Sylvia's Scenario

I haven't posted a recipe in long time because our kitchen/house is being remodeled but I wanted to post this recipe that I got from my neighbor after she invited us over for a neighborhood gathering.  The gathering was a memorial service for her dog, Emma, who recently pasted away. I wrote about my neighbor, Karen, here  a couple of years ago when she hosted a "Welcome to the Neighborhood" party at her house.  This year's party was on a slightly sadder note with the passing of her pup but she still put on a wonderful and welcoming event for us neighbors.  After we all arrived, we had a little ceremony for Emma where her ashes were buried and the above plaque was placed in her memory.  Karen told little stories about Emma while Alexa played Scottish bagpipe music.  It was so touching it was hard not to cry!  Then we went back into the house and enjoyed all the wonderful food that Karen had prepared for us.  She always prepares ...

The weather here cooled off briefly for a day or two so I decided I felt like having some soup.  That is something I haven't eaten in awhile since it's been rather hot here.  I've been trying more recipes from the book called  The Plant Paradox  and I will admit, some have been a flop, thus no posting.  Or maybe I should say, they did not meet my taste standards.  I'm sure I made them correctly, but when you're using alternative ingredients, some recipes just taste too weird.  But this soup recipe was really good.  I'd never bought celery root before and wasn't even sure what it was.  The root of celery, I guess. (Thus, the title of the recipe.)  I forgot to take a photo of it before I chopped it up but it looks like a gnarly Russet potato but has the texture of a rutabaga, or something like that.  I only made half the recipe, in case it turned out to be a flop again but now I wish I would have made the whole thi...

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 ...