May weather in San Francisco, you taunt me so!  I could be wearing a sleeveless dress to brunch, and grumpily putting on a scarf and coat for work on Monday. Among the inconsistencies in weather, and wondering if I should water the plants or if the gray skies will produce any rain, I think baking has provided some solace.

These brownies were a long time in the making, because I had read the recipe a very long time ago in the New York Times. The brownies do not rise very much, but don’t despair! They are very chewy in the middle, fudge-like, and I loved the walnuts.

Our very good friends were expecting in early May, and I wanted to make something simple for them. I thought the pastel swirls would be more kid friendly, even though I am told babies don’t eat cookies as soon as they come out. Who knew? They are very large cookies, don’t let the photo fool you. I am talking salad plate big. Fun colors, chewy throughout, not too sweet, and with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg. These are the best cookies ever!

And why stop with brownies and cookies? Let’s make some wafers, I thought. No way I would have so many that I had to send to many neighbors and keep eating them for a week. But actually, that’s a good thing. The only thing that takes a bit of time is scraping the seeds from the vanilla beans, but they make such a difference. In the end, the recipe makes a lot of wafers with a mild vanilla flavor. If the fan of the house had not downed a majority of these, I would have made a wafer crumb for a cream pie. And everyone who received had nothing but great things to say.