Almond Bundt Cake III (I think, for this blog)

I used this recipe:
http://www.bubblews.com/news/914894-almond-bundt-cake-recipe

but I made my own almond paste, using this recipe:
http://candy.about.com/od/nutcandyrecipes/r/Easy-Almond-Paste.htm
(actually, I used 3/4 of that recipe - 12 oz out of a supposed 16). I used blanched slivered almonds from trader joes and I doubled the amount of almond extract it called for. It looks nice and smooth and not homemade at all. I let it process for a long long time.

For the cake itself - the recipe's unclear but I mixed the sugar with the almond paste first (I pretty much had to use my hands instead of hte mixer) and then added in the butter. It took some strength to get it done--I was glad for my heavy glass bowl, which stayed in place as I used to hands to corral the mixer. (Oh to have a KitchenAid!)

I was happy with how it turned out. Also this bundt cake was a little taller than some bundt cakes I've made (my pan has tall sides so cakes never fill it up entirely.  It says 10-15 cups on it.) 

not really a recipe at all - cost of black beans from scratch

I'm always curious how dried beans translate to cooked beans in quantity.

Last night I cooked 2 lbs of dried black beans (in the crockpot, which is the best way ever to do it because you don't have to watch it - also the texture is good) and came up with about 11 cups cooked. This included a little bit of liquid but it was mostly solid beans.

Canned black beans claim to be 3.5 servings of 1/2 cup each, which translates to 1 3/4 cups. So for $2.77 of dried beans, I got a bit over 6 cans' worth. So a bit less than 50 cents a "can." Not a huge bargain, probably, since you can generally find beans for $1 a can or maybe 89 cents, but:

a) doing this induces me to eat more beans because I have them around
b) my beans were organic, that's something
c) cans sometimes contain BPA; my beans do not
d) metal cans feel wasteful in general
e) you can probably find dried beans for less than the $1.39/lb that mine were.