Greek Breakfast Scramble

A delicious start to a Saturday morning with a Greek breakfast scramble... kalamata olives, artichoke, spinach, grape tomatoes, feta cheese and eggs.

Served with toasted white bread and milk chocolate.  

Moroccan Night at Home

For our Moroccan-themed Friday night at home, we're having chicken tagine with apricot and olives, Moroccan couscous, dates, red & green grapes.

Penne alla Vodka

Tonight's dinner is penne alla vodka sans vodka since we're sharing with the Little Guy.

The arsenal: a box of organic penne from Whole Foods, San Marzano tomatoes, heavy cream, shaved parmigiano-reggiano, pepper flakes, salt & pepper and a sprig of thyme.

Baked Bangus

Baked bangus "milkfish" drizzled with calamansi from our neighbor, a sprinkle of salt and pepper and freshly grated nutmeg.  On to the oven for forty minutes.

Served with salted eggs with chopped juicy tomatoes in coconut vinegar and eaten with steamed rice.

Salmon En Papillote

On a parchment paper is a slab of salmon, some sliced radish, green beans, a sprig of thyme, sliced lemon, a pinch of salt and pepper.  

Then on to a preheated oven for twenty minutes.

Served with salad made of diced boiled red potatoes, red & yellow grape tomatoes, kalamata olives, caperberries, a dallop of crème fraîche and some scallions.

Grilled Flat-Iron Steak, Mushroom and Noodles

Two flank steak drizzled with ponzu sauce and sprinkled with salt and pepper were placed on a grill pan for about 5 minutes on each side. Then half a pound cremini mushroom were caramelized on the same pan while a package of Japanese noodles was cooking on a pot of salted boiling water.  They were put together on a serving dish and garnished with green onions.

Dinner is served.

Birdies On Maple Tree

Up, up on a maple tree in front of our house,  some doves and a robin are sitting on leafless branches on a cold winter day.

Oeufs en Cocotte

Here's what I prepared for lunch today while working from home... Oeufs en Cocotte, a recipe from Little Paris Kitchen with a little bit of twist.

Two tablespoon crème fraîche from Vermont Creamery, some fennel fronds, a sprinkle of salt, a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg and a good cracking of black pepper.  Then a organic, cage-free egg added on top.  On to a 350-degree preheated oven for twenty minutes.  Served with a day old french baguette and mango juice.

Yum!

Spanish Tapas

To reminisce our trip to Barcelona a few years back, we're having Spanish tapas for our usual Friday date night at home. 

Tiger shrimp sauteed in lemon garlic butter sauce, a pot of black mussel, cremini mushroom, octopus in olive oil with a squirt of lemon, potatoes and cheese.

Cheers to a lovely weekend!

Salmon and Asparagus

Salmon seasoned with rock salt and pepper and fried on iron-cast skillet next to asparagus cut into two inches long.

Happy Chinese New Year!

To welcome the New Year we went to a Chinese Restaurant nearby and ordered soup, shrimp in lobster sauce, noodles and streamed fish.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Salmon and A Pot of Beans

A delicious, very easy-to-make fresh and healthy dinner.

A slab of salmon was cooked on a grill pan brushed with olive oil on a medium high heat and then garnished with fennel fronds. 

On a pot is a mix of  red potatoes, black beans, corn and edamame.

There you go.. easy-peasy!

Poulet a la Lavande

Organic chicken thighs marinated overnight in lavender, thyme, lemon zest, juice of half a lemon, olive oil, honey, a pinch of salt and pepper.

On to a 375-degree pre-heated oven for 45 minutes. Voila!

Eaten with Aubergine et Tomate.

Recipe for Poulet a la Lavande from My Little Paris Kitchen

Aubergine et Tomate

Our dinner, diced aubergine cooked in olive oil, grape tomatoes cut in half lengthwise and some anchovies.  Eaten with Poulet a la Lavende

Croque Madame Muffin

Another recipe from Little Paris Kitchen.

The arsenal: Six slices white bread flattened with a rolling pin, ham, eggs and béchamel sauce

 

Paella Night

For this paella, I warmed chicken stock, white wine and saffron on a small saucepan. Then on the adjacent burner I sautéed chopped onion, minced garlic and more saffron on a paella pan.  Poured in the diced tomatoes and cooked for about five minutes. Next, I added the arborio rice, paprika, a pinch of salt and freshly-ground pepper and stirred until well blended.  Then, spooned in half of the wine/chicken stock from the adjacent saucepan, rotated the paella pan and let it simmer.

When liquid has evaporated I added more stock and continued adding until rice was almost cooked.  Then I arranged the octopus tentacles, shrimp and black mussels on top and continued cooking for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Carried the pan to the living room where a bottle of La Cana Albarino from Salnes Valley in Rias Baixas, Spain is waiting.

Valentine's Day Picnic

On a gorgeous day at a park by the lake, we laid a blanket down on the grass. We munched on our picnic -- strawberries, peaches, almonds, biscuits, tapenade, artichoke, muffins and cheese. We watched the clouds go by, listened to the chirping birds and enjoyed doing nothing. A perfect Valentine's date.

 

Sushi Night at Okumura

The night before Valentine's Day we went out on a date night with the Little Guy.

On the table...

- Green tea and beer
- Edamame
- Caterpillar roll
- Sushi and rolls

Well-Child Doctor's Visit

Here's our Little Guy's latest stats at two years old:  

     Height:  33 1/2 inches
     Weight:  26 pounds

Also, the following tests were performed:

     Vision Test:  Pass
     Lead Test:  Pass
     Hemoglobin Test: Normal

And, a Hep A shot.

Play-Doh Time

We're playing the Play-Doh the Little Guy got from the gift exchange earlier while waiting for Daddy. 

Valentine's Cards

... from the Little Guy's classmates in pre-school. 

Sweet!

Valentine's $10 Gift Exchange

Today was a fun day at the Little Guy's preschool. They had gift exchange, they gave each of their classmates Valentine's cards (I had to write thirty-two cards last night) and they had pizza for lunch.   

Here's what he got at the gift exchange... a dino play-doh.  Nice!

Chicken Tinola

Another comforting meal on a cold weather.  

Chicken thighs sautéed in ginger, garlic and sliced onion and cooked in broth, chayote cut into wedges and kale.  This is a popular Filipino soup and the only twist I made is I used kale instead of chili leaves or malunggay (horse raddish tree).  Also in the Philippines it's more common to use papaya instead of chayote.

Slurp, slurp!

Pasta Night

Here's what's cooking in the kitchen.
 
A box of pasta on a pot of salted boiling water and a pound of ground beef sautéed in chopped onion,  minced garlic and tomato sauce.
 
Later the pasta will be spooned into the sauce and will be served with torn basil from the garden.
. 
  

 

 

Grilled Salmon and Fennel

A slab of salmon is seasoned with salt and pepper and grilled for about five minutes on each side.  Also on the grill pan is a bulb of fennel cut into half an inch slices.

Plated and garnished with lemon and fennel fronds.

Chicken and Vegetables Soup

It's a bit chilly this evening so I decided to cook a hearty meal... carrots, potatoes, celery, zucchini and organic cage-free chicken breast cut into cubes and cooked in chicken broth.

A pinch of salt, a good cracking of black pepper.

And served with warm French baguette.

Bedtime Books

 

~we love to read books at bedtime~

A Gift

... from the most amazing and uber generous mother-in-law.

Grocery for the Week

What we will be eating in the upcoming week:


Fruits: apples, bananas and strawberries

Vegetables: potatoes, zucchini, celery, leeks and salad greens

Breakfast: Cereal and chocolate milk

Dinner: Fish, Beef and Chicken

... and French baguette


 

Brunch with Grammy at Mediterraneo

In Westlake Village for brunch next to a lake and a vineyard in the the beautiful Tuscan-style villa Mediterraneo.

On the table:

- Country-style Chicken Soup

- The Nicoise

- Albacore Sandwich

- Spaghetti Meatballs

And, a sparkler birthday candle for the Little Guy to blow... yay!