A Day at the Zoo

The plan was to bring the Little Guy to Disneyland the weekend before his second birthday.  He was ten months during his first visit.  But we heard of the measles outbreak on the news... on the headline news everyday.  A sort of countdown of how many at Disneyland or those who visited were infected with the highly contagious disease. The Little Guy has been vaccinated but we would rather play it safe.

Next on the list is Legoland, but after further research we found out that he won't be able to ride on most rides because of height restrictions. And that's how we ended up at the Los Angeles Zoo. 

 Here are some snapshots from our mini-adventure at the zoo...

 

 

 

 

 

Ice Cream

...a truly deserved sweet treat for the birthday boy!

But, he was screaming for more.

The Colors of Friday

Today's Friday date night... shrimp sautéed in garlic with butter and juice of half a lemon, shelled edamame, corn, green grapes and strawberries.

Souvlaki & Dolma

Today's lunch is Greek food from a gourmet food truck... three skewers of chicken souvlaki on a bed of rice, warm pita, eggplant dip, dolma and Greek salad.

Opa!

Century Egg, Salted Egg, Chayote and Bok Choy

 

Dinner tonight is inspired by a dish from Mandarin Sky in Manila’s new Chinatown called "three eggs.”

 

The ingredients:  two chayote, three bok choy, three chopped salted eggs, two chopped century eggs, two regular eggs as thickener, five cloves of garlic and thinly sliced onion.

 

Eaten with ponzu-marinated seared tanigue/wahoo.

 

And rice, of course.

 

Yum!

 

 

Lego-time

…. keeps the Little Guy occupied while mommy is cooking dinner :-)

Stuffed Bell Pepper

 

Tonight, I blanched three green bell pepper in boiling water for ten minutes.

 

Then, I  sautéed mild Italian sausage in chopped onion, thinly sliced garlic and olive oil

 

… while a cup of orzo is boiling on a pot of salted water.

 

Ten minutes later, I added the orzo on to the pan with the sausage and poured in a can of tomato sauce.

 

Stir, stir… stir, stir

 

I spooned in the orzo/sausage mixture to each of the bell pepper and popped in a 350-degree pre-heated convection oven for 20 minutes.

 

Then, I sprinkled the top with shredded parmesan cheese.

 

Fried Trout

For dinner tonight, I butterflied two rainbow trouts, drizzled with ponzu sauce and sprinkled both sides with salt, black pepperorns and Louisana fish seasoning. Then I placed each fish on a sizzling vegetable oil and fried for about ten minutes on each side.

Garnished with lemons from our neighbor.

My Colorful Lunch

 
.....grape tomatoes, green grapes, blueberries, mandarin oranges and salad greens 
 
... all organic from Whole Foods Market

A Rainy Evening

...  while waiting for the green light on my way to pick-up the Little Guy.

Streussel-Topped Blueberry Muffns

These super moist muffins are filled with Maine wild blueberries and topped with streussel.  Hmmm... I love the smell of freshly-baked bread.

Sinigang na Tanigue (Tanigue Sour Soup)

Wahoo or Tanigue in Filipino cooked in sour soup Pinoy-style is what we had for dinner tonight. 
 
The arsenal: five pounds fresh tanigue caught off the coast of Hawaii according to the fish monger, eight super juicy tomatoes, one red onion, one eggplant, water spinach/kangkong, twelve cups water and a packet of store-bought sinigang mix.
 
Slurp, slurp...

Sunday Brunch at Pedaler's Fork

An interesting concept that combines a coffee bar, a bike shop and a restaurant, Pedaler's Fork in  Calabasas overlooks a small creek and serves farm-to-table California cuisine.

On the table...

Buttermilk pancakes with blueberries and banana which I shared with the Little Guy

Husband had shakshouka below which is two poached eggs in harissa tomato broth with chickpeas, spinach and kale and whole wheat pita

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windy Day

The wind is blowing hard... blowing the last of the Autumn leaves still clinging on the maple tree on the walkway in front of our garden.

Rise and Shine

... it's Saturday!

And here's what's whipping up in the kitchen on this lovely morning.

... organic cherry tomatoes, diced sausage, organic greens, shredded cheese and organic cage-free eggs.

Friday Night Bites

It's Friday once again.  It feels like the past week went by in a blur.

Here's a snapshot of our Friday night bites while watching recorded shows on DVR.

Marinated kalamata and green olives, cheese, artichoke, apple, almonds, peaches, cheese bread with bacon and cranberry cocktail garnished with mint from the garden.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

Vegetable Medley

 
As part of the plan to eat healthier, we' re having veggies today. 

Broccoli, celery, carrots, cremini mushroom and snow peas.    Chop, chop, chop... on to the pot of two cups water and two cups broth.  Half a pound of peeled, deveined shrimp and some quail eggs.

A tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in cold water. A pinch of white pepper and a pinch of salt.

 

Rainbow Trout and Bacon

Two rainbow trout on a cast-iron skillet, drizzled with olive oil and wrapped with bacon.  Sliced lemon inserted in between and some garlic.

On to the oven for twenty minutes.

Wine & Tulips

It's Friday!  It's time to kick our feet up and welcome the weekend.
 
On the table...
 
Cheese, tomatoes, sautéed diced steak, sautéed cremini mushroom, Spanish cold cuts, crackers, two glasses of red wine.
 
And tulips. Yes, we have a bunch of tulips in the house this week -- the first of the season. I love tulips!
 
Cheers...

Love Your Food Everyday

After consuming immeasurable amount of carbs during our vacation, the next step would be to eat healthier...

So here we are at LYFE Kitchen having a glass of kale banana smoothie, grass-fed burger, barramundi noodle bowl and sweet potato fries.

Halo-Halo

... which literally means mix-mix is a popular dessert in the Philippines.

A mix of sweetened banana, sweetened jackfruit, sweet palm fruit, macapuno, gelatin, flan, shaved ice, evaporated milk and a scoop of ube ice cream on top.

Yum!

Off to the Beach

In my little hometown we have beautiful white-sand beaches. 

Today, we drove down south passing green rice fields with some white herons feeding on the ground, a small trail, an estuary with some mangrove trees...

... then about half hour later we're here.

Hammock on the Beach

There's nothing more relaxing than laying on a hammock, a bottle of beer on one hand, while listening to the sound of the waves crashing on the shore.

Life is beautiful!

"The Green Green Grass of Home"

I have Tom Jones song running in my head as I look at my grandparents rice field and walk down memory lane.

 ♪ ♫  "Down the road I look ♩♫♭... there goes the green, green grass of home."♫

Yes, this is home.  This is where we spent beautiful childhood memories.  I used to walk on this rice field on our way to the other side where there's a river we used to swim and play.

That middle house, the green & white house, my Dad built that just this past year as sort of a "weekend house." But on the same spot used to be my grandparents' house.  And right in front runs a street I used to chase Dad on his way to work in the morning.  Then there's a star apple tree I would sit and wait for him in the afternoon. 

My mom used to teach in this village.  We lived here on weekdays until I was about four years old.  Then we moved to our house by the beach.

Oh yeah, the old hometown still look the same... green and beautiful!

Manila Welcomes 2015

My first blog post of the year... a spectacular fireworks display as Manila welcomes 2015.

Cheers to the New Year!  Let it be a happy one!