demon cake filled with coconut cream and pistachios Blood Donut - Creamy moist donut topped with spoonfuls of delicious blood Goofy Trick - the elephant, is a clown and it's all about tossing treats into his skull Spankin’ - Other-colored donut with a frying pan in the middle

Bonus content: More of Ada's weird donuts (plus some donuts made of antimatter??)

Also you can buy the donuts on a tea towel! Along with pies, cookies, and breakfast cereals.

[throughthewwods]

100 Days of Productivity 🏖 . Day 23, 24

💕 created an uplifting Father’s Day for everyone ✅

⭐️ Kiddo helped me cook a pot roast

⭐️ and we baked our first ever cheesecake (peanut butter cheesecake with an Oreo crust and a chocolate ganache), which against all odds came out delicious

It was..every bit the emotional roller coaster I’d feared.

😆

It took two walks to the store. I was up until past midnight taking care of things.  I.. was not in a great mood by the end of the evening. Even though I followed the Insta pot recipe to a T, I discovered in the morning that the cheesecake was still raw in the middle. I was about to abandon hope, but thankfully, Google had some tips. I ended up ‘rebaking it’ on the lowest heat my oven can go, checking on it every five minutes for probably a good 45 minutes then re-setting, re-cooling the whole damn thing this time partly in the freezer, then to the fridge. Making the ganache was surprisingly easy though. As I lifted away the pan I could almost hear a drum roll in my head. Well, it looked like cheesecake! That was a start, but the moment of truth would be RB’s expression as he took a bite.  Miraculously, it all worked out. I did a little dance 😆

⭐️ navigated a crowded grocery store without letting my bubbling anxiety attack get the better of me

⭐️ got the house a bit more straightened up

⭐️ FINALLY  put together that steam cleaner that’s been sitting in the box next to the piano since Xmas 😬😅

💙  more than halfway through Pride and Prejudice

💚 Been hula hooping

💜 got kiddo outside in the sun where she had an opportunity to play with some of the hopefully non-problematic children in my apartment complex

I’m a little nervous for.. A number of reasons, but console myself that we are outside and at a certain point we have to live a little. I can’t stay away from everyone forever. I am vaccinated. My partner is vaccinated. That’s the most I can do. I can’t hide us away until this is all over when the truth is there might always be some new variant, some new possible concern. In this moment, I just want my little girl to be able to run through the grass, through the playground laughing with the other children as they twirl in pool toys like inflated ballerinas. For a little while I just want us to be present and happy.

🐾 did some GSD socializing/training

My dog is acting like an unnecessarily anxious idiot, whimpering and whining, but that’s OK. He’ll live. he needs to be desensitized also. This was actually improving until they brought out their dog, which made GSD immediately inconsolable. It all worked out though. GSD and their dog play well together. As soon as GSD realized who it was he was very happy. I’m glad he was at least mindful to not disjoint my shoulder and his enthusiasm. We even let them off leash for a little bit to get their puppy wiggles out. GSD is small for his breed, but still much larger than most dogs. I was glad that he is good-natured and not into establishing dominance. 

💙 it’s been a few days now where I can officially say after months of trying different skin care products, my face is finally clear enough where I feel comfortable again not wearing make up ✅

That’s a big deal for me. Vain as it is, dealing with cystic acne pecks at my self-esteem.. It’s nice to have a little bit of my aesthetic and confidence restored.

Father’s Day Thoughts….

Aside from calling Grandpa, we usually let Father’s Day pass as unremarkably as possible.  this year I invited RB and his son over for what I hoped would be a nice, very early dinner. Although I find the growing closeness between Kiddo and RB to be moving, RB and I are both mindful to not distress her by posturing him as ‘the new dad’. So the other day on the trail when Kiddo mentioned to me she wanted to make him a card I had a moment of hesitation, looking beyond the trees a little, but also not wanting to project onto her good nature with my grown-up over-analytical-ness. I tried to hint at my concern without making a big deal of it, checking in to make sure she was doing OK because ‘fathers’ is a painful topic at times. She understood my meaning and explained that she liked RB as a person and he is ‘a father’ so she’d like to make him a card, which was just fine.

Indeed, what she writes inside the card is comical and congenial.

Yet… I see her extra care, focus she’s putting into the card, even more so than mementos she gives me. Her effervescence is thinly veiled, bubbly, chatty, discreetly excited that they will be coming over tomorrow, and that for the first time ever, we will be celebrating a Father’s Day. She is glowing when she hands RB his gift. I notice the creases to the corners of his eyes as he smiled warmly, touched. They hug again. RB’s son admires the spring she has created to make the cat-dog cartoon pop out when the card opens. The kids right after until l’inner is served. The pot roast is a hit. The kids discuss mostly Minecraft, but I’m able to change topics briefly to the Mars rover 360 footage.

[chocolategir]

Bad pictures, but here's what I made with the ganache. It's a brownie bottomed peanut butter cheesecake, I put a layer of pb in the middle and covered it in chocolate ganache (I also found some golden sugar sprinkles so that was a nice bonus to add as the garnish) It's for my dad's birthday today, so he went ham and immediately started cutting it so I didn't get nice pictures lol

[jezwanda]

So you know when you make a new recipe you’re trusting it to be good and well vetted?

So im making a cake, from a fancy cake site that has fucking youtube videos for every goddamn step, and im like, cool. this will be good

but im a confident baker, and i know a good bit about recipes, and like, i don’t trust like that

it’s a chocolate peanut butter cake, with two layers of chocolate cake topped with dark chocolate ganache and peanut butter frosting, with a layer of peanut butter blondie in the middle. sounds good, right? theres no leavening in the blondie layer. none. so coool, thats not weird at all, im sure itll be fine. then the chocolate cake was a liquid. not normal batter consistency, LIQUID. it took forever to bake (it was within the time range, but when i was looking at it i was wondering why it was going to take an HOUR to bake a 9″ round cake). the ganache was perfect, but it’s pretty hard to fuck up ganache. the peanut butter frosting was THICK. like playdoh. i couldn’t spread it with a spatula, i had to use my fingers to stick it to the cake.

so now this cake is done, just chilling on the kitchen counter, and im wondering if i just wasted all that time and energy on something subpar. i’m scared to cut into it. i was going to bring it to work to share with my coworkers, but like, what if its bad. what if i have to dump an entire three layer cake in the fucking trash.

fancy cake lady, im trusting you.

[swankydesserts]

Peanut butter cookie sandwiches. Some had peanut butter frosting with a dollop of wildberry jam in the middle. The others had a chocolate ganache with a dollop of the peanut butter frosting in the middle.

[emf1947]

So, one time I decided to make an Opera Cake

Parte dos de dos

from here: http://iamcoleslaw.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-cake-finally.html

So how hard could it be, I ask myself. The first day of the big Opera Cake Project went well, with even the buttercream frosting that started out looking like a disaster turning out well in the end. All I needed to do was make the sponge cake, make the glaze, which was just melting chocolate and adding in the butter I had already clarified, and assembling the cake. So what could go wrong?

Where to start, where to start. Let’s start with the jelly roll pans. I needed two the same size, 10 by 15 inches. I have two of different sizes, with the smaller one being close in size to what I needed. This meant I had to bake the first layer, turn it out to cool, clean the pan, bake the second layer. Not a big problem, but I elected to eyeball the division of batter in half rather than measuring exactly how much I had. I chose poorly. The first layer was thicker than the second. Since the middle layer is actually the two ends left over when you cut a 10 by 10 inch square from the two layers you bake, that difference in thickness is not trivial. Oh, well, I had lots of ganache to balance out any unevenness. An even bigger problem was that I forgot to add the three tablespoons of melted butter to the batter, and didn’t realize it until layer one was in the oven. I pulled it out, stirred half of the butter into the batter in the bowl and the other half into the still liquid batter in the pan. The only problem is, the batter wasn’t really half and half. But the ganache and the filling were perfect, and then there was the espresso syrup, so there would be lots of flavor, right? As the cake cooled, I kept saying to myself, “Remember to brush the espresso syrup on each layer before you put on the filling.” So guess what I saw on the counter as I got ready to put the top layer on the cake? The unused the espresso syrup. At least the top layer got some. A lot. Okay, so with the cake assembled, except for the glaze, it needed to chill for an hour (and so did I). That should have given the top layer of buttercream a chance to harden up so it wouldn’t blend with the chocolate glaze. Should have. Didn’t quite. The top of the cake looks like chocolate peanut butter. I still have hopes for it tasting okay. The buttercream, ganche and glaze all taste delicious. They should, that’s where the almost pound of butter and almost pound of chocolate all went. By lunchtime today, I should know. Next time anyone hears me say, “How hard could it be,” please just shoot me. ETA: despite all my best efforts to mess it up, the cake tasted great, kind of like tiramisu. Everyone loved it. Still not sure I'd make it again.

It looked very homemade.

[askwhatsforlunch]

Chocolate, Espresso and Beetroot Cake

Besides this delish Peanut Banana Bread, and a savoury loaf for our post-rehearsals pot luck, I baked this also wonderfully moist Chocolate, Espresso and Beetroot Cake, inspired by Sian Redgrave’s recipe on (Aussie) Bake Off. Not for us, tough but for Lola and Margaux who just turned eighteen last week. I hope they liked it. I enjoyed baking it so much, I’m making another for Father’s Day!

Ingredients (serves 6 to 8):

5 ounces cooked beetroot, cooled and peeled

4 ounces dark chocolate

1/4 cup freshly brewed espresso 

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 large eggs

1/3 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup +  tablespoons plain flour

1 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

2.5 ounces dark chocolate

3/4 cup cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup caster sugar

coloured sugar hearts, for garnish (optional)

dark chocolate, for garnish (optional)

Generously butter a 9″ round cake tin, and line with parchment paper.

Preheat oven to 320°.

Place cooked beetroot in a food processor, and process until rather smoothly puréed (you can also use a hand-held blender for such a small quantity.) Set aside.

Melt chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water, until smooth and shiny. Once melted, stir in freshly brewed espresso and butter, until silky. Remove from heat and let cool.

Separate the eggs. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites, gradually increasing speed to high, until stiff peaks just form. Gradually beat in caster sugar, until you have a stiff and glossy meringue. Set aside.

In a smaller bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt; give a good stir.

Once melted chocolate and espresso mixture is cooled, stir in egg yolks and puréed beetroot, until just blended. Then, gently fold in meringue, until no white streaks remain. Finally, sift in flour mixture, and gently fold in until completely blended, but do not overmix batter.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Place in the middle of the oven, and bake, at 320°, for 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven. Let cake cool in its pan, 15 minutes, then remove from the pan, invert on a wire rack, remove parchment paper, and let cool completely.

Heat heavy whipping cream in a small saucepan until simmering. Pour over dark chocolate in a medium bowl. Let stand, a couple of minutes, then stir energetically with a rubber spatula, until chocolate is completely melted, and mixture is smooth and shiny. Chill in the refrigerator, 20 minutes.

In a medium bowl, combine softened cream cheese and sugar, and whisk energetically until well-blended and smooth.

With an electric mixer, beat cooled chocolate ganache on high speed until a pale brown colour and fluffy.

Spoon half of the whisked chocolate ganache into the cream cheese mixture and whisk quickly until combined.

Carefully and evenly halve cooled Chocolate, Espresso and Beetroot Cake. Place bottom half onto serving plate and top with Ganache Cream Cheese Filling. Gently spread it outwards, into an even layer. Place cake top half on top, pressing very gently. Spoon remaining whisked chocolate ganache onto the cake and gently sread toward the edges. Decorate with sugar hearts and dark chocolate shavings, if desired.

Keep Chocolate, Espresso and Beetroot Cake in the refrigerator until serving time.

[hoffkk]

A Legendary Thanksgiving

A Legends of Tomorrow Fanfic

Written by: @hoffkk

Note: I hadn’t posted a fic on tumblr in what felt like forever, and I also had not done a lot of stories in the DC’s legends of tomorrow category.  Thus, this fic was born.  Consider it a little holiday treat from me to you! ;)

Summary: Thanksgiving on the waverider leads to some pretty funny and pretty emotional moments between the legends and to a huge surprise that no one saw coming.

(set in middle of season 3)

********

"Happy Thanksgiving!" Ray toasted to the motley crew around the dining table, sounding even more chipper than usual.

"Happy Thanksgiving!" They gang cheered in response, all except for Sara.  She just gave a weak smile before downing the rest of her wine like a shot of bourbon.

Before she could get caught in another toast or ridiculous game made by Ray and Nate (seriously, she never witnessed a greater torture than Thanksgiving Pictionary... and that means a lot coming from a former assassin), Sara excused herself to the kitchen for a refill.  Entering the spacious galley area, her boots clicked on the tile floor as she made her way to the counter full of beverages.  Grabbing the half-empty bottle of Merlot with her free hand, she carefully began to pour.  As she did so, a light glinting off of her finger caught her attention, causing Sara to glance at the silver ring on her pinky.  For a moment, Sara became lost in thought until she felt a rush of wetness flow over her hand.

"Shit!" She muttered angrily, putting the bottle down on the counter top along with her wine glass that was now filled to the brim.  Quickly, she found some paper towels and began cleaning up her mess, all the while thinking about how humorous it was that someone with her reflexes could make such a bone-headed move.  Once Sara was done with both tending to the mess and scolding herself, she forewent the stem and grabbed her wine glass by the body, lifting slowly to her lips.  Just as she took a sip, Zari entered the kitchen with her own empty glass.

"A little thirsty are we?" She asked wryly.

"What... too much?" Sara replied as a smirk played on her lips.

Zari gave a light chuckle then answered, "As the person who's been seated next to Rory all night, I'd say that that looks like moderation."

Sara's smile got a little bigger as she said, "Here," then gestured for her friend's glass.  When Zari handed it over, she poured half of her wine into her friends empty cup before handing it back.

"Thanks." Zari nodded, taking a sip of the chilled liquid.  When Sara didn't reply and the conversation began to lull, she spoke up again. "Half-full."

"Sorry?" Sara questioned, feeling like she missed something."

"My glass." Zari explained.  "Tonight I choose to see it as half-full.  After all, I am on a spaceship floating through time, eating like a king for the first time in... well... ever."

"Yeah, it's a pretty good gig." Sara agreed, though her facial expression stayed neutral.

"But I sense you don't agree with my sentiment."  Zari noted. "Given your lack of enthusiasm this evening."

"Don't take it personally."  Sara told her.  "My glass has been half-empty more often than not over these last few years."

"Any particular reason for this year?  Zari couldn't help but ask.  

Glancing at her ring again, Sara sighed then looked back to her friend and answered, "You know, you aren't the first newbie in the group.  We've had a few team members come and go... but only one left permanently."

"Yeah, I heard one of the guys mention that before." Zari recalled, thinking back to one of Mick's drunken tales about a dead friend.  "His name was Snark?"

"Snart.  Leonard Snart."  Sara corrected.  "I don't know what you heard, but long story short, he died saving our lives, he was a hero."

"Sounds like a good guy." Zari surmised.

"Not exactly." Sara retorted, holding back a laugh.  "We were actually a lot alike, him and me.  We were both decent people who were dealt unfortunate hands, over and over again, forever trying to escape the darkness around us and trying to be better."

Zari nodded. "So, I take it you two were close then?"

Sara shrugged, "We were... friends, I guess.  We kept each other sane inside this madhouse.  Anytime I started to feel overwhelmed by a mission, Leonard would pull out his handy deck of cards.  We'd play for hours, talking about everything and nothing.  It always made me feel better.  He always made me feel better. Anyway... this is the first time we've actually celebrated a holiday since we became a team--"

"And the first time since Leonard's death."  Zari finished, understanding washing over her.

"Don't get me wrong." Sara began.  "In our line of work, we should be celebrating and enjoying the happy moments whenever we can.  I just can't help but feel like he should be here, you know, keeping Mick in check... insulting Ray... pretending he doesn't care about anything." She finished wistfully.

"I've had a hard time enjoying life, myself, since I lost my brother."  Zari informed her.  "Sometimes are harder than others, but I just remind myself that he wouldn't want me to feel guilty or sad.  He'd want me to move on with my life and be happy.  That's part of the reason I joined this team, to honor him."

"That's very poetic,"  Sara told her.  "but I've never been real big on poetry." She finished as she inhaled a big gulp of wine and tried not to think anymore about Leonard or what he may have wanted.

Before Zari could argue, Nate interrupted, "There you guys are!  Come on, it's time for the contest!"

"Contest?" Zari queried, quirking a brow.

"The pie contest."  Nate explained enthusiastically.  "Ray and I both made pies and are about to have one crusty competition.

"Gross." Sara uttered at the same time Zari said, "Ew."

"Okay, yeah," Nate conceded.  "That sounded better in my head.  But trust me, the pie is going to be delicious.  Well, at least mine is. I mean, Ray made some generic pumpkin pie, which is fine I suppose, you know, if you like that sort of thing, but my pie really takes the cake... peanut butter pie with chocolate ganache and whipped cream icing.  I call it my 'buckeye pie" inspired by my hometown roots and my favorite sweet treat."

"Catchy." Sara said somewhat sarcastically.

Zari smirked then noted genuinely, "That actually sounds pretty good."

"Good?" Nate asked rhetorically. "Try totally amazeballs.  Which brings me back to my earlier sentiment... come on!  All you have to do is try a piece of each an fill out a secret ballot."

"Yeah, as fun as that sounds, I'm gonna pass."  Sara said, swiping the unfinished bottle of wine from the counter. "I'll be enjoying my dessert in liquid form."  She clarified, shaking the bottle for emphasis.

Nate just shrugged then looked to his other friend, "Zari, you in?"

"Hey, I never turn down free pie." She assured him.

"Sweet." Nate smiled, giving her two thumbs up before eagerly making his way back to the dining area.

Once he was out of sight, Zari turned to Sara, "Guess I should get back... you sure you don't want to come?  It could be fun.  You can keep Mick in check while I insult Ray, and we can both pretend we don't care about anything..." She trailed off.  When Sara didn't respond, she bargained, saying, "Okay, fine, you can insult Ray, and I'll keep an eye on Mick."

Finally cracking a smirk, Sara answered, "Very tempting, but I'm pretty full."

"Yeah of bull." Zari stated matter-of-factly.

"I'll be in my room if you need me." Sara winked then waltzed off in the opposite direction of the dining area, pausing in the doorway a moment to take a long swig straight from the bottle of Merlot even though there was still some in her glass. "Later." She called over her shoulder one last time before heading toward the bunks.

Zari shook her head, not sure what to think or do about Sara.  Shrugging it off for now, she decided to let herself think on it while she ate a slice of pie... or two or four.  Man, did she love pie.  Thanksgiving was definitely her favorite holiday.

******

About an hour later, Sara was lying on her bed while an empty wine bottle and glass lay on the floor. She had been staring at the ceiling, thinking about the ghosts of Thanksgivings past: cooking with her mom, watching football with her dad, and fighting with her sister, both playfully and not so playfully.  She hadn't gotten to have a family Thanksgiving like that in a long time. As she casually twisted the silver band around her finger, she wondered if Leonard ever had, given his crappy childhood and all.

As her mind began to race with memories of both Thanksgiving and Leonard, a tear slid down her cheek. Just as another began to fall, a knock sounded at the door.  Sara quickly wiped her face with her hands, then pushed up onto her elbows and called out, "Come in."

Zari appeared and leaned against the doorway with her hands casually wound behind her back.

"Feeling any better?" She questioned.

"Not really." Sara answered honestly.

"I figured." Zari retorted.  "That's why I brought these."  She added as she revealed a deck of playing cards in her hand. "You up for a game?" She added, shaking the deck temptingly.

"Sure." Sara said with a smile as she pushed up into sitting position.  "As long as you're ready for an ass-kicking."

"Bring it on." Zari teased back as she made her way across the small room to Sara's bed. Plopping down on the opposite end, she sat pretzel style and began shuffling the cards.

Two games of Spit later, they were tied in wins when Amaya interrupted.

"There you two are."  She stated in a relieved tone.  "I thought I was going to drown out there in the sea of testosterone."

"Nonsense, you still had Ray." Zari jibed, tossing Sara a wink."

All three ladies laughed, then Amaya walked over to them as she responded, "Deal me in."

Soon all three of the women were playing cards, chatting and laughing as they did so.  After a few rounds, Jax poked his head in and commented, "Thought I heard some actual fun going on back here."

"Oh, you did, did you?" Zari retorted.  "From all the way in the dining room?"

"Okay..." Jax relented.  "I may have been trying to hide when I heard some laughing."

"That bad, huh?" Sara smirked.

"Let's just say that I am officially regretting not going back to 2017 with Stein for the holiday." Jax sighed as he leaned against the doorway.

"Why don't you join us?" Amaya offered.

"Thanks, but I wouldn't want to interrupt girl talk." He responded only half serious.

"We don't mind." Amaya assured.  "Besides, this is way more fun than the shit show out there." She nodded toward the door.  Everyone just stared at her a moment and said nothing as Amaya shuffled the cards.  Looking up at their surprised facial expressions, Amaya felt slightly embarrassed as she went on to add, "I'm still working on my 21st century lingo, did I not use that term correctly?"

Her teammates all chuckled at her response, but Sara was the one to speak up, saying, "No, I'd say that was pretty spot on."

"You in or what, flame-boy?" Zari tossed out, changing the subject back to the original topic.

"Only if we play five-card draw."  Jax bargained.

"Deal." Sara nodded, reaching under her bed for her plastic chips.

Jax smiled and padded over to his friends as Amaya began to deal out the cards.

A few minutes later, Mick came barging in the room with a fresh beer in hand.

"You guys better have a good excuse for leaving me alone with bozo one and bozo two." Mick told them warningly.

"I think you just answered your own question there, big guy." Sara jeered.

Mick just grunted and said, "Touché... but the next time we decide to ditch the dimwits, I'm the first to know.  Got it?"

"Alright Mick, that's enough."  Zari reprimanded.  "You gonna play or what?"

"Or maybe you just want to continue pouting in the corner." Amaya teased.

"Nobody puts Rory in a corner." Mick told them in no uncertain terms as he strode forward a couple of steps.  No one had words for that one, but it didn't matter much because after a moment Mick nodded toward the cards and inquired, "What's the game?"

"Five-card. Think you can handle it?" Jax taunted.  "Just saying, I've got quite the streak going.

Mick snorted, "I'll squash you like the firebug you are."

"Seriously?  Your guys' nicknames for me are literally getting lamer by the minute." Jax whined.

"Quit complaining and deal already." Zari told him.

Jax began to do just that when Mick probed further, "What are the stakes?"

"You're looking at em'." Sara answered, flicking a chip through the air toward Rory.

Mick watched the red chip hit him in the chest and fall to the ground before saying, "Well, Mick Rory don't come cheap.  We're gonna need to raise the bar."

"What did you have in mind?" Amaya asked curiously.

Mick held up a finger, indicating for them to wait a moment then took a long drag from his bottle as he turned and walked out the door and headed in the opposite direction from which he came.

"Ten bucks says he's not coming back." Zari said almost immediately.

"I'll take that bet." Sara replied, remembering that his only other viable option was going back to tweedle dee and tweedle dull.

About a minute later, Mick strolled back in with his beer and a large container in one hand and dragging a chair behind him with the other.  As he positioned his seat, Zari pulled a crisp ten dollar bill from her pocket and reluctantly handed it over to a suddenly chipper Sara who made a big show of holding it up and checking for its authenticity.  Mick ignored them, tossed his container to Amaya, and sat down.

"Cookies?" She questioned,  staring at the tub in her arms.  It was clear, huge, and filled to the brim with the black and white treat she couldn't quite remember the name of.

"Not just cookies... oreos."  Mick amended.  "Original and Double Stuf."

Sara caught Zari licking her lips and shook her head.  How in the world can that girl still be hungry after the meal she just had?  She didn't get the chance to voice this thought aloud though because Jax spoke up next.

"I agree with Amaya on this one.  I'm pretty full myself."  He noted as he finished up his deal and put the rest of the cards off to the side.

"No worries, heat lamp." Mick told him as he took swig of beer.  "You only eat what you win, which in your case... will be nothing."

"Oh, it's gonna be like that, is it?  Well, then... challenge accepted, my torrid twit."

"Jokes on you." Mick replied readily.  "I have no idea what you said."

Everyone worked to stifle a laugh at that, while Mick, totally unperturbed, continued to drink his brew.  With that, the conversation lulled as they set up the new "chips" and began a new round of game play.

Much to Jax's dismay and everyone else's amusement, Mick won the first two hands.  In the middle of their third, Ray hurried into the room and slammed the door shut.  "Thank god, I found you guys.  Nate was seriously getting on my last nerve out there!"

"Oh, really?" Zari queried with a smile.

"Do tell." Sara urged with matching demeanor.

"Yes," Amaya agreed.  "What is Nathaniel up to now?"

Unaware of their amusement, Ray continued seriously, "He's setting up another game. Another one! Can you believe it?  I mean, I admire his holiday spirit and all, but the dude needs to chill.  Between the cheesy games and his bubbly behavior, I think I'm about to O.D. on Thanksgiving."

"Yeah, we know the feeling." Jax commented as he took his turn.

"Seriously, though, I'm glad he's not normally this animated.  Can you imagine being around someone that cheerfully annoying all the time?"

Suddenly all the legends in the room stopped to stare at Ray incredulously.

"What?"  Ray questioned.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Sara answered for everyone, sparing his feelings.

"Well, you guys can't judge me because you all are clearly hiding from him too." Ray informed them, sensing some hostility from the gang.  "But you can deal me in next round." He added as he dragged a small trunk over from the far wall and plopped down on it carefully.

And the team did just that. They managed to make some more room for Ray and caught him up to speed on the Oreos.  From there, they played another round.  Unfortunately, they didn't even get through one full game before Nate found them.

"There you guys are!" Nate said.

Everyone froze as they peeked over at their spirited friend.  His expression was hard to read.  Was he angry? Was he somber?  Would he hate them all for ducking out on him?

Apparently, Nate didn't realize they had purposely ditched him or just didn't care because they next thing he did was smile and say, "The next game is ready! I call it 'What's in the Bag?' The rules are simple--"

"Stop right there." Sara commanded like the captain she was.  "We don't need the rules, Nate.  We're not playing."

"But you don't even know what the game's about."  He tossed back.

"Don't need to. The thing is..."  Sara retorted, trying to think of a way to gently explain how and why they don't like his Thanksgiving activities. Luckily, or maybe not so luckily, Mick took it upon himself to enlighten Nate.

"Look kid, your pie was great but your games suck ass."  Mick clarified for him.

"Thanks, Mick." Sara responded, tone dripping with sarcasm.

He just nodded and popped a double stuf Oreo into his mouth all in one bite.

Sara rolled her eyes at Rory as Nate finally replied, "I'm sorry if I was overdoing it back there.  The holidays just have a way of pumping me up... and with all the bad stuff going on these last few weeks, I just wanted us to have one good day for a change."

"We get it." Jax said.

"And today was pretty fun for the most part." Ray assured, though not everyone fully agreed, but they weren't about to tell Nate any different, including Mick, but that was mostly because he was busy enjoying his winnings.

"Really?" Nate asked, not really believing them.

"Really." Zari promised.  "And the fun doesn't have to end now."

"Does that mean you wanna play the bag game after all?" Nate quirked a brow.

"No." Everyone called out simultaneously in forceful tones.

"Ouch." Nate said more to himself than to the audience in front of him, feeling the sting from that burn.

"But you can take a break from playing hostess with the mostest and join us for some cards and cookies."  Amaya offered with a sweet smile.

Unable to resist Amaya's charm, and presence in general, Nate grinned and nodded, "I'd like that."

"So," Nate began as he interjected himself into the circle of players.  "What are the rules?"

Sara grinned at his boy scout attitude then proceeded to give him the rundown.  After that, it was all smooth sailing.  They no longer had to worry about hiding or hurt feelings, nor did they have to pretend to enjoy themselves because they were genuinely having a good time, even Sara.

When Nate and Ray first came up with the idea of a friends-giving, Sara dreaded it.  She hated it even more as it was happening in real-time... until now.  In this moment, she was enjoying herself very much as she played her favorite game with some of her favorite people.  It gave her hope, hope that she could still find happiness even with all that she had lost. It also reminded her that not every day had to wind up in total mayhem.

Just as Sara was truly accepting these happy thoughts and Mick was on the verge of his umpteenth win, a loud crashing noise sounded and the waverider tilted and shook.

"Everyone all right?" Nate asked immediately.

The team all gave various answers of yes, then Sara shouted, "Gideon! What the hell was that?"

"We've experienced a minor collision." Gideon stated monotonously.

"No shit." Mick grumbled, staring angrily at his broken beer bottle on the floor as Gideon went on.

"It seems a time pod has connected to one of the empty pod chambers."  Gideon elaborated.

"Time pod?" Zari queried.

"Rip told me about those."  Jax said. "They were for people from the outside who needed to get to ships like ours.  You just plug in the coordinates of the ship into the pod and bam. Literally."

"Gideon,"  Sara called out once more.  "Who found us?"

"I'm sorry, Captain Lance.  I am unable to retrieve the pod's data."  She replied diligently.

"It's okay, Gideon."  She told the ceiling then turned toward her team and said, "I'm going to investigate. Everyone stay here."

"No way." Nate retorted.  "It's too dangerous."

"Nate's right." Amaya agreed.  "You don't know who or what is in there."

"It could be Damien Darhk." Ray warned.  "Or some sort of time pirate."

"With rum." Mick noted.  "Pirates love rum.  Why couldn't I be a time pirate?"

"Mick's comment aside, they make good points.  You need back up."  Zari tossed in, summing up the group's concern.

"What I need is for my team to be out of harm's way." Sara said vehemently.  "It's like you all said, anyone or anything could be in that pod, and I'm not going to risk your lives until I find out exactly what's going on and what we're up against.  So, as your captain, I order you all to stay put.  Got it?"

"Got it." They all agreed reluctantly.

Sara nodded then grabbed a military grade knife from under her pillow and headed to the pod bay.

A few seconds later, Mick stood up and said, "Well," then paused to grab his chair by its legs and pull hard until ripping one of them off.  Once he had a single splintered chair leg in hand and discarded the rest, Mick continued, "What are we waiting for?"

With that, the rest of them secured their own weapons and followed Mick out after Sara, not hesitating in the least.

********

Sara made her way down various hallways toward the back of the ship.  She was almost there when she heard a noise.  Sensing someone was behind her, she whirled around instantly, using a fancy side-step motion to pin her pursuer to the wall with the knife pressed against his throat.

"Uncle! Uncle!" Ray cried out.

"I told you to stay behind me, haircut." Mick reminded teasingly.

"And I told you all to stay put!" Sara whisper-yelled as she freed Ray from her hold.

"Since when do we respect authority and follow the rules?" Nate tossed out, making a valid point.

"Fair enough." Sara relented.  "Just be quiet and stay behind me." She told them before turning around and continuing on with mission at hand.

"Yeah, and you me." Mick said, shoving Ray behind him as he moved to follow his captain.

Ray rubbed his neck soothingly as he led the others in the same direction.

Sara finally found the room she was looking for down a dark and quiet corridor on the left side of the stern.  She led the team inside the medium-sized area to find three more big, metal doors. These ones were air locked.  Sara walked over to the only lit up door, figuring that was the right choice.  Glancing back to see her whole team ready for a fight, she nodded then turned her attention back to the door and placed her hand on the palm scanner.

"Access granted. Visitor Arrived."  Gideon spoke loud and clear then opened the door.

As the lights changed from red to green on the scanner, the door slid open, revealing a lifeless figure crumpled on the floor.

"Oh my god." Ray called out shockingly from behind Sara.

A second later, Mick uttered in surprise, "I'll be damned."

Sara barely registered their comments as she raked her eyes over the dark figure that lie before her. It wasn't a dark figure, but a person wearing dark clothes, a very familiar person.

Her heart was beating about a mile a minute and goose-bumps covered her skin as she softly uttered one, simple yet totally unbelievable word...

"Leonard."

[kelbasarecipes-blog]

Made some vegan peanut butter cups with a chocolate ganache center I wish I cou… Made some vegan peanut butter cups with a chocolate ganache middle ❤️ I want I may give these out to kiddos on Halloween! Recipe shall be up on 🍂OrganicandHappy.tumblr.com 🍂

[noirandchocolate]

My brother's birthday cake was like a foot tall and no one was expecting it. Mom ordered it online and when she went to the bakery and the baker showed it to her all she could say was "whoa." Four layers of chocolate cake and a layer of peanut butter cheesecake in the middle. Cake layers separated by peanut butter frosting with crushed peanut butter cups in it. Peanut butter frosting and chocolate ganache dripped down the sides. Mom cut us each a piece that was only about an inch thick, but given that the cake was, as aforementioned, AN ENTIRE FOOT TALL, no one was able to finish. All five of our slices only made up about a quarter of the cake's total size. As I'm typing this I can feel the sugar coursing through my body. This monstrous cake, the stuff of legends.

[serpensthesia]

Blaise Zabini cupcakes (inspired by bathtub-gin and the absolutely amazing @o0o-chibaken-o0o: cinnamon-chocolate cake, filled with horchata pastry cream, topped with cinnamon whiskey ganache (sprinkled with some broze edible glitter because why not)!

No aesthetic-y sort of combination for this one... I snapped this picture and just really liked it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ( but if you want the photo for some reason, it’s totally fine to remove the caption).

These are rich, and decadent and pretty (I hope) and they sneak up on you... a lot like Blaise. The ganache has a bite that you don't notice until it's too late. Let these be your encouragement to do all the things you know you shouldn't do, but you want to do them anyway.

Cinnamon-chocolate cake (makes ~12 cupcakes): I... uh... am bad at planning? and so did not have regular cocoa, so I made them with dark cocoa, but I'll leave it as regular cocoa here.

140 g flour 40 g dutch-process cocoa (or dark cocoa, if you're drunk) 1/2 tsp powder 3/4 tsp soda 1 1/2 tbsp (fresh ground) cinnamon pinch of salt 1/2 cup (115 g) unsalted butter 1 tsp vanilla 150 g sugar 2 eggs 2 fl oz whole milk 2 fl oz cinnamon whiskey 2 fl oz sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine the flour, cocoa, powder, soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. 2. Cream sugar and butter together until light and fluffly. Beat in vanilla. 3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated. 4. Add half the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing until almost combined. Beat in the cinnamon whiskey, until just combined. Add the remaining flour mixture. Beat in the milk, until just combined. 5. Fold in the sour cream. 6. Divide into cupcake tins and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with only a few crumbs.

Horchata pastry cream (makes ~1 cup): again, this is a variation of King Arthur Flour's pastry cream, but I'm going to type it out this time. Also, please do not tell the baking gods, but I cheated and I used store-bought horchata... I will do better next time. :'(

12 fl oz whole milk 50 g sugar 2 tsp (fresh ground) cinnamon pinch of salt 18 g corn starch 1 1/2 tsp flour 2 egg yolks 2 tbsp butter

1. In a medium saucepan, combine 8 fl oz milk, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Bring to a simmer. 2. In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk together the remaining milk, corn starch, flour, and egg yolks. 3. Slowly temper the hot milk mixture into the eggs mixture, whisking constantly. 4. Through a sieve, return the mixture to the saucepan and bring to a boil, allowing the mixture to thicken enough to cover the back of a wooden spoon. 5. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl (I recommend straining through a sieve in case there are any accidental cooked egg pieces). Stir in the butter until completely combined.

Cinnamon whiskey ganache (makes a little over 1 cup): Good news! My ganache powers have returned! Also this is a kick in the ass... so... consume wisely.

16 oz finely chopped chocolate (I went with 60% cocoa, but you do you) 8 fl oz heavy whipping cream 3-5 tbsp cinnamon whiskey

1. Finely chop chocolate then add to a bowl. 2. Heat heavy whipping cream to simmering, but not boiling. 3. Pour the heavy whipping cream over the chocolate AND LET IT SIT FOR FIVE MINUTES without touching it. 4. Starting in the center of the bowl, using a spatula or a whisk, stir the chocolate and heavy whipping cream together until completely combined, smooth and glossy. 5. Let ganache cool (on the counter, don't put it in the refrigerator!), stirring occasionally, until it has the consistently of peanut butter/has thickened. 6. Mix in whiskey on a slow speed. Once combined, mix on high until ganache is fluffy and has lightened in color. (7. If the ganache becomes too soft, put it in the refigerator for a few minutes, then take it back out to whip it again).

Also here's a bonus picture of what this cupcake looks like after you eat too many):