Pete Ryan rolls up his sleeves once a week and tests new recipes in his Adams Morgan kitchen. His blog, Pete Bakes, documents his successes—and occasional failures.

Ryan started the blog after college when he moved into his own place and missed his mom’s home cooking. “She didn’t do it for a living, but I remember my mom always taking a tray of brownies out of the oven or icing a cake,” he says. After reading lots of food blogs, Ryan decided to start his own.

A self-taught baker, Ryan has tried his hand at everything from bread to candy to pastries to crackers. He aims to teach his readers something new with every post. Though he hasn’t won an award for his blog (yet!), Ryan recently won the first-ever Foodie Fight, an Iron Chef-type competition among local food bloggers. His winning recipe: potato-wrapped cod.

We caught up with the Web producer/graphic designer—that explains the slick Web site!—to find out his favorite recipes and his biggest baking flop. A warning before you read: This interview might make you very hungry.

Can Vijay Ravindran and his team of technologists figure out a way to make journalism pay for itself in the Internet age?

Don Graham hopes so. His company’s flagship newspaper and its Web site have been losing money and dragging down the Washington Post Company’s profits and stock price. Free news on the Internet has undercut journalism’s business model.

“There’s no silver bullet,” Ravindran says. He’s the Post’s first “chief digital officer.” We’re in a small meeting room in the company’s executive suite four floors above the newsroom. “We have the willingness to experiment with a new mix. How do we deliver the best experience across all the cultural norms that people now expect?”

Ravindran has been on the job four months, so it’s too soon for a plan to save newspapering. But his installation in the Post Company’s upper echelon is a sign of CEO Don Graham’s willingness to experiment—and his desperation.

Graham had the vision to create Washingtonpost.com in 1996, but he failed to see that the online publishing unit would develop a separate culture. This summer, the Post is consumed by trying to merge the disparate new operations, reduce staff, and reorganize at all levels.

The Post needed two writers to replace Metro columnist Marc Fisher. In tapping Robert McCartney and Petula Dvorak, the paper went for experience and comfort, not youth and passion.

McCartney is almost a Post lifer—he went there in 1982. He has covered Central American wars, Wall Street, and Europe and has edited foreign and local news. But what might have best prepared him for a local column is that his son went all the way through Montgomery County public schools.

“I’m looking forward to expressing my point of view,” McCartney says. The styles of the columnists he admires—Steve Pearlstein of the Post, Tom Friedman of the New York Times—suggest that his pieces will be more wonky than gritty.

Hundreds gathered this morning to mark the reopening of Eastern Market. Mayor Adrian Fenty, DC delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, Ward 6 councilmember Tommy Wells, and other local officials were on hand to commemorate the event.

The 136-year-old market in Southeast DC has been shuttered for more than two years since a fire ravaged the building in April 2007. Today, merchants opened for business in the newly improved—and air-conditioned—Eastern Market for the first time.

After a ribbon-cutting ceremony in front of the North Hall, Fenty, clad in a button-down shirt, khakis, and a red cap, made his way through the market, stopping to shake hands, pose for pictures, and chat with merchants. The masses swarmed around him, and nearly everyone was all smiles.

Lawson and family at The Park.

What: University of North Carolina alum and Clinton, Maryland, native Ty Lawson’s invite-only NBA-draft party.

Where: The Park at Fourteenth’s exclusive fourth-floor lounge.

When: Thursday, June 25.

Who: In addition to Lawson and his family and friends, the 18th pick’s guests included NBA superstar Steve Francis and former University of Maryland standout James Gist. Francis made a late entrance and offered Lawson a fashion tip: “You need to buy yourself some Gucci.”

Agent Jeff Fried, who represents both Lawson and Francis, said Francis flew in from Houston especially for the occasion: “He’s going home tomorrow morning. He flew in from Houston to say hello and to support Ty. First thing tomorrow he’s gone.”

Others in attendance included DC Council member Kwame Brown and Eagle Bank CEO Barry Watkins. Local boxer and Fried client Tony Thompson also stopped by for a short visit.

Nothing says sexy like self-deprecation.  From revealing “I have no game” to confessing “I’m an idiot,” we appreciate this week’s honesty (modesty?). But let’s face it, sometimes a missed connection is closer to an “I messed up” connection.

Cute girl in Red, DEFINITELY a screwup on my part - 21 (Cafe Deluxe/Green Papaya in Bethesda)
Reply to: pers-vjbce-1238504672@craigslist.org
Date: 2009-06-24, 11:48PM EDT

My two friends and I were leaving The Barking Dog and just walking off the alcohol around Bethesda around 10:30pm or so. We walked by Cafe Deluxe and you were either sitting outside there or at Green Papaya. I can’t really remember which one. You were wearing red and talking with your friend and you looked up at me and we made eye contact, but I just thought you were staring at one of my friends or someone else or that it was just a fluke, so I didn’t really think anything of it, so I smiled. We walked by again a second time and you looked up at me again and we again made eye contact and then I KNEW it wasn’t a fluke. But I’m generally a pretty shy guy and am not used to getting looks from girls, so I didn’t say anything, and I’m an idiot. I was wearing a grey crew neck shirt with dark blue cargo pants and flip flops. I have dirty blond hair and glasses. You are very attractive and red not only looks great on you, but is my favorite color. Hit me back, I would love to get to know you:)

She was wearing your favorite color?!? Totally meant to be!

With so much drama in Congress this week it’s a wonder there’s time for any lawmaking. The news of Mark Sanford’s infidelity has provoked far more response tweets than the news of John Ensign’s did, although predictably David Vitter and Newt Gingrich are keeping quiet on this one. Funnily enough, neither Ensign nor Sanford has tweeted since news of their extra-marital affairs came out. No sign of a “cryin for 5 days in B Aires” tweet or a “doug hampton sux,” but we’ll keep an eye out just in case.

In other news, kudos to Mike Pence and Rick Perry for turning their Twitter avatars green in solidarity with the Iranian protesters, even though it makes them look less than healthy. John McCain seems to think he’s a battleship, Claire McCaskill makes a smokin’ brisket and Susan Collins is much less excited by the sight of Nick Jonas than most of the House interns were.