Picnic in the Garden

Spread out the blanket in the garden and spent a lazy afternoon nibbling on some strawberries, cherries, blueberries, raspberries and grapes.

Graduation Celebration

Attended a friend's daughter's graduation celebration.  Hubby and the Little Guy rocked the same outfit :-)

Taco Night

Summer Fridays at work started today and nothing really planned for the Friday date night so I stopped by the grocery store to grab some stuff for a taco night...

shrimp, beef and mahi-mahi
radish, avocado, mango
red onions, cilantro and lime
salsa and tortilla wrap
homemade Mexican rice

... and a number of different and surprising combinations.

Fold & eat!

Cajun Rice with Sausage

The arsenal:  white long grain rice, sasuage and okra.

Playdate at the Park

Met up with the Little Guy's friend in the playground after work. They had a blast.

Watermelon & Raspberry Lemonade

A little picnic to celebrate the sunshine.  Summer is almost here!

It's BBQ Season Again

Time to roll the BBQ out of hibernation and let the grilling season begin...

We had lunch outside, shish and chicken kabob, rice, shirazi salad, watermelon gelatin with peach and grapes.  

For the drinks, we had freshly-squeezed lemonade on mason jars topped with a slice of lime.

Happy Memorial Day!

I have a little poppy,

As red as red can be,

To show that I remember,

Those who fought for me."

Carousel

Up, down... up, down...  round & round!

Pizza

What we had for lunch at the mall today...

Green Zone

We sat on the same table and ordered the same items we had during our last visit ... appetizer sampler, dumpling noodle soup, hainan chicken rice and grilled porkchop. 

The only thing new is the lemonade the Little Guy is drinking below.

Italian Tapas at Home

What I prepared for our Friday date night at home -- crostini, marinated olives, sautéed sausages, capicola, artichokes, strawberries and cherries.

It's time to kick-off the long weekend!

Mac & Cheese

The arsenal:  elbow pasta, smoked sausage, green pepper and cheddar cheese.

Alegría Cobb

What’s for lunch:  chopped chicken, applewood smoked bacon, queso fresco, roasted tomato, avocado, preserved lemon, shredded romaine, herb & citrus Greek yogurt vinaigrette.

The crew: very friendly

The food:  well, it doesn’t taste as good as it looks. I think it’s too sour like they poured lemon juice in there. Also, I bit into what seem like lemon seeds… a few of them.  Not sure if it’s the preserved lemon, but it did sure taste very bitter.

Steamed Buns

Hmmmm...  I can smell Chinatown from the steam coming out of the steamer with store-bought buns.  Yum-yum!

Beef with Onions

The beef was intended for a Grilled Steak Salad but ended up sautéed in red onions, smoked paprika, sea salt and black peppercorns. Then eaten with steamed rice.

Quattro Stagioni Pizza

A pizza that has four toppings to represent the four seasons.  In this version, I used artichoke hearts for Spring, tomatoes for Summer, mushroom for Autumn and kalamata olives for Winter.  I bought capocollo/capicola but decided to replace with olives to make it a Meatless Monday.

I placed the pizza on an a preheated stone and then on to a preheated 500° oven until the mozzarella cheese has melted and the crust is brown.

Bon Appetito!

Crawfish & Shrimp

We all know that Sichuan cooking tends to be spicy. 2188 Spicy Shrimp in San Gabriel Valley serves Wuhan/Hubei cuisine, which uses a lot of dried hot pepper.  That said, the dishes we had except for the pancakes were all very spicy, very very spicy.  

Cupcake Birthday Party

I would have the same theme for a birthday party if I have a girl. So cute, dainty and so much fun. It’s all cupcakes from the invitation to the thank you card.  

At the party, there are cupcake coloring books, cupcake piñata, cupcake stickers, cupcake giveaways and cupcake-flavored wines.  The highlight was cupcake decorating.  It started with sticking cupcake stickers on cupcake containers.   Then, the children were handed aprons decorated with cupcake and off they went to grab the cupcakes to decorate.  It was so much fun!

Here are some snapshots…

Peruvian Dinner

Stopped by a Peruvian restaurant for our Friday night dinner...

Pollo a la braza, anticuchos, arroz and inca kola.  

On Mother's Day

We celebrated the second Sunday of May, Mother's Day, at Laurel Hardware in West Hollywood.

On the table:

- shrimp and grits  poached egg. braised greens. chulpe sauce
- chicken and biscuit fried egg. tasso ham gravy. wilted greens
- marinated steak  chimichurri. weiser potatoes. fried egg  
- fruits

and a carafe of white peach bellini... cheers!

Purple Trees in Bloom

The Purple-blue Jacarandas are in full bloom around Los Angeles. They're everywhere just like the pink trees a couple of months ago.

Daichan

Japanese soul food for dinner.

On the table:

Garlic baby squid, tofu pot, albacore poki bowl and chirashi

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Yellow Balloon

… is what the Little Guy is holding as we walk a couple of blocks in Studio City.

Brunch at Aeirloom Café

In Toluca Lake to catch-up with good old friends...

Hungry Cat

...for a team outing.  We feasted on cheese platter, seafood platter, lobster roll, uni and fries.

Korean BBQ

… for lunch from a food truck.  Quite disappointing. The meat was too rubbery I had to chew and spit.  A waste of money.

Play Date

The Little Guy and his friend had a play date at a nearby park.

On Board

… a plane back to Los Angeles.  A peek at the window I saw Sea of Cortez. 

Corona Sports Bar

While waiting for our flight back to Los Angeles, we grabbed a spot at this bar for a quick lunch… tortilla soup, tacos and burrito.

Sunday Brunch

It was a feast!  Incredible selection… paella, sushi, oysters, omelet station,  soup, salad, tacos, cakes in different shapes & flavors, ice cream, chocolate fountain,  macarons… yes, French macarons.   And a whole lot more…

Flamingos

A snapshot of the flamingos on our way to the restaurant...

Big Waves

… crashing on the shore, the sweet scent of the ocean,  the birds singing.  Mornings are always beautiful in Cabo.

Today after breakfast, we ventured out to the beach again.  There were a few couples walking, a family of three building a sandcastle and some pelicans waiting to catch some fish.  Looking back at the hotel, I saw bikini-clad ladies on their way to the pool and some more folks walking behind them.