Sylvia's Scenario

Merry Christmas and have a happy, healthy, delicious, fun-filled, and memorable New Year for 2015, from my family to yours.

I got another gift in the mail today and decided to blog about it as I sit here and drink my second cup.   My sister, Laurene, sent me some Chai tea on this Christmas Eve and it really hits the spot as I take a break from wrapping presents and preparing food for tomorrow.  It was a very pleasant surprise to receive in the mail today. Laurene made this same tea for us on  sister's weekend   over Memorial Day weekend.  I loved it then and I love now.  I love this Chai tea so much that I texted her and told her I wanted to put it on my blog.  I didn't realize it had such a story to go along with it so now I want to share the story on this Christmas Eve, a most appropriate time.   This should be another "guest blog" like  Aunt Velmas Waffle Cookies  but Sage isn't here to write about it. You see, she died of ovarian cancer in September 2013 at the age of 24.  Sage was my nephew's girlfriend, my nephew who is Laurene's son...

The following is a guest post from my sister, Jolene, who is sharing her family's Christmas tradition.  Here's her story about waffle cookies: Waffle cookies are a Christmas tradition in my husband's family--specifically Aunt Velma's Christmas tradition. Before she died in 2006 at age 91, one of the nieces wrote down her recipe and shared it with the nieces and nephews. Everyone in my husband's family calls them "Aunt Velma's Waffle Cookies," but they actually come from her mother, Annie Rohrig Halstead, who was born in Fayette County, West Virginia, in 1892. Like all the Rohrigs and Halsteads of her generation, she lived her whole life in West Virginia never traveling west of the Ohio River Valley.  Here's a little history about waffle cookies (courtesy of my historian husband):  Europeans have cooked waffle cakes for centuries using open fires and iron plates with long handles. At some point, perhaps in the 13th century,...

Since our Christmas party  punch  was such a hit last weekend, I thought I better post our Thanksgiving sangria recipe because it was equally as good. Making a punch is so much easier than the individual cocktail drinks.  You can serve it in a big punch bowl or a pitcher for guest to serve themselves.   Makes 10 - 12 drinks 1 750 ml bottle chilled Chardonnay 2 cups apple cider 1/2 cup bourbon 2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 Tbsp orange bitters 2 medium to large apples 6 sprigs of thyme, plus one sprig for each drink glass 2 12-oz. bottles Angry Orchard "Crisp Apple" hard cider 1.  Add the Chardonnay, apple cider, bourbon, lemon juice, and orange bitters to a large pitcher.  2.  Slice apples (do not peel) thinly, crosswise, to get apple rings. Discard seeds and add apple rings to pitcher, along with the 6 sprigs of thyme.  3.  Place pitcher in refrigerator to chill and to let the flavors mingle for a c...

I served this recipe for Thanksgiving and it was a hit, so then I decided to serve it again at our Christmas party . I actually served Brussels sprouts and kale salad.  Is that a dietitian's menu or what?  But once again, people raved about the Brussels sprouts.  How many people do you know who actually like Brussels sprouts?  They will like them if you make them with this recipe.  This is proof that you can get people to eat their vegetables if you make them taste good.  I added a few red sweet peppers to make them look festive for the occasio n. Makes 4 servings 1 pound (about 20) small, firm, bright green Brussels sprouts 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup water 2 Tbs. unsalted butter or margarine 2 Tbs. Dijon mustard Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste 1.  Bring a pot of water and salt to a boil. 2. Prepare Brussels sprouts by washing under running water, check each head, peel off any loose or discolored leaves.  Cut large sprou...

We had our Christmas party last night and I'd have to say the most popular item served was the punch. The punch bowl was completely dried up by the end and everyone kept commenting how good it was. Since we had more people this year, I decided to serve a punch instead of the usual individual holiday cocktail and this recipe served us well.  Of course, we had lots of other delicious items like the  mustard crusted beef tenderloin  which is turning out to be a Bratney Christmas party tradition and it never fails to please. Another surprising hit from our dinner was the Kale Waldorf Salad that I picked up at a local deli here in town called  a'Tavola .  A friend of mine raved about this salad so I had to investigate and she was right.  We went through 5 quarts for 20 people.   And it looks festive, too.  Normally, you wouldn't think kale salad as a big hit but this one definitely was and I'm always looking for yummy kale dish...

If you are as busy as I am getting ready for the holidays, then you don't have a lot of time to think about eating.  That is why soup is the perfect solution. I'm currently planning our  Christmas party  for Saturday night.  Planning isn't the hard part - that's just scribbles on a piece of paper, known as the menu.  ( I know my spelling is an issue, but  I  understand it and that's what important!) I am only making a few items on this list because our numbers have jumped up this year by 9 additional guests so we won't be doing a sit-down dinner like the past 3 years.   Instead of 14 people, we are now up to 23 people which means a buffet-style dinner.  But we are still going to make our   mustard crusted beef tenderloin .  I am also making the vegetable dish which we had on Thanksgiving which everyone liked and then I will put it on this blog.  Everything else we will pick up at local delis which will ...