I ♥ Sacramento {Sacramento County Fair}

 Yay! The County Fair is this weekend! For some reason I love the County Fair, but hate the State Fair. Probably because the County Fair still has cool competitions in baking, canning, table setting (Huh? Yeah.), baking and flower arranging. It's less crowded and less likely to have rowdy teenagers. It's cheaper and smaller and BETTER.

I love the County Fair. Where else can you get a cupcake and then just to your left find "Psychic Advice" from a "Consultant"?

...or stare into a frightening mass of bees behind glass and try fresh honey...

...and see horses up close and be afraid of them like the city kid you are...or watch the horse acrobats strut their stuff (heh) for prizes and ribbons?

 Where else can you pet mini horses, which you are far less afraid of...

...and get sickeningly sweet cotton candies from the Candy Factory....
...and feel sorry for rainbow hued sheep...

...and cuddle with baby goats?

At the County Fair.

May 26-30
Admission $5 13 and up
kids 12 and under free

Chocolate ‘n’ peanut butter belong together. Fact.

It’s becoming a joke around here that I always add peanut butter to everything. I blame Amanda for this because she brought over brownies one night for dessert and before throwing them into the oven to bake swirled a heaping spoonful of peanut butter into the brownie batter. I was hooked from then on, especially now that most of my baking is gluten free. 


My favorite gluten-free cupcake mix is (so far) the Betty Crocker gluten free chocolate cake mix. I have never really been one for following rules which is probably why I like baking mixes so much. They lend themselves well to rule breaking – even the gluten free variety. It’s not like I break a ton of rules (How’s that for justification?) just one or two substitutions and an add-in here and there.  No one around here is complaining, that’s for sure.
This would also translate pretty well to a regular baking mix, no doubt. Most cake mixes call for eggs, oil or butter (fat), and water, so what I do is replace the fat in cake mixes or brownies with peanut butter. I figure that if I have to have a fat it might as well be peanut butter, right? That’s healthy…there’s protein, too.  (Wait. Is peanut butter even a fat?)


It’s ok. You don’t have to agree with me. I have it all justified just fine in my world. In case you do agree with me or are just curious here’s my method of making cupcakes.


Chocolate/Peanut Butter/Banana Cupcakes with Marshmallow “Frosting”
You’ll need 1 Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate Cake mix (Makes one 8 in round or 12 cupcakes).
Follow package directions except substitute peanut butter for oil/butter.
Add 1 ripe mashed banana.
Mix and pour into cupcake tin; bake according to package directions.
When the cupcakes are done kick on your broiler to high, but don’t adjust your racks on the oven.
Take a marshmallow and place it on top of each cupcake and broil them till they are toasty.
Take the cupcakes out of the oven and smoosh down the marshmallows before they cool so that they cover the cupcakes like frosting.
Try not to eat them all in one day.