Sylvia's Scenario

We had our first "fall" meal this week and it was a good one. I saw this recipe from  Ina Garten  who always has good recipes so I knew I had to try it and it was a winner. I'm sad that summer is over but I'm happy to be eating fall foods again - my favorite eating time of the year.  I think everyone is ready for fall after a very busy summer of weekend activities, going to new places, seeing new things, all the fresh air and non-stop activities. Do I wear out my family or what? They don't mind getting wore out as long as I keep cooking them yummy meals which they always know will be coming.  On this particular day, the grandkids requested one of their favorites... hot chocolate  in the evening around the fire.  They just LOVE doing this.  Of course, it has to be my homemade hot chocolate; instant will never do and there is no comparison, in my opinion.    This kielbasa recipe has many versions but they all use onions and bell peppers....

Bruce’s birthday is always near Labor Day so this year we planned a family vacation at Seaside, Oregon  as a nice end-of-the-summer celebration.  The picture below was taken in the town next to Seaside, Cannon Beach, with the famous Haystack Rock that we always try to visit at low tide at least once while we’re there.  We rented a vacation rental home that was a couple blocks from the beach so it was perfect.  It even had a nice hot tub.  Yippee!  We all love a hot tub.  The grandkids love the beach and it was fun being with them and discovering all the wonders of this endless playground.  We did lots of kite flying, sand castle building, running with waves, sand dollar hunting and pretty much anything else you do at the beach.                                                                ...

How is everyone's vegetable garden's doing right now?  We've been eating a lot of tomatoes and cucumbers from our garden lately.  Last night, we had this new dish with our dinner when we invited some of Bruce's golf buddies over for dinner after their day of golf.  One of the wives brought this French Tian dish that went perfectly with our main dish of barbecued teriyaki flank steak ; a family favorite at our house.  Tian is made with eggplant, tomatoes, onions, zucchini, and lots of olive oil to make the most delicious juice from the veggies.  She also brought some crusty French bread to soak up those juices.  Frankly, I could have just eaten this alone as my whole dinner with bread dunked in the juices.  It was so addicting.   It's like a summer version of  ratatouille  that I like in the fall with all the garden veggies.  I am eager to make this Tian now. The recipe is from Dori Greenspan from her cookbook Everyday Dorie ....

This is sort of a random recipe that I wasn't planning to post but my family all loved it so much that I knew it was a keeper.  I got the recipe from  Sally's Baking Addiction  at the spur of the moment when my 4-year-old grandson decided at the last minute he wanted a banana cake for his birthday. The only difference between my recipe and the original recipe is that I made my cake into a layered cake instead of putting it in a 9” X 13" pan...you know, to get that traditional birthday cake look and to get that birthday cake look that's decorated by a 6-year-old and 4-year-old. I also made  Beatty's Chocolate Cake  for Lauren, the same cake I made to celebrate all five of the July birthdays last year.    This year, we all got individual celebrations and cakes.  How lucky is that?                                      You can safely say that we all got...

We are getting our hot weather now - welcome summer!  We actually have no rain in the forecast for the coming 10 days.  Really?  After that, everything will get back to our Seattle normal.  In the meantime, I am going to enjoy our summer weather.  I am posting this new recipe from  Hannah Freese, RD  that is my new favorite summer salad recipe.  I made it last weekend and it actually tasted better during the week after it sat for awhile when all the flavors had time to blend together.  So, be sure and make the whole recipe because it tastes really good leftover.  I've been eating beans everyday as part of Hannah's eating program and now this recipe is my new go-to bean dish.  Before, I was eating homemade refried beans everyday.  I buy the pinto beans in bulk and put a cup or two in salted water on the stove to cook in the morning. I use enough water to cover the beans to about 2-3 inches.  They cook about 3 hours until so...