Sylvia's Scenario

I'm still not putting up any new "summer" recipes yet because we're still waiting for summer weather to arrive.  Sorry to say, but by the end of May, we'd only had six hours of temperatures over 70 degree this year.  Yes, I said hours .  Our average temperature in May was 52.6 degrees.  I mean, it's almost laughable.  This is Seattle, after all.  I'm not complaining, just stating the facts.  It all means that we are still eating soups and comfort foods like this Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie.  And I love my comfort foods and soups that rain brings along with it.  There is a reason why I've moved away from Seattle four times in my life and then moved back four different times.  Do I really love the rain that much or is it really about the comforting food we get to eat when it rains.  Actually, I think it's both. I call our weather "natural air-conditioning".  We have managed to squeeze in barbecues here and there, like for Memori...

If you want to enjoy the summer berries right now without the loaded calories of whipping cream and shortcake, here's a recipe for you.  We've had this salad twice this month and I'm not sure what I like most about it; the maple sunflower seeds or the oil/vinegar dressing with a hint of Dijon mustard and more maple syrup.  The combination of all of it put together is so good.  The nutrient-dense superfood of spinach and the berries loaded with antioxidants and phytoflavinoids are sure to boost your immune system during this era of coronavirus and we all need that right now.  I made this salad for Memorial Day, thus the red, white and blue theme. Lauren and Bruce went jogging at Alki beach while I tended to the barbecue.  I'm trying to perfect a recipe that was one of my favorites my dad always made; barbecued pot roast.  I always requested this on my birthday and since my birthday is in the summer, my dad would make it for me and it was my most favo...

In honor of Memorial Day today, Bruce and I took a drive out to the  Tahoma National Cemetery  where my parents are buried.   This is a veterans cemetery about 45 minutes from our house and it's very beautiful out there. During World War II, my father was stationed in  the South Pacific and was a mechanic on aircraft.   My father died in 1993 of cancer at the age of 75 and my mom passed away in 2009 from a stroke at 86 years old.  I'm glad they are laid to rest here because it is such a beautiful place.  The cemetery has a gorgeous view of Mt. Rainier, which happened to be out today. The whole place was decorated for Memorial Day and it was just so beautiful.  It was a perfect day to remember those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom.  And also a perfect day to just remember those who are no longer with us.      What did you do for Memorial Day?

 We have enjoyed being home this long Memorial Day weekend and mostly relaxing, entertaining and a little yard work.  We planted some color spots around the yard and did lots of weed pulling - fun!  Bruce's sister, Lynn, was visiting while she attended a wedding in the area of the daughter of a friend from her hometown of Kansas City.   She is an avid gardener herself, so she was more than happy to help out around the yard but we did lots of other little fun local activities, too, like visiting Volunteer Park and the  Conservatory where there are lots of gorgeous plants.  Her visit was perfect timing because our own wisteria is in full bloom on our front porch so we all took lots of photos in front of it.  We wait all year for the two weeks of it's bloom so we need to enjoy it while it lasts.  Lynn aims for 10,000 steps a day so we made sure she had opportunities for that.  On her first day, we w...

Another recipe I need to share from Memorial Day weekend are the donuts I made for breakfast on Sunday morning. This was an experiment because I've never made homemade donuts and I thought this recipe would be interesting because you can also use the dough for brioche rolls or bread. I got the recipe from the blog hummingbird high where she used the dough - which by the way, only took about 15 minutes to make - to cut into donuts instead of putting it into the usual bread loaf pan. I love brioche, too. It's the only kind of bread they serve at one of our favorite restaurants in Seattle, the Skillet Diner . They use brioche for their hamburger buns, sandwich bread, french toast, etc. This donut recipe is perfect using brioche because it is subtly flavored with honey and produces a wonderful, buttery crumb when fried. It's everything a donut should be - light, fluffy and airy.  Brioche is not as sweet as the usual donuts so getting the right topping on it was a ...