Tormented Kitchen

Added Feb. 19, 2016: Dear Readers, I've seen my recipe get reposted by a lot of different websites, and subsequently pinned on Pinterest, since I published this in 2011. Please give proper attribution. It hurts my heart that so many other bloggers are pirating my content and claiming it as their own. If you'd like to re-use this, just ask! I appreciate you all. Just remember, we are all people with feelings and families to support. And believe me, Dear Pirate, I noticed when you copied my text, word for word .  --Jenny Did you know, the gingerbread loaf cake at Starbucks is really pretty good? It's also a bit expensive. You don't always notice the $1.85 when you buy a few drinks. I had to wait a whole year to get my fix, because this treat is only available between Thanksgiving and roughly New Year's. I scoured the Internet last January but didn't find a suitable recipe. I gave up and ate Lemon Pound Cake or Pumpkin Bread. This gingerbread season, I man...

Hey remember this entry about peeling citrus fruit with a staple remover ? Well the handy little staple remover has found another use. I use it for shelling pistachios. Sometimes those little buggers are hard to crack with your bare hands. I tried crushing them with the handles of my scissors. I found that just prying them open with the staple remover is more effective. Insert the small metal protuberance into the crack of the pistachio. Run it down to lengthen the crack and twist to pop it apart. Viola. Nuts.

Starbucks. I have mixed feelings about them. Sometimes they are good, sometimes really good, then occasionally they are so-so. It depends on your barrista and how fresh the baked goods are. Since all Starbucks bakery goods here are shipped from Southern California, the freshness can really vary. There was a stretch over summertime that I craved their lemon loaf and the closest café was always out. Then one day they weren’t out, but it was kinda stale. After much recipe research, I have hit upon one good enough to share. I have tweaked it a bit. I added lemon zest to mine. I was also concerned about how much the center would fall. Being at “High altitude” of 4400 feet above sea level, things usually cave in the middle unless you adjust things. This one still caved a little, but not as much as usual. It was still a hit for Sunday breakfast with both Justin and Eric. I overmixed it a bit so the texture was more like my Madeleines and the flavor of fresh eggs was noticeable. The icin...

This isn't really a recipe, it's more of a cute kid thing. Eric has decided he likes toast a lot, mostly because he can make it with limited adult help. Adult instructions are in parenthesis. Ingredients: 2 slices of bread, preferably white (Eric's favorite) real butter strawberry jam Method: (Take bread out of package and hand to Eric. Eric will adjust the toaster settings himself and place bread into the slots.) Toast bread in toaster until desired toastiness. (Remove hot toast from toaster and place on a plate. Hold so Eric can spread toppings easily.) Spread about 1 tablespoon of butter on each slice of toast. Spread about 1 tablespoon of jam on each slice. (Put away butter and jam.) Assemble into a sandwich or eat separately and enjoy!