Sylvia's Scenario

Yesterday, we had a Labor Day barbecue at our house with Bruce's always delicious, fall-off-the-bone tender  barbecued ribs . Everyone else brought food to contribute to our barbecue including deviled eggs, delicious salads and I made an apple cobbler with ice cream for dessert.  Summer is not over yet and we want to take full advantage of our still sunny weather and all the in-season produce available this time of year.   And the peaches are still going strong but not for much longer.  I wanted to use peaches in our Labor Day barbecue special cocktail this year so I came across this recipe by a compa ny called  Be-Mixed .  They make three kinds of mixed cocktail drinks that are sugar-free, zero calorie.  Their website has some incredible drink recipes so I needed to try this out.   We still have lots of fresh basil, too, so a peach and basil recipe was perfect.  Everyone loved them.  I will adm...

Speaking of local food in Cinque Terre, one of the most prominent local foods in this region is pesto.  Cinque Terre is located in the Ligurian region of Italy which has the perfect climate for growing basil, thus it is the birthplace of pesto.  During our stay in Cinque Terre, we had a pesto making demonstration from the owner of our hotel named Felicita, who also ran the restaurant.   We had a group dinner one night that included...of course...pesto lasagna. Felicita explained that the best basil leaves come from Sardinia in the Mediterranean (second largest island in the Mediterranean after Sicily.)   She uses leaves that are medium in size.  She also uses sheep cheese because it is not as strong. She uses a morter and pestle to ground all the ingredients together because she says the blades of a food processor burns the leaves.  Marble is always cold so she uses a wooden pestle instead of marble to grin...

We're already having a heat wave and it's only April!  The temperature reached 89 degrees at the airport today and it was pretty close to that at our house, too. That broke an all time record around here and we're expecting another one tomorrow.  Yesterday, it was also in the 80's so we went down to Alki Beach to enjoy it all.  We weren't the only ones, as you can see... But it's always fun going down there, especially when we stop into our favorite  Cactus  for a little refreshment.  That really hit the spot on a hot day.  So, today we barbecued chicken in the backyard and I made this lovely Spring salad that was perfect for a hot day. The quinoa made it very light and fluffy and high protein, too. (1 cup of cooked quinoa provides 8 grams of protein). I got this recipe off another blog Two Peas and Their Pod and loved the aparagus and avocado in it. I also loved the basil in it because we just planted our basil in the ba...

I made my first batch of pesto with my prolific basil plant and have enough from this plant for maybe a dozen more batches. Pesto is simple to make and easy to freeze so you can keep it  on hand for a quick meal.   There is nothing like taking frozen pesto from your freezer, thawing it out, toss it with pasta for a taste of summertime freshness for dinner.  It's like a bite of your summer garden.    Traditional pesto is made from Genoese basil, a smaller, more tender and fragrant basil plant that originated in Genoa, Italy.  Pesto is a generic term used to describe anything made by pounding but traditionally pesto refers to a creamy sauce made of pin nuts, basil and garlic.  Pounding with a pestle and mortar is the original method of making pesto and that is how gourmet chefs will still made true pesto but for those of us who like to use our food processors for the sake of saving time, here's the modern version of making pesto....

It's triple digit weather around here but not too hot to eat!  Fire up the grill and throw on some chicken breasts.  I don't consider barbecuing really cooking (because my husband always does it!)  This recipe will surprise your boring chicken breast burger, it's not your usual chicken burger because of the tasty aioli!    Aioli is simply mayonnaise with the addition of minced fresh garlic.  It is a classic french garlic sauce.   I like to add a few more tasty ingredients to it like fresh herbs from the garden. Serves 4 1/4 cup mayonnaise 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil leaves 2 tsp. lemon juice 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken cutlets or chicken breasts sliced lengthwise to make thinner 4 hamburger buns butter 4 slices tomato 4 thin slices red onion 4 lettuce leaves 1.  Combine mayonnaise, basil, lemon juice and garlic in a small bowl; set aside. 2.  Grill chicken, turning once, 4 minutes or...

There are lots of goodies from the garden in this recipe, appropriate for this time of year.   It's a pretty popular summer salad...and I love it.  Goes especially well on a hot day, common for this time of year.  I took it to a spaghetti potluck dinner that I knew would already have green salad there so I figured the coolness of cucumbers and fresh basil and parsley from the garden would blend in perfectly with the menu. Serves 6 3 cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and thinly sliced (about 3-1/2 cups) 1/2 cup vertically sliced red onion 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh or 1 tsp. dried basil 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh or 1 tsp. dried parsley 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar 1 Tbsp. olive oil 2-1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard 1/4 tsp. salt 1. Place cucumbers and onion in a bowl.   2.  Combine basil and remaining ingredients, pour over cucumber mixture.   3.  Toss gently.   Cover and chill.