Sylvia's Scenario

Here is another spring-like recipe that I've made a couple times lately, including for our Easter dinner.  It's an easy side dish that you can add to any meal and everyone will love it.                      It's a recipe from my  Hannah Freese, RD  collection that I've been following since September.  It makes life so much easier following her plan because I'm not thinking about if something is "healthy" or not.  Sure, I still make desserts occasionally for special occasions but for daily life, her plan is right on.  I feel so much better physically and I definitely have more energy now that our weather is getting nice.  I've pulled out my summer clothes and many are baggy on me now.  I'm not planning to shop for more, though, because next month I'm having my other knee replacement surgery, so I will be rehabilitating again for most of the summer.  I won't be going anywhere soon.  I'...

Our 35th day of self-quarantine .  We are eagerly awaiting the governors press conference today because he's suppose to talk about outdoor recreation activities and maybe lift restrictions on golf, fishing and hunting.  Bruce is eager to hear this one because he wants to be able to play golf again.  It seems to me that golf would be safe enough.  Our state is taking things really slowly so we won't have a second wave hit us of the coronavirus .  Now, every time the governor comes on the air, we're eager to hear what will be the next thing to open.  Last week, he allowed construction workers to go back to work. (I'm so glad our remodel is all done.  We started our remodel one year ago exactly.)  Two neighborhood farmer's markets opened last week, too, with lots of restrictions but at least that's something.  Our neighborhood farmer's market hasn't started back up yet, but when it does, it will be interesting to see how it's changed.  T...

Last night we hosted some of Bruce's work associates who were in town for the International Speciality Coffee Expo - one of our favorite conventions of the year.  I've blogged about it twice before,  here  and  here .  For dinner, I planned a similar dinner menu that I learned worked real well last year; I kept the carbs low in the meal (no potatoes and no bread or rolls) so everyone would enjoy the dessert more. Lower carbs in a meal means a less full, bloated feeling after eating. In other words, a feeling that you can still eat more...(and since I like to plan my meal around the dessert, this is a good thing.)  This year, I made my  Chocolate-Raspberry Cake  and like last year, it was the star of the show.   Last year, I made our favorite  Lemon Curd and White Chocolate Truffle Cake  that ended up being in my top three most popular recipes of 2017.  This recipe is just as good in my opinion.  I'd f...

Tonight, we had a family dinner of game hens, broccolini,  dill bread , wild rice casserole and pecan pie for dessert before we opened presents from Japan from Nick and Sachiyo.  They leave December 9th so we are having our Christmas early while they are here.   I know this doesn't sound like a Christmas dinner but Nick is putting in requests of what he'd like to eat while he's home and I am doing my best to accommodate him - pecan pie, roast beef and gravy, Great Harvest cinnamon rolls - to name a few favorites.  I almost forgot to take a photo of my plate, most of my broccolini is gone...and you can see that I like a little butter on my dill bread. I love wild rice but it can be hard to prepare because it is so tough.  It isn't a rice at all but a type of grass and it can be quite expensive.  We got this wild rice from Bruce's nephew and wife who live in Minnesota where wild rice is a native plant.  I use to make this re...

Cheese grits go great with ham and ham is what we always serve on Super Bowl Sunday.  Since we're having a New Orleans theme this year, cheese grits are a "must have".   They are a Southern staple.   This recipe is straight from  Mrs. Wilkes' Boardinghouse Cookbook .  Cheese grits is what I call the Southern version of au gratin potatoes.  So good. Serves 6-8 1 cup regular grits (do not use quick-cooking grits) - but I did use quick cooking because that's all they had at our local store. 4 cups water 1/4 cup butter 1 (6 ounce) package of sharp Cheddar cheese 1 tsp. salt 2 egg yolks, beaten well 2 egg whites, beaten stiff cracker or dry bread crumbs 1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2.  Cook grits in the water according to the package's directions. 3.  Slowly add the butter, cheese, and salt. 4.  Add the egg yolks. 5.  Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and then fold into the cheese grits. ...

Black-eyed peas are a favorite food in the South and since our Super Bowl party is in honor of beautiful New Orleans, I am naturally serving black-eyed peas.  This recipe is a version from  Mrs. Wilkes' Boardinghouse Cookbook - the best Southern food you can get!  Black-eyed peas are a traditional good luck dish in the south that are served on New Year's Day.  I guess it makes sense to serve them on Super Bowl Sunday to bring luck that your favorite team will win! Serves 8-12 1 -16 ounce bag dry black-eyed peas, picked over and washed 12 cups hot water 1 ham hock 1 chopped onion  2 tsp. salt 1 cup uncooked rice 1 pound sausage, browned 1 green pepper, chopped 1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce salt and pepper 1.  Place the peas in a kettle with water, ham hock, onions and salt. 2.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 2-1/2 hours or until tender. 3.  Drain (but save the liquid) and discard ham ...

This is one of my favorite salads and I am so happy to be posting it.  You will want to keep this recipe!  It is from  Pasta and Co. , one of Seattle's best-selling take-out foods and we had one in our neighborhood when we lived there.  This was one of their salads that I would always buy and then a friend gave me the recipe because she had a copy of it from their cookbook.  So, over the years, I made this salad so many times, I don't think I even needed to look at the recipe!  I had a group of friends with whom all our kids were friends, too, so when they were little, us moms would get together for our kids to play and we would all cook delicious meals and this salad was always a regular at our meals.  Then we moved to Idaho and I forgot about this recipe.  I found out on my trips to Seattle that the cookbook wasn't being printed anymore and I couldn't find my old recipe and none of my friends had it anymore. Disaster!  It's been 14 year...