Happy Birthday to my pal George

Did you ever play the totally nerdy party game of "who is your favorite Founding Father"? Of course I have, many times. As a self-respecting WM alum I cannot say the pompous "Mr. Jefferson." While I respect the intellects of John Adams and James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin's' wit, there is only one dead white male who can claim my heart- George Washington. Maybe it's because of  that Barry Bostwick miniseries that aired when I was a child, or the awesomeness of Mount Vernon's back piazza overlooking the Potomac, or his action hero/political patron saint status. Or maybe it's because our birthdays are a few days apart. Either way, my first president crush has not subsided.

As an early present to myself, I picked up this set of coasters at the museum's President's Day sale. They are like the "greatest hits" of the museum's Washington portraits, and I'd had my eye on them for weeks.

Clockwise from upper right we have:

• George Washington at the Battle of Princeton-James Peale 1804 (Note the tragic battle death scenes happening in the background.)
• George Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army - Charles Peale Polk 1787-93 (There are about 70 copies of this "Princeton portrait" floating around various museum galleries)
• George Washington Reviewing the Western Army at Fort Cumberland, the 18th of October 1794 - Frederick Kemmelmeyer, 1794-1800 (Go suppress that Whiskey Rebellion, G-dubs!)
• Washington at Verplanck's Point - John Trumbull, 1790 (They say this was Martha's favorite portrait of her husband. This is also my favorite version of his horse.)

Gluten Free Recipes: Birthday Cake!

Since I went gluten-free four years ago, birthday cake has been one of the hardest foods to navigate. I can't just dive in whenever someone blows out the candles. One of my favorite solutions was the cake my roommate made for me senior year in undergrad. She knew I ate Reese's peanut butter cups, so she filled a cake pan with them and stuck candles in their centers. Perfect!

I've tried some GF cake mixes in my time, but this past weekend I successfully made my first from-scratch cake, in honor of my beau's birthday. Everyone agreed it was a success, and the leftovers tasted even better the next day. It was moist and spongey, unlike many a GF baked good.

GF Chocolate Cake

From Life Tastes Good Again by Kirtsti Kirkland and Betsy Thomas

1 3/4 cup GF flour (I used 1 cup brown rice, 1/2 cup sourghum, and 1/4 cup cornstarch)
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
2 c. sugar
3/4 c. cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. oil
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. boiling water

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour baking pan(s).

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
In a larger bowl, beat eggs well. Add sour cream, oil, and vanilla to eggs; mix.
Beat in dry ingredients.
Slowly stir in boiling water. Mix well, making sure to scrape down sides and bottom of bowl.
Pour into prepared pan.

I used two round cake pans that took 30-40 minutes to bake. The recipe also suggests
a 9x13 pan for 35-40 minutes
a 13x18 pan for 17-20 minutes.