Tormented Kitchen

We went to a Kentucky Derby party this year. It was hosted by the Junior League of Reno and held at the Hidden Valley Country Club. They had fun day set up with pictures with a horse, a silent auction, a hat contest, free-flowing mint juleps, and a modest buffet.  The buffet was fun because they had a build-your-own mac & cheese section. Choose your noodles, choose your sauce and toppings, and devour. Foodwise, my favorite thing they served was the amazing miniature pecan pies.  The bourbon balls were good, too but the pie was so good. I have been thinking of that pie for the last month and a half. So when that happens, I have to make some at home to quench the craving. This pie was sweet but not toothache sweet. A scoop of ice cream was really good with it. Honestly, what kind of pie is not good with ice cream? Right? Look at the yumminess of the sliced pie. Crisp nutty top, smooth, gooey center, and flaky crust...I think I should make another one. Ingredi...

This past Sunday, I cooked up a whole bonanza feast of Thai goodies for dinner . It was Father's Day here in the US, so I had my parents over for dinner with us. We had a nice family dinner together. Dear Hubby requested the Thai spread, so I obliged. It required a special trip to the Asian market for galangal and kaffir lime leaves. However, you can get the other ingredients from typical supermarkets. By the way, galangal looks like ginger, but does not taste or smell like ginger. It's hard to explain what it actually tastes like by itself. You just have to go get some and taste it firsthand. I made Shrimp Pad Thai , Yellow Curry with Pork, Mango, and Bell Pepper, this soup, and jasmine rice. This batch of soup was very mild since my folks aren't big spicy/hot food eaters. I tossed one chili into the pot but left it whole so I wouldn't impart any heat. I left out the mushrooms because I don't do mushrooms. Tom Kha Gai Ingredients 1 can chicken stock 2 stem...

I have this habit of making somewhat labor-intensive birthday cakes for my loved ones. My dear hubby likes coconut cake. I made a different coconut layer cake in the past that was quite tasty, but this year he was interested in adding pineapple to the combination.   This cake is lovely! I really enjoyed the pineapple curd filling with pineapple pieces. So sweet and tangy and moist! The cake was different, a bit stiff at first. But after letting the cake mellow overnight, the moisture from the frosting and filling permeated and made it much more enjoyable. Cake Ingredients 1 1/2 cups cake flour 1 cup unbleached AP flour 1 2/3 teaspoons baking powder (This works for Reno's altitude. Low altitude bakers use 2 tsps.) 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup granulated white sugar 1/2 cup local honey 1/3 cup canola oil 3 Tablespoons butter, melted 3/4 cup buttermilk 2 Tablespoons Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum or Parrot Bay Coconut Rum 2 teaspoons coconut extract 3 egg whites ...

Back in the middle of winter, we decided to attempt something new, something healthy. Green smoothies. First, we tried the Dr. Oz 3 day smoothie cleanse. Wow, were those nasty tasting! One important thing to note though, we felt good! Three days of no junk, no artificial anything, and both of us felt good.  We just wanted something that tasted better. I borrowed a book from the library, Green Smoothie Revolution by Victoria Boutenko and got out the Blendtec high speed blender. The whole point of this book is that the author states people need the nutrients from greens, but you have to make it taste good to get them down the hatch. I have to admit that at first, we thought the smoothies were going to be horrible like the Dr. Oz ones. We started with some of her very basic recipes, and they were surprisingly tasty! With her idea in mind, I've experimented with some different combinations. They generally look like green or brown sludge, but there are some really tasty combination...

This weekend my dear hubby had a special request for breakfast. He claimed since his birthday happens mid-week, that I should fix him a special birthday quiche on the weekend.  So I was a nice wifey, and fixed a special bacon-loaded quiche. It was fabulous! I served it with cantaloupe and a salad of mixed greens with cranberries and almonds and a red wine vinaigrette dressing. Ingredients 1 9-inch blind baked pie shell 1 onion, sliced into strips 3 Tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon minced garlic 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled 3 eggs 1 cup milk 1 cup shaved Swiss cheese, or similar cheese like Gruyere or Emmentaler Black pepper and sea salt to taste Method 1. In a medium frying pan, saute onion and butter. Cook over medium heat until onion begins to brown. Reduce heat to low and continue cooking until softened and brown. Season with salt and pepper. Add minced garlic at the very end and saute until just browned, about 1 minute.    2. Spre...

Yum for broccoli! We like broccoli. I bought a seriously huge bag from Costco. I barely made a dent in it after this broccoli casserole and a couple nights of steamed broccoli. Note to self: Costco bags of broccoli are too big for normal consumption. Going back into my childhood, I liked broccoli with "cheeze."  Since processed cheese is very high in sodium (and lots of artificial weird stuff) I don't like to eat it all that often. Thankfully, my kids aren't big fans of Velveeta. However, this is one of those traditions where I have to indulge myself every once in a while. This was part of the Easter dinner feast. It was really salty and oozy and yummy. I'm pretty sure we negated any health benefits from the broccoli with all the "cheeze" and butter, but I enjoyed it immensely. Ingredients 2 lbs broccoli, chopped 1 lb block Velveeta 3 T. butter 2 T. milk 6 Ritz crackers, crushed Method 1. Microwave or steam broccoli until just tender. ...

Hello again my dear readers. It's springtime here and I'm finding more and more good produce at the stores. I found some adorable Brussels sprouts! They are essentially miniature cabbages that grow on stalks. I'm hoping to grow some in our garden this year! I wanted to try something a little bit different. I recruited my daughter to help me make dinner. I told her to help put the sprouts in the pan and that she had to watch for bugs. She was very thorough and questioned almost every brownish spot she saw. As part of this experiment, I asked her to eat one raw. She did! My picky eater ate one whole raw Brussels sprout! What an accomplishment! However, once I got out the onion, she lost interest. She did ask if I was crying (from the onion fumes) and looked deep into my eyes to see if I had any tears forming. Funny! After stuffing the pan into the hot oven, I managed to heat up some ham and microwaved a huge sweet potato to make the meal. The lemony cheesy Br...