Sylvia's Scenario

I must be a true Seattlite now because I was thrilled when it rained today.  The weather has taken a turn toward cooler weather after less than a week ago the air conditioner was blasting away!  What a difference a few days makes.  I'm thrilled because now I can make meals that are more hardy and fall-ish like this skillet lasagna I made tonight.  It was a recipe from our local  Puget Consumers Coop  fall publication that I got in the mail yesterday and it was just what I felt like.  This version has lots of good veggies in it along with the usual lasagna ingredients and Lauren and Bruce loved it - it other words, it passed the taste test.  Yesterday, I made  split pea soup  for dinner so you can see how we are all eager to start eating fall food again.  On Sunday, we barbecued a chuck roast (pot roast) which was always a favorite of mine growing up and I've never made this before so I wanted to try it. My da...

Our local store, Metropolitan Market, is having their Peach-O-Rama again and the peaches are incredible. The peaches are picked from the tree and put into the shipping boxes within minutes and then shipped to the store immediately and we are eating them within hours of them being on the tree. So, we are eating a lot of peaches right now. Last year, I featured peach cobbler during this same time of year during Peach-O-Rama. This year, I hosted a birthday brunch for my brother's 50th birthday over the weekend so I decided to make bellini drinks which is Prosecco (Italian sparkling wine) and peach puree. My neighbor served these drinks at our neighborhood social which is where I got the idea. It is basically 2:1 with prosecco to peach puree. For one drink: 1/2 cup prosecco 1/4 cup peach puree We went through 2 bottles of prosecco for 12 people (not everyone had a drink but then many had more than one drink...)  We used wine glasses since we only have...

Last night was National Night Out  where neighborhoods gather for block parties and that's exactly what our street did.   It is very popular in Seattle to promote neighborhood safety and block-watch participation.  We have a very active neighborhood and a block-watch so this block party is very fun.   Our block-watch captain lives two houses down so they organize the party each year and we gather in front of their house with chairs, tables and food.   The best part about Night Out is that the city allows neighborhoods to block off the street so cars can't drive down your street during your block party which runs from 6:00pm - 10:00pm. The kids love this and they can ride their bikes and play safely in the street all evening or play in their tree house.    Everybody brings delici ous foods to share including some sausages and hot dogs on the grill.  I made my  macaroni salad  and  asian pasta salad ...

Seafair is in full swing now with the Blue Angels arriving yesterday and they will begin practicing this week for their air show on Sunday.  That means bridge closures and lane closures - in other words, don't try to drive anywhere Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday.  If you avoid certain areas, I guess it's O.K, but actually, it's still bad because everybody is looking up to try to see them.  It's worse than driving and texting when the Blue Angels are flying around town.  Today, was the Parade of Ships when navy ships arrive in Elliot Bay.  We watched th em   last year  while Marge and I dined at Duke's for lunch.  This year, we took a picnic lunch down to Alki to watch them on the beach.  It was a lovely day to be on the beach, not too hot, not too cold.   Bruce joined us briefly for a lunch break and took the above picture of us before he had to return to Fremont Brewing for work again.  I brought a simple picni...