the beginning

In our infinite wisdom, Kay & I decided this weekend that we needed to start our own blog so here we go--------------------hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoy writing about our escapades.


“The Girls” (that would be Kay & Mary Lee) announced that they were coming to my house on Saturday for girl weekend. We began with lunch on Saturday at The Cherokee with our friend Teresa. She lives in Montana and it has been quite some time since we’ve seen her. What’s the old saying “eat, drink & be merry” – well, that’s just what we did!

Now since the girls do not live in the “big city” I just HAD to take them to the “fancy” grocery store after lunch so off to The Fresh Market we went. We needed to pick up a few things for our dinner that evening but since we all 3 love to cook I knew it would not be a short trip (and I was right). Finally after hanging out in the store for over an hour and looking at every single item in there we had all the things on our list and could finally go home (after all, it was time for another cocktail).

I had a surprise for the girls when we got back to the house – I had heated up the hot wax machine. After several cocktails Kay was the first one to try it out. She dipped one hand and immediately screamed as if she was being tortured (she said it was too hot-----well, it is melted wax for crying out loud). Mary Lee & I thought it was perfectly delightful (bliss) – hence the name of our blog, Torture & Bliss. What is torture for one person can be bliss for another – just a matter or personal preference.

Earlier in the week I had planned our menu for the evening – cedar planked grilled salmon, roasted asparagus, heart of palm salad and bread. To begin preparing the salmon I sprinkled it with some charcoal sea salt. I did this to draw out any fishy taste that might be there. I let the fish sit with the salt until my charcoal fire was ready and then I rinsed the salt off. I rubbed the fish with olive oil and then seasoned both sides with dill. I laid lemon slices under the bottom and on the top of each piece of fish, put them on the cedar plank (that had soaked in water all day) and then on the grill. Cook about 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish. For the asparagus I tossed it in some walnut oil, sprinkled sea salt and black sesame seeds and roasted in the oven. Kay made us a lovely salad with mixed greens, red bell pepper (fresh out of her garden), heart of palm, feta cheese, seasoned salt, lime juice and a dollop of Parmesan Peppercorn Ranch Dressing.
Our dessert was 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 cup of sour cream, 1 cup of lite Cool Whip, mix and refrigerate for several hours – place in a chilled martini glass and top with canned Oregon Raspberries (if you can’t find these use frozen) and a brown edged wafer (I prefer rolled wafer cookies that have been dipped in chocolate). After all this it was time to say “you’ve been a good dog, you can go to bed now”.

The meal was delightful and

the company of friends made

it a night to remember...........