Sylvia's Scenario

Today, I made chocolate covered strawberries for a Fourth of July party we are going to and added some festive red, white and blue sprinkles such as  these  that I got on Amazon.  I've made these chocolate covered strawberries so many times now that they are fast and easy for me to do.  I'm also taking a family favorite  Couscous and Black Bean Salad  to the party that I haven't made in a long time.  I'd forgotten how good this salad recipe is!  This was a great occasion to make it again.  There will be 40 people at the party we are going to so it might get lost in the shuffle but if we end up bringing home a lot of leftover, I don't mind since we all love this recipe in my family and will eat it up immediately.  The strawberries I bought to make the chocolate covered strawberries were not super sweet and they actually we not even that big. I just felt like making them for fun.  Therefore, today I learned that if you want to ma...

Our Mother's Day was low key this year since Nick and family have moved away.  Our numbers have dwindled down to three of us now.  Lauren came over for dinner and Bruce barbecued everyone's favorite Teriyaki Flank Steak  and I made some festive chocolate covered strawberries.  I am feeling a little bit of my lonely-grandma-self but I suppose it's human nature after the past three years of being spoiled with my whole family here.  I keep thinking of my own mom who I would normally turn to for comfort at a time like this.  This is when I miss her the most, especially on Mother's Day.  Her motherhood wasn't all that easy, always saying goodbye to her children and grandkids, too.  She must have felt lonely much of the time just like I do now.  We do what we have to do when you don't live near your loved ones.  She rarely lived near her seven children once we all finished high school.  We all couldn't wait to move out and get on our own....

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...

I wanted to make something with rhubarb while it's in season and thought about pie but I actually felt more like crisp.  Strawberry rhubarb crisp, that is.  I love rhubarb with strawberries and have been thinking about it ever since Bruce went grocery shopping yesterday and brought home a new supply of goodies for me to start cooking with.   The strawberries he brought back were gorgeous and the rhubarb is plentiful at the store.  Usually, this time of year goes by so fast and before I know it, the rhubarb is out of season.  But not this year since we do a lot of sitting around thinking of what we want to eat next.  Tomorrow, Lauren is coming over for dinner so I decided to make this strawberry rhubarb crisp for dessert.  It's almost the same recipe as the apple crisp  that I made last month, just change the fruit.  It's from Ina Garten since I love the way she adds a little citrus into her fruit crisps.  The flavor is ...

Strawberries and Cream from Todd Porter & Diane Cu on Vimeo . Still thinking of strawberries…and Puppy ...

I am still obsessed with fresh strawberries right now, they are so good!  I guess it's been a long winter.  I made this cake with fresh strawberries and found the recipe on another food blog  A Spicy Perspective .  It is delicious and super moist because it uses greek yogurt which I'm a big fan of.  (And the biggest selling brand is  Choboni   which is made right here in Idaho - we have lots of dairy cows).  This cake is perfect for making when you have guests visiting, or to use as the shortcake for strawberry shortcake or to take over to a new neighbor to welcome to the neighborhood - which I just did because we recently had new neighbors move in next door.  This cake freezes well, too.  I made this cake ahead of time in preparation for my sister's visit and put it in the freezer.  Then after she and her husband arrived, I got it out to thaw and we munched on it for several breakfasts like a coffee cake!  A great way...

It's that time of year again for fresh berries and I'm craving them. I ordered raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries from my Brown Box this week and they are delicious. Then Bruce suggested we have strawberry shortcake this weekend but I didn't want to ruin the delicious berries with those sponge cake-things at the store or even angel food cake so I made my own shortcake. When they first came out of the oven, one did not make it to the wire rack to cool because it ended up in my mouth. Wow! These shortcakes are the best. Makes 6 shortcakes 2 cups flour, plus more for work surface and biscuit cutter 1/2 tsp. salt 1 Tbsp. baking powder 3 Tbsp. granulated sugar 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar for sprinkling 1 stick unsalted butter (8 tablespoons), frozen 1 egg, beaten 1/2 cup half-and-half 1 Tbsp. half-and-half 1 egg white, lightly beaten 1. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position; heat oven to 425 degrees. 2. Mix flour, salt, baking...

It was such a beautiful Spring day today that we had to have something for dinner that reflected the beautiful day! So, we thawed out a whole organic chicken and it was ready to go by late afternoon for a delicious Sunday dinner. This is a super easy recipe . Roast Spring Chicken 2 tsp.  kosher salt 2 tsp. lemon zest 2 tsp. minced fresh marjoram 1 whole chicken (2 lbs.) 1 Tbsp. olive oil 1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.   2.  In a small bowl, mix salt, lemon zest and marjoram.   3.  Place chicken in roasting pan.  Coat evenly with olive oil, rub with herb mixture.   4.  Roast until juices run clear or to an internal temp of 180 degrees, approximately 1 hour. And don't forget dessert.  This doesn't require any cooking. Strawberry Ricotta Parfait 3/4 lb. sliced strawberries 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar 1-1/2 cups ricottta cheese 1/8 tsp. almond extract 1/4 cup toasted almonds, sliced 1....

  We had another delicious Easter. Menu Leg of Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary Orzo with Mushrooms and Walnuts Asparagus with Browned Butter & Tarragon Whole Grain Rolls  and dessert... Fresh Strawberry Pie I made the little  chocolate birds nest  with pretzels that I previously posted.   They were easy to make and fun.  I love the different colored Peeps, they look so spring-like.  And they made for a great table decoration. Everyone loved them, so simple, yet so effective. Here's what our plates looked like after we took a helping of each delicious dish... It was just the right amount and not too filling!  Until dessert... This strawberry pie was one of the best I've made.  It was so delicious.  It was topped with plain Greek yogurt with a bit of lemon zest and sugar added, very subtle but really brought out the sweet strawberries.   Or maybe I was just craving this spri...