The term “comfort food” came about for good reason. In times of stress, I think most of us turn to something familiar as a form of reassurance. As a cook used to a demanding employer, I have developed a habit of always having coffee ready to brew at short notice. This lovely cake, moistened with sour cream and half & half, and featuring a crumb topping, pairs well with that coffee and can be quickly reheated in a microwave to release that tempting cinnamon scent.
flour – 3/4 cup for filling, 1 cup for topping, and 3-2/3 cup for cake
sugar – 1 cup for topping, and 1 cup for cake
brown sugar – 3/4 cup for filling, 1 cup for topping, and 2/3 cup for cake
ground cinnamon – 2 tsp for filling, and 1-1/2 tbs for topping
butter – 6 tbs for topping, and 1 cup for cake
3 eggs
1 tbs vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream
3 tsp baking powder
1 cup half & half
Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly coat a 9×13 baking pan with butter or cooking spray.
Mix 3/4 cup flour, 3/4 cup brown sugar, and 2 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside for the filling.
Melt 6 tps butter, then mix in 1 cup flour, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1-1/2 tbs cinnamon for the topping. You want this mixture to have a nice crumb texture, so leave the lumps in there!
Mix 1 cup of softened butter with 1 cup of sugar and 2/3 cup of brown sugar until you get a nice smooth texture. Then add the eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and baking powder, mixing until once again you have a nice smooth texture.
Gradually add the flour and half & half in turns, once again mixing until smooth.
Spread half of the cake batter in your pan, then top with the filling mix. Carefully spread the remaining batter on top of this, and then finish with your prepared crumb topping.
Bake for 40-45 minutes. Once cooled, cake can be topped with either powdered sugar or an icing made of powdered sugar and milk (ratio of 1 cup sugar to 2-3 tbs milk).
Now, Sunday at 9pm, tune your radio to KNVC 95.1 FM Carson City – or if you’re not in range, you can pull it up on their website: https://knvc.org. If you happen to miss it for some reason, they will re-air it next Friday at 8pm.
Need to catch up on previous episodes? You can now catch Secrets of Harridge House on https://www.imdb.com! Or go to https://anchor.fm/harridgehouse or your favorite podcast provider to stream previous episodes from Season 1 through Season 3.
R Mike Kelley (Agent Matheson) spent many years behind the scenes as a lighting and sound technician, before first appearing onstage in Lysistrata’s War at the Victoria Fringe Festival. He has been featured in the short film Three Clicks, as well Proscenium Players, Inc.’s Twelve Angry Men, The Taming of the Shrew, and Dealt a Deadly Hand. His most recent role was on the VT&T Railway as Barton Blackburn in She Wouldn’t Harm a Fly.
Secrets of Harridge House is Stormy’s debut as a performer. A naturally talkative terrier capable of a broad variety of canine sounds on command, she was a shoe-in for the role of Cooper in Season Three.
Cary minored in Theater in college and DJ’d an indie rock show for KXLU in Los Angeles. Her favorite acting role was Lady Catherine de Bourgh in a stage adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Cary has worked as a summer camp counselor, a barista, and as a divemaster at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center; she learned how to dive in India and Honduras, and has spent over six months volunteering at animal sanctuaries in Southern Africa. However, dogs are still her favorite animal.
Rachel Anderson grew up in Gardnerville, Nevada where she fell in love with the world of theater and dance while also cultivating her passion for the sciences. Her favorite roles include Sara in Stop Kiss and Purity in Anything Goes, Honey in Go-Go Beach, and Romaine Patterson in The Laramie Project, and a dancer in Lysistrata’s War. After graduating with a B.S. in Biology, Rachel performed professionally as a showgirl, lead dancer, and magician’s assistant in Kevin & Caruso’s production shows, Magique, Magique Encore, Madame Houdini, and Holiday Jubilee, touring in Atlantic City, Reno, and Niagara Falls. Currently, she works as a medical laboratory scientist in an emergency room lab. She is grateful to be a part of this cast, and she would like to extend her gratitude to her supporters, including her wife Tina, her parents, and her two dogs.
Asher Honor Hwang lives in the suburbs of Chicago. He has acted in school productions of “Cinderella” and “Baba Yaga.” This is his first professional acting job, and he is thrilled to be playing a ghost. When he grows up, he hopes to become a singing-acting-comic-drawing voice actor.
Kyle Littlefield has worked on PPI productions of The War Of The Worlds and The Odd Couple. He has also been involved with several CVCT shows since 2016. Kyle enjoys foosball and working on the old Dodge.
ANITA KELLEY (Roxie) has performed in numerous stage productions in Tahoe and Carson Valley, and in the short films 10 Syllables and Three Clicks. Favorite roles include the eccentric Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit, Hannah and Diana in California Suite, Johnna in August: Osage County, The Grand Duchess in You Can’t Take It With You, and The Pedant in The Taming of the Shrew. Her most recent appearance onstage was as Mrs. Phelps in WNMTC’s production of Matilda, the Musical at the Bob Boldrick Theater in Carson City.
(coming soon!)
(coming soon!)
HALEY HWANG lives in Chicago and spends her days drinking coffee and weaving tall tales. She has a passion for writing Asian historical fiction, often infusing her stories with diverse characters, martial arts fighting, and concubines. Her short fiction has been published in Volumes 7 and 8 of 72 Hours of Insanity and The Horror Tree’s Trembling With Terror Anthology. Her creative nonfiction has been published in The New York Times, which was included in the print anthology Tiny Love Stories. She has won screenwriting competitions and is currently writing her first feature screenplay.
FREDERICK HAMPTON grew up in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Now, he is a transplanted Nevadan, working at an accidental career in administrative services. His short fiction has appeared in The Missouri Review. He has written and directed a few short films, and works often with PPI and Brewery Arts Center. A graduate of UC Davis, he studied fiction writing and poetry with Clarence Major, Carolyn Kizer, and Charles Grosel. He lives in Carson City with his son and is at work on a novel and other short stories.
SCOTT YOUNG is a filmmaker that specializes in short films. In the last 8-years, many of his films have taken top awards in the competitions for which they were produced. He spends his down time between films writing and taking odd jobs as film editor. Currently, besides overseeing the writing on Secrets of Harridge House, he is also putting the finishing touches on a new television pilot and getting ready to break ground on a new comedy screenplay. A film school grad from Cal State Northridge, Scott resides in Los Angeles.
JOHN ADAMS (he/him/his) is an author from Kansas City. He writes about teenage detectives, pelican-people, robo-butlers, cursed cowboys, and bear nuns. His plays have been produced by Alphabet Soup and the 6×10 Play Festival and selected for readings at the William Inge Theater Festival and the Midwest Dramatists Conference. His short stories have been published by Australian Writers’ Centre, Bowery Gothic, Dream of Shadows, Fat Cat Magazine, Intrinsick, SERIAL Magazine, and Weird Christmas. He won the Johnson County Library Imagine Your Story Writing Contest, was Runner-Up in The Story Engine’s Microfiction Contest, and has been shortlisted by Furious Fiction and The Molotov Cocktail’s Flash Monster Contest. He performs with That’s No Movie, a multi-genre Improv team. Find John at John Adams, Writer and on Twitter.
