Sylvia's Scenario

Over the holidays, I experimented with making pizza crust with my sourdough starter that I got during the first year of the pandemic.  (I guess that's how we'll refer to the pandemic now;  the first year - 2020, the second year - 2021, the third year -2022...)  I wrote about it  here  when I made our first sourdough pancakes with the sourdough starter.  When I made this pizza crust recipe, everyone LOVED this pizza crust as much as the sourdough pancakes.  The crust did not really taste "sour", interestingly.  The pizza as a whole was just very yummy.   I prefer the New York style pizza crust that is very thin and crisp.  If you like the deep dish Chicago-style pizza crust, you could probably still use this recipe for that, too.  It's just how you decided to spread it out on the pan.  This recipe describes the New York style which will make 3 medium pizzas or 2 larger pizzas.  Of course, what you prefer for your toppi...

It's been six months since we returned from our Italy trip and today I took a little "Italian field trip" with my sister-in-law, Jennifer.  Three days ago she returned from a fabulous business trip to Italy.  Jennifer is a hair dresser with her own business and she was traveling with four other colleagues touring hair product factories and learning more about hair products made in Italy.  She also did lots of shopping and eating.  Hearing about her adventures and stories brought back memories of our trip to  Italy  in September.  Today, we both got an "Italian fix" here at home.   She loved the food and coffee in Italy (of course!) so our first stop was  Bakery Nouveau  for some coffee and pastries. Even though Bakery Nouveau is French and not Italian, it was our first stop because they have the best coffee around and their bakery items are rated #1 in Seattle.   We shared each other's pastry choices with our cof...

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...

I've been eating this salad a lot the past week.  It's so quick and easy to throw together and gives you an instant fix for caprese.  Lauren was thrilled when she came home and found a big bowl of caprese salad sitting on the counter.  "You know, this is my favorite food!"  I do remember we ate a lot of caprese when Lauren came home from Italy after the summer of 2010 and I've put a lot of different versions on my blog since then.  These little  Cherub  tomatoes were on sale at Metropolitan Market this week and I've bought 3 of them so far. I just can't stop eating them.  I rarely buy tomatoes this time of year but these little things are so sweet, it's amazing. Turn them into a caprese salad and gone .  It's so easy to throw this salad together to get your caprese fix.  Not to mention, this salad is the perfect holiday colors. 10.5 oz. container of Cherubs  fresh ciliegine (mozzarella balls) several leaves ...

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 c...