Sylvia's Scenario

It's Christmas Eve, what is your Christmas Eve tradition?  We are child-less this Christmas since Nick and Sachiyo are in Japan and Lauren is in Seattle so we are just relaxing.  Our biggest tradition over the whole Christmas season is giving gifts of Bruce's homemade  almond roca  to all our friends and family. Many people comment how they want to learn to make it so this year we hosted an almond roca party where we showed people how to make it.  Each guest got a copy of the recipe with room to take notes. Bruce made a half batch which takes half the time and is much easier to make than a full batch. Bruce loved being the center of attention and he got lots of company as he patiently stirred the mixture to the hard crack stage. Of course, I provided many yummy munchies for everyone including the popular  pomegranate mojitos . As the almond roca got closer to 300 degrees  ...

I realize I haven't actually posted a recipe lately on this blog because I've been too busy going here and there all summer but let me assure you, I have been eating and not just at restaurants.  Our usual meal consists of some type of grilled meat on the barbecue with salad or zucchini or corn or other summer vegetable.  Pretty simple, nothing fancy.  And since we still have a freezer full of fish from Bruce's  fishing trip , we have no shortage of supply of fish which is what we usually barbecue.  Last week we had fish 3 times, as you can see why. Chicken is the second most popular choice, or game hens or something like that.  I admit, however, I have been lazy this summer and I've been buying those salmon and hamburger patties of different flavors at Whole Foods which are delicious on the barbecue, too. Shopping at Whole Foods can make you a lazy cook because all their pre-made stuff is so delicious!   Recently, I made a family favorite...

My summer officially began yesterday with the arrival of Nick and Sachiyo from Japan.  I was so excited about them coming after they'd been in Japan since November for Nick's job. They were a little jet lagged but did pretty well. They arrived in Boise at 4:30 pm which was around 9:00 am their time. It was a 3 flight, 22 hour journey to get to Boise, Idaho.  I was planning to serve breakfast when they arrived but Nick did not feel like breakfast at all.  He reported that he felt like caprese!  Well, we don't have fresh tomatoes yet so we ended up ordering a caprese pizza from Smokey Mountain Pizza that we'd had a few weeks ago when we discovered the  Ye Olde Sweet Shoppe .  We also ordered a Bangkok Salad to go along with the pizza and it was just what they felt like before hitting the sack for much needed sleep. This morning we had our  health waffles and a leisurely breakfast at 11:00 am. Nick said he actually declined the United Airline...

I got my Mother's Day gift this week from Nick and Sachiyo in Japan and thought I'd share it with you because it's so unique - as are so many things from Japan!  It's an air freshener made out of paper.  The Japanese are so good at making things out of paper.  Remember my baskets last  Mother's Day  made out of paper?  They were really unique. This air freshener absorbs water from the base where it spreads to the "plant" and emits a fragrance into the air. I don't want to use it because it's so cute. It sort of looks like an artichoke. I like to keep it out on display so we can just keep looking at it. Nick and Sachiyo will be returning to the U.S. next month so they will be picking up their cat, Tommy, from our house. Tommy has become quite comfortable here the past 6 months and we've gotten quite comfortable with him, too. He's such a show off.  We will miss Tommy when he goes but we are eager to see ...

We have a new addition to our household after 9 months since Puppy left us. We now have another dog running around our house! And she is a cutie, too. Her name is Mesa and she actually belongs to our niece, Claire. We are just taking care of her until the end of September while Claire works a summer job on a resort ranch in Montana. Claire was here for a couple days before she took off for her new job so Carol came over and we had margaritas and homemade corn tortillas . Sort of a mini Mexican feast. Mesa's story started in New Mexico where she lived in a pack of stray dogs until Claire rescued her last summer. She is such a mild mannered dog for living in a pack. She desires a home. Claire worked at a horse camp in Wyoming last summer and then traveled around the West until October. She ended up here at the end of her travels when we first met Mesa. Then the two of them flew home to Maryland. (She left her car here until they returned) W...