Tormented Kitchen

Hello, dear readers!  Welcome back. It's been hot here in northern Nevada, not melting trash can hot, but we've already had a few days at 100F.  When it's warm out, we tend to cook and eat outdoors. Grilling, and now smoking with hubby's birthday present (a Camp Chef Woodwind) has been our recent favorite cooking method. Since you have to balance out the hot with something cool, I made this refreshing and simple farro salad to go with dinner one night. We ate outdoors al fresco and the fresh air makes everything taste better! Ingredients 2 cups farro 1 apple, peeled and diced 3 green onions, whites only chopped 1/4 cup parsley chopped juice of one tangelo or orange, freshly squeezed 2 Tablespoons olive oil 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar salt and pepper to taste Method 1. Boil the farro in a large pot of water for about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside. 2. Heat the olive oil in a small pan.  Saute the onion until soft. Add the apple and cook ab...

Hello again my friends. This year is really flying by. I woke up and realized that we are one month away from Christmas! Goodness! I have to start getting seasonal decorations up! Speaking of seasonal things, it's getting to be citrus fruit season in the stores. Have you also noticed the bags of clementines and mandarin oranges everywhere? I usually see them under the brands of Cuties and Halos. They're so tiny and tasty. I had a flash of brilliance and bought a bag. They are great to send for the kiddos lunches, or drop a few in my purse to snack on at work. I've used clementines in cooking as well.  They are so easy to add since they're seedless and add a lovely and gentle sweet orange flavor. For fun, I made crepes and a sweet whipped cream- ricotta filling, enhanced with the juice and zest from clementines. They were divine! I knew I had to share the recipe with you, because they were too good to keep to myself. By the way, if you don't have access to...

For my birthday this past year, my dear hubby took me to a trendy bar/eatery.  The highlight was my drink. So I have carefully crafted my own improved version for home consumption. I used a hurricane glass because it made it prettier. As you know, a good part of the appeal of food and drinks are the appearance.  Make it pretty and taste good., and you will wow your friends. I have intentionally made this drink with and without alcohol, for one, because I am such a lightweight drinker! Without vodka, it was still fantastic! I can also share the mocktail version with the kids. I like my drink with the extra sweetness of vanilla syrup. If you are trying to cut calories, you might want to back off the regular syrup and switch to sugar-free and consider fat-free half & half. I know fat-free half & half is a mysterious chemical alteration of the real thing. But if you want that texture and creaminess, it's an option. By the way, a regular shot is in t...

Once upon a time, in the far, far away exotic land known as Oklahoma, the Young Heiress enjoyed eating a delightful concoction known as apple cake. It was mildly spiced with cinnamon and filled with succulent layers of sliced apples. The Queen Mother had searched far and wide for the perfect combination of yellow cake and crispy tart apples to please the Young Heiress. Yep, it's a mostly true story. This is the actual recipe for apple cake I enjoyed as a kid. It's also true that for a period of time, one of my nicknames was "the young heiress." It's a weird story and probably has nothing to do with what you would expect. Unless you were there or made privy to the details. I shall leave that story out for today. Ingredients for the cake batter 3 cups AP flour 3 teaspoons baking powder 2 cups sugar 1 cup vegetable oil 4 eggs 1/3 cup orange juice 2 teaspoons vanilla extract for the apple layers 3 tart apples, peeled and thinly sliced 2 teaspoons...