Sylvia's Scenario

I like my chocolate chip cookies soft and chewy so I found this recipe on the spiffy cookie blog  and yes, they are soft and chewing and disappearing fast.  We have visitors this week, our first Idaho visitors since we moved so I wanted to make sure our kitchen was "stocked up", if you know what I mean.  These cookies are passing the taste test so I can safely put them on my blog now.  Our visitors are my brother and his wife from Boise, so it's really family visiting - not like I need to make a good impression or anything.  But it's still my nature to make sure the kitchen is stocked.  As far as Idaho visitors go, on Monday this week, I had two additional Idaho visitors come over.  When it rains, it's pours!  My other brother, Bob, who lives in Bellevue stopped by with his wife, Jennifer, and Jennifer's mom, Gail, who lives in Boise.  Bob and Jennifer have been over before, including  Labor Day  but Gail hadn't seen our Seattle home yet so I gave her t

Returning from a  trip   always makes me want to stay home, cook, take naps and eat homemade food so that's pretty much what I did all week.  We've had some rainy days this week, too, which is where the naps come in.  Rain and naps go together... Once the nap is over and I look out my kitchen window and see this, then I need to cook something.  Of all the things I made this week, this recipe was the favorite and the leftovers went fast.  It fit the urge for pasta and a casserole and turned out prefect.  With Lauren living here now and coming and going constantly with her hectic schedule, this is the type of leftover that is easily  re-heatable for a quick meal.   8 ounces fettuccine 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts 4 Tbsp. olive oil 2 cups broccoli florets, roasted 3 cloves garlic, minced 4 Tbsp flour 2 cups chicken broth 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 cup milk salt and pepper to taste 1-1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated 1.  In a pot of

Bruce had another trade show last weekend in Washington DC so I decided to tag along because my sister lives in Bethesda, Maryland. My sister, Jolene, has lived here around 35 years and her husband, Jim, has lived here his whole life. Needless to say, they both work for the Federal government; Jolene, for the Justice Department and Jim, for the Federal Court System. We have had great personal tours of DC from both of them over the years. They are good at adding that special insider's view of Washington DC (like seeing the "Highest Court in the Land", which is a basketball court located several floors above the Supreme Court) and our favorite, the Exorcist Stairs in Georgetown. I was a teenager when that movie came out so it left an impression, what can I say...so we always have to go see this spot in Georgetown. Also, next door, we saw that the Excorist House was for sale. I'm not sure I'd want to live there even though it was only a movie. W