Sylvia's Scenario

We received some Iowa pork chops from Bruce's brother this year for Christmas so last night we invited my sister and her husband over for dinner and I made a lovely pork chop dinner.  I decided to brine the chops since they were very thick and also because our Thanksgiving turkey always turns out so great when we brine it.  And, as I expected they would, they turned out perfectly seasoned and wonderfully tender.  That's why I love brining.  The meat turns out so tender and you don't have to add salt and pepper at all because the brine seasons it for you.  I adapted this recipe from my favorite kitchen store's recipe, Sur la Table .  I used my  Plum Good Pork Chops  recipe after I brined them and used my  orange marmalade  instead of plums.  I have six jars of orange marmalade I'm trying to use up after experiementing with those oranges from Seville last month and we're having a pretty delicious time of it.  The marmalade i...

I call this recipe non-rotisserie chicken because it tastes just like a rotisserie chicken but you can make it at home in the oven whenever you want.  Plus, it is so much more healthy than store-bought rotisserie chicken since it has a lot less sodium.  Store bought rotisserie chickens are injected with salt heavy solutions,  added sugars, flavorings, phosphates, preservatives and stablizers, not to mention the plastic it is wrapped in leaching more chemicals from the plastic into the chicken.  This recipe is one of our most often consumed dinners that we eat at least once a month.  The magic is in the rub.  I like buying a half chicken when I see them in the store because a half chicken is perfect for two people.  But you can use this recipe for a whole chicken (it looks more like a rotisserie chicken) or cut-up chicken.  Anyway you choose your chicken, the rub still works with baking it in the oven.  This is one of our comfort food dinners ...

 I noticed recently that our neighborhood grocery store, Metropolitan Market, had Seville oranges.  When we visited Nick in Spain, there were orange trees everywhere and the city of Seville was known especially for their orange trees.  Nick lived one hour south of Seville so we were very familiar with the oranges.  I couldn't believe it when I saw them in the grocery store here.  The thing about Seville oranges is that they are really sour and if you want to eat them, you must make orange marmalade so that's what I did.  I remember when we picked one off the tree in Seville to eat, we had to immediately spit it out because it was so sour!  That was hard because the trees are EVERYWHERE in Seville and they looked so inviting.  I thought we just got an orange that wasn't ripe because the trees near Nick's house had super sweet oranges. He had a park behind his house and we would pick the oranges and throw them over the fence into his pool. The kid...

We just returned from a Hawaiian vacation this week so for Valentine's Day this year, I decided to make Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts with the macadamia nuts I brought home with me.  I made them just like I always do using this  recipe  with the addition of Valentine sprinkles such as  these.   I put them in clear treat bags such as  these  and tied them with a cute Valentine ribbon; an easy, fun, yummy and quick Valentine gift. I took seven bags over to my sister's house who hosted a Valentine's dinner party.   My brother-in-law will often prepare a really nice dinner for us ladies on Valentine's Day and all the men will wait on us and we even get cute little presents.  My kind of evening.  That is why I decided to contribute my Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts for everyone because I know what a festive evening this turns out to be.   My sister, Barbara, does such a good job decorating and setting a beautiful dinner table f...

I haven't done a New Year's Resolution in a couple of years but I think I have one this year.  I've been pondering what makes for a festive holiday season with lots of holiday spirit and what makes for a stressful holiday season.  Everyone wants a low stress holiday season with lots of fun times and memorable moments, of course, and I feel fortunate that that’s how mine has been.  For me, I know the most obvious reason is because we haven't traveled anywhere.  It’s been really nice staying home to relax and enjoy the holidays.  Our last trip was in September for Bruce's birthday but we haven't gone anywhere since.  I get in a good routine when I’m home and I have a nice, low stress frame of mind.  My diet is more healthy and I exercise regularly.  I'm not going to say that my New Year's Resolution is to not travel, however.  There's more to it than that.  We also had friends and family come over for dinner parties more than usual so the...

 Merry Christmas from my family to yours.