Sylvia's Scenario

Need I say more? maybe… ghost spook pumpkin boo boo and more boo RIP brownies orange big jack-o-lantern graveyard bake cookies candy parties food decorations favorite lights cupcakes make cute photos fun Lauren Nick teens costumes friends

I finished my batch of  halloween cookies  and ready to mail to loved ones. Easy come, easy go. What better way to get in the Halloween spirit, huh?  I like making some that are not sandwich and simply decorate with frosting.  I must say that frosting on these cookies is what makes this recipe addictive . They make me think of those pink cookies at espresso stands which I've never bought. If those pink cookies taste like this recipe, I've had the wrong impression of those all these years! If you don't have sandwich cookie cutters, just use regular cookie cutters and decorate with frosting. Still delicious and just as effective .

We had visitors for breakfast today so I decided to make one of my favorite breakfast dishes that is German called Hoppelpoppel.  Don't ask me what that means in German, I don't know, except maybe delicious ?  I first tasted this recipe in 1981 at a tailgate party in the parking lot of Kinnick Stadium of the Iowa Hawkeyes.   That's Bruce's alma mater.  After we were married, we lived in Iowa for 3 years and Bruce had lots of college friends around.  One college friend, Barry, was from Amana, Iowa and his family had a restaurant there called  The Ronneburg Restaurant .  We ate there many, many times when we lived in Iowa. Barry's parents put out the best tailgate parties before the Hawkeye games, as you can image since they operated a restaurant.  This was where I first had this recipe and we loved it! Barry's mom, Elsie, published a recipe album of all their treasured recipes and I, of course, bought it. In 1981, the Ronneburg was 30 years...

It really doesn't get any easier than this.  Throw a bunch of vegetables in the crockpot with some stew meat and you have beef stew!  That's what we did for dinner tonight.  Nothing better than to come home to a hot, hardy meal waiting for you after a long week of work. After a bowl of stew for dinner, I realized I didn't even put any seasoning in it!  But it was just so good with all the flavors of the vegetables and so sweet and juicy.  Here's what I put in it: 1 pound of stew meat - cut in bite-size pieces 6 carrots, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces 2 turnips, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces 1 parsnip, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces 1 rutabaga, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces 3 scrubbed Yukon gold potatoes and cut into bite-size pieces 1 large Walla Walla sweet onion, cut into bite-size pieces 1 can of diced tomatoes, I used a can of these: 8 ounces of broth, I like using these cute little boxes of broth: 1. ...

The bell peppers are so beautiful in the store right now I couldn't resist to buy some. We ate all the ones we had from the garden but these are so huge and perfect (as store-bought often are). So, what do you do with such perfect peppers? You stuff them! And that's what we had for dinner tonight- stuffed peppers .  Here's what they looked like before: And here's what they looked like after: This is my favorite Fall dinner.  We might even have these again before Fall is over.

Fall is here and I'm a lovin' my lattes!  Pumpkin Spice, that is.   With our  coffee maker  we make lots of coffee drinks and this time of year, it's Pumpkin Spice Lattes.  They are so quick to make: 2 shots of espresso 1/2 shot of pumpkin pie syrup a dollop of cream I don't bother to whip the cream, just add the liquid cream is fine with me for my quick fix. Of course, if I was entertaining and making the real thing, I'd use whipped cream with some cinnamon sprinkled on top or carmel drizzle or whatever a guest requested.  That's the beauty of making things homemade in the comforts of your own kitchen.  Whatever you want, no problem!