Grapefruit flambé avec la vodka

Author Notes

Really old-school and easy with a fun grown-up twist! In junior high home-ec class we learned to make these -sans the liquor. For the flambe part we put them on cookie trays and slid them into a gas oven for the broiler flames to do the trick. They were intended to be a breakfast accompaniment but I was so proud of my newly learned skill I couldn't wait for a breakfast opportunity so I served it as a dessert that night. My mother was a nurse on the evening shift and often times it was only my dad and I at the dinner table and most of the time he did the cooking. I had wanted so badly to impress him with my own ability and I knew I was really going to knock his socks off with this. That night I prepped the grapefruit and sprinkled the tops of the fruit with way, way more than enough sugar…I was a teenager after all. Because there was so much sugar it really flamed-up quickly - a nice crispy black top on the grapefruit halves! Of course my dad said it was the best thing he'd ever eaten - I know better now - but I did get to whirl and twirl around for awhile as Queen of the Kitchen. —Lizabeth