Sylvia's Scenario

Happy New Year and here I go again with my first post being a salad. We’ve had a lot of over-indulging during  the holidays, as most people have,  so I am definitely focusing on salads now.  Our first over-indulgent event was my neighbor’s holiday party that I wrote about  here .  And then at the last minute, we decided to go to Boise for Bruce's office party there.  It's been awhile since we've traveled for Christmas parties because of the pandemic plus last year we were in Spain so I was a little eager to go this year. We stayed at my brother's house and had good visits with he and his wife.  Two of my other siblings were also in town so it was really nice for all of us and our spouses to be together.  We also had great visits with so many of the  Bratney Company  employees who I hadn't seen in years and various friends from when we lived in Idaho from 1998-2015. It was a very festive time to be in town and the weather was gorgeous u...

We are having a quiet Christmas morning with just Bruce and I here until Lauren and her boyfriend come over for breakfast.  Last night, was also a quiet Christmas eve with just us but to tell you the truth, I was happy about that because I've been so "last minute" this year and it’s not been for lack of time.  I've had a lot of time this year.  However, I barely got the house decorated for Christmas!  And this is a person talking who has had the Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving in past years.  Yes, this year has been a little lackadaisical for me.  I miss the grandkids which is probably the root of it all since I keep remembering how much fun we had celebrating Christmas with them the past three years in addition to being in Spain with them last year.  But it's also been a very peaceful season for me, meaning a peaceful frame of mind. We’ve definitely done a lot of memorable holiday activities so all is good that way. I just feel more slowed down...

We went to our first Christmas party of the season last night and I just had to post all the festive food ideas.  It was an appetizer, drinks and dessert Christmas party for about eight of us neighbors. It's nice to just walk down the street past three houses and we're there.                          My neighbor, Karen, loves to host parties and I've written about her parties  here  and   here  and other various places.  We've lived on this street going on ten years now and I can't even remember how many of her parties we've been to.  One of her best parties was when she turned 80 a couple of years ago and she had an 80's themed party.  (I went with the Madonna-look). Her food spread is always impressive. That party was in the summer so we could go outside and use her deck which is nice because we all have great views on our street.  Karen is a lot like me in that she loves to ...

You are probably wondering why I am posting a recipe for Chex Party Mix.  Anybody can get the recipe off the box of any Chex cereal, right?  That' s what we did for years.  I use to make this during Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays when the kids were little and everyone loved it.  But that was before you could buy it pre-made in a bag in all stores like a bag of potato chips. When Bruce was shopping at Costco last month,  he said he almost grabbed a bag of Chex Party Mix for our Thanksgiving guests.  But then when he was in the cereal aisle,  he saw you could buy all three Chex cereals together (he always buys his Cheerios and Grapenuts at Costco) and decided it would be fun to make it homemade again.  So, he came home with the three Chex cereals and made it from scratch. We had several bowls of it out for Thanksgiving, all of which got completely eaten and people even commented how good it was.  I admit I ate my share, as well and it was ...

I'm not sure I need another Thai curry recipe but I made this recipe over the weekend and it was very hardy and satisfying. This was a recipe in our newspaper and when I read it, I thought “I like the idea of eating pumpkin spice soup this time of year” (and a lot more healthy than pumpkin spice lattes...although, I like them, too!)  I don't have a soup recipe like this one but I have other similar recipes like this  Thai Red Lentil Curry & Spinach which we also recently had for dinner. I think it must be the time of year for warm, spicy meals. And then there's my Basil Red Curry Salmon that's one of my favorite salmon recipes. These two recipes both use Thai Kitchen's red curry paste and this Pumpkin Spice Soup also uses it. It's a super easy way to make a meal pop with flavor.                                                       I...

I discovered a new fruit last week while shopping at our local farmers market.  We had relatives visiting from the Midwest and they spotted these ground cherries at one of the fruit stands and bought us a container since we'd never seen them before. They are the most interesting little fruit.  They fall from the tree when ripe so are harvested by picking them up off the ground during late summer and early fall.  They have a paper-like husk that you peel off before you pop them into your mouth. They look like a yellow cherry tomato but they have the taste similar to a grape only less sweet and they look like a grape inside, too. They are related more to tomatillos than a grape, however, and are part of the nightshade family.  They are similar in nutrition to tomatoes with lots of vitamins A and C, beta-carotene and potassium. I didn't think they had much taste, a very mellow sweetness but we had fun eating them while Bruce's nephew and his family were here who knew a...