Peruvian Chicken

Husband brought home a whole roasted chicken "Pollo a la Brasa" from a Peruvian restaurant on his way home.

Tender, juicy and full of flavor.

Aboard the World's Tallest Observation Wheel

Move over Singapore Flyer.  At 550 feet, the High Roller is the world's highest observation wheel as of this writing.  I remember a decade ago, when we hopped at the London Eye at the bank of the River Thames,  it was the record holder.  In a couple of years, a new one will take the stage as they keep on building higher and higher Ferris wheels.  

Let's go up, up and away!

Autumn Harvest at the Bellagio Conservatory

Back at the Conservatory to see the talking tree, the pumpkins, the animated squirrels eating acorns and the Autumn flowers.

Blog and snapshots from our first visit here

Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill

Another favorite celebrity chef - Iron Chef Bobby Flay.  We're here to get a taste of his Southwestern cuisine.

On the table..

• Roasted Corn Soup

• Tiger Shrimp Roasted Garlic Corn Tamale

• Spicy Chicken + Sweet Potato Hash

• Ancho Chile - Honey Glazed Salmon

• Cocktail Drinks

Cheers!

Le Rêve - The Dream

A visual masterpiece! The lighting, the talented acrobats flying through the air and diving into the water from unbelievable heights, the incredible stage that can transform from a pool to a multi-platform tower,  the red-heeled synchronized swimmers, the choreography, the magic tricks. 

Oh, what an impressive show from start to finish!

Dessert at Terrace Pointe Cafe at Wynn

Caramelized banana, ice cream trifecta, toasted almonds and chocolate sauce on a waffle bowl. I'm a happy camper!

Wynn's Whimsical Atrium

At the stunning atrium of the Wynn to see the impressive 20-foot-high hot air balloon created out of more than 50,000 flowers, the animated carousel with white horses and the floral sculptured balls hang from the trees with twinkling lights.

Giada at The Cromwell

Got to meet one of our favorite chefs -- Ms Giada de Laurentiis!

The restaurant was spacious with high ceilings. We passed by the bar and lounge as the hostess walked us to the main dining room to a corner table.  

What we had...

• A bread basket filled focaccia, lemon thyme flatbread and parmesan breadsticks

• Marinated olives with herbs and citrus

• Orzo meatballs with parmesan pomodoro

• Margherita pizza

• Waldorf panzanella

• Baked pasta

 
Hands down it was a delicious brunch and service was top notch.
 

 

Steak Dinner

We ate steak for dinner. A delicious juicy tender ribeye seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked about ten minutes on each side on a grill pan.

The Best Burger from a Food Truck

Being in Los Angeles, the food trucks are on my fingertips.  From the traditional taco trucks to gourmet food trucks, I have tried many of them -- Kogi, The Lobsta Truck, Grill 'Em All, Currywurst, Don Chow, Tainamite, Vchos, Dogtown Dogs, Mandoline, Grilled Cheese, Cousins Maine Lobster... the list goes on and on.  Italian, Mexican, German,  Japanese, Vietnamese, Kosher, non-Kosher, Organic, Local, Fusion.

Some of them I like, some are so-so.  The burger below from Farmer's Belly is the best I had from a truck.

 

L’heure de l’Apéro

Ahhhhh, it's apéro time! 

On the table...

Pomme, fromage and des raisins

A pot of two pounds black mussels steamed in garlic, white wine and parsley

French baguette 

And, a bottle of wine. 

La Vie Est Belle!

Brunch at Il Tramezzino

Husband had Mediterranean Scramble -- feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, red onion, roma tomatoes, kalamata olives and sausage (add-on).

I created my own scramble -- eggplant, tomatoes, prosciutto and mozzarella.

Grateful for such a beautiful weekend!

Pumpkin Patch

Yes, it's that time of year again. It feels like the Little Guy's first pumpkin patch was just yesterday. Oh, how time flies!

Last year we went to Pierce College in Woodland Hills (pix here). Back then he was not walking yet. Now he is running I could even barely catch up.

Here are some snapshots from today's pumpkin patch outing at Tapia Brothers in Encino.

A Path Meanders Through Colorful Flowers

Venturing out into the mountain for an hour walk.

I saw squirrels playing, I heard birds singing and as the street meanders through a shady land, I took a snapshot of these beautiful bougainvilleas.

Then I continued walking...

Kale, Sausage and Cherry Tomatoes

What's for breakfast today?

I diced two sausage, torn a branch of kale into bite-size pieces, cut the cherry tomatoes in half lengthwise. 

They were all sauteed in olive oil.

Five minutes later, I cracked three organic eggs and added the freshly grated cheese.

There you go...

Baby Back Ribs at Tony Roma's

For more than a decade, Fridays had been our date night.  We explored new places and revisited some favorites.  We would drive to the coast all the way to Manhattan Beach  -- or, Ventura Blvd from Studio City to Woodland Hills. We had a great time.

We were happy back then, but much much happier now with the arrival of our Little Bundle of Joy, who is no longer little but still a bundle of joy.  

Since date nights have been put on hold, some Fridays I would cook, other Fridays we would order take-out and once in a while we eat out. Today is one of those rare eat-out Friday.

We went to Tony Roma's and had... 

- A Trio of Appetizers 
  Boneless bites, spinach artichoke dip and half onion loaf with bleu cheese dressing, salsa, sour
  cream and BBQ sauce

- The Original Baby Back Ribs

Porterhouse in the House

We have been to popular steak houses here in Los Angeles -- Mastro's, Nick & Stef's, STK, Ruth & Chris, Flemings, etc -- as well as some Brazilian churrascarias and Argentinean spots,  but I would say that the best steak we ever had was a porterhouse in Florence, Italy.

Not sure what it is that makes the food in Italy much more delicious.  The pasta, the steak, the seafood, the pizza... everything there just seem to taste way better than the food  that they serve at Italian places here, even the high end ones. Could it be the soil -- that these super juicy tomatoes grow and the grass that feed the cows?  Or the water? Or maybe it's just the nostalgic feeling of being in the land of la dolce vita. Whatever it is, all I know is I can't wait to be back.

Now, the porterhouse.  I seasoned both sides with salt and pepper.  Grilled for about ten minutes on each side then garnished with rosemary from the garden.

Served with bruschetta.

Potato, Kale & Sausage Soup

A comforting Italian-inspired soup made of diced potatoes, pork sausage, kale and milk.

Slurp, slurp!

Tofu Two Ways

A block of soft tofu is diced and sautéed with organic ground beef in mapo tofu sauce.

Another block of soft tofu, also diced, on a soup with okra, daikon and three kinds of fresh mushroom – shiitake, bunapi and shimeji.

Dinner on a Cutting Board

 - diced tofu in miso-based soup

 - pan-seared sushi-grade fish (albacore, blue fin and yellowtail)

 - organic chicken breast in ponzu and ginger paste, sprinkled with scallion

 - two bowls of Japanese rice

 - two pairs of chopsticks

Dinner is served...

... on a cutting board

Grocery for the Week

It's grocery shopping day!

I have mentioned here before that we get our grocery from +Whole Foods Market every Sunday.  This really helps us stay on track with nutrition and makes it much easier and quicker to prepare healthy meals during the week.

Here's a snapshot of what we will be eating this week. Most of them are organic...

Veggies & Fruits: baby broccoli, kale, cherry tomatoes, salad greens, potatoes, green grapes and apples

Breakfast & Dairy: oatmeal, cereal, French baguette and two kinds of cheese

Meat & Seafood: cod, ground beef, steak, chicken breast and pork sausage

A box of pasta, tortilla chips and hummus.

Sunday Brunch at Le Pain Quotidien

Not sure where to go for brunch. Drove to Woodland Hills first at Panini Cafe. Stopped for a while but thought it's too early for chicken kabob. So we continued driving. We even thought of going to Santa Monica or Malibu, but ended up in Calabasas at Le Pain Quotidien. 

I had Smoked Salmon Breakfast, hubby had Salmon Omelet and the Little Guy had Waffle with Strawberries. 

Then off to the turtle pond and Barnes & Noble to get the Little Guy some new books.

Our Parish's Crib Project

Got two tags from the crib placed in front of the altar of our parish church this past Sunday. The tags have a list of baby items -- onesies and hygiene set. 

These will be distributed to the needy mothers who have chosen life over abortion.

Cuban Food at its Best

What it says at Versailles menu.  I absolutely agree. Tried and tested for years. Our favorites -- Famoso Pollo Versailles, Higado, Bistec con Cebollas, Arroz con Pollo and Lengua Guisada.

What we had this time...
- Combinacion de Pollo y Puerco for hubby
- Camarones & Scallop for Mom
- And, mahi-mahi y Camarones for me

Yum :-)

 

Shopping Spree with Grammy

A snapshot of what Grammy got for the Little Guy today.  

A million thanks, Grammy!!!

 

Sashimi Night

Poppep-up in Little Osaka at Nijiya, our go-to market for sushi-grade fish and took home slabs of the usual favorites Bincho Maguro, (Albacore Tuna), Hon Maguro (Blue Fin Tuna), Hamachi (Yellowtail) and Kanpachi (Amberjack) as well as Uni and Ikura (Salmon Roe). 

Since we're running low on Japanese rice, we also got a bag of Kokuho Rose and soft tofu for the mabo tofu sauce we bought from another Oriental market a week ago. 

Also went home with a soup base we haven't tried before, I hope it turns out good. A pack of Japanese cake and different varieties of mushroom. 

Here's a snapshot of our Japanese-themed Friday night.

Kitchen Window in Autumn

I'm always excited to decorate when season changes.  

Here's a peek at our kitchen window this Autumn.

Love the colors -- orange, yellow and red.

And, the pumpkins too.  

Happy Autumn!!!

Pasta in Eggplant Marinara and Baby Swiss

I poured in a box of ziti on a boiling pot of salted water. On the adjacent pan is  a pound of ground beef sizzling in caramelized onion. I grated half a pound of baby swiss from Guggisberg Cheese Company.  Then added a jar of store-bought eggplant marinara on the the ground beef.
 
Ten minutes later I spooned the pasta onto the pan with ground beef then spread the cheese on top.
 
Curled up on the couch and ate with pasta bowls on our laps while watching pre-recorded shows.