A Very Pleasant Evening (recipe for pear and bittersweet chocolate cake included)

homemade kettle corn

cantaloupe, watermelon, mint, and white wine salad

pear and bittersweet chocolate cake

i really love the idea of a movie night.  i think they're nice. and relaxing. and usually there is food involved.  i had a few people over the other night to watch "in the mood for love" and "talk to her".  Are movies at movie nights supposed to be light and easy?  Because, these movies were decidedly not.  But I think that's a good thing.  We actually had conversations about the movies...like little discussion sessions after the viewing.  it felt----productive (??).  In any case I had a lovely time and i think my friends are peachy.  

When I have people over, I get really host-y.  It's probably obnoxious but I all of a sudden feel responsible for everyone's comfort.  The best way to deal with this is to stuff people up to the gills with food.  Speaking of gills, Gil brought the most amazing pita bread--unusually doughy and adorably misshapen.  I think he said it was from a bakery on Fairfax.  I will have to get the address from him.  Also, Sam brought an excellent fruit plate.  fruit and summer.  thomas brought hummus and babaganoush (which he mistook for tabouli/tabbouleh).  lan brought her buoyant and joyous self.  I made a pear and bittersweet chocolate cake, a melon mint white wine salad, and homemade kettle corn.

Pear and Bittersweet Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

3 pears diced in cubes

3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 stick of 4 ounce butter

1. preheat the oven to 350

2. either use a decorative disposable cake mold or butter a 9 inch springform pan

3. sift flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside

4. with a mixer, whip the eggs on high speed for at least 5 minutes until the eggs have greatly increased in volume and the mixture looks pale and thick

5. brown the butter at medium heat in a sauce pan.  the butter is done with brown solids begina to form and the butter turns just slightly brown.  careful not to burn.  as soon as the brown solids appear, remove from heat

6. add the sugar to the whipped eggs and mix for a few minutes more

7. add the brown butter and flour in alternating additions, being careful not to over beat

8. pour the batter into the cake pan

9. top with the pear cubes and chopped chocolate

10. bake for about 50 minutes

adapted from smittenkitchen.com