Home Garden | Summer Harvest and Backyard Dinner 🌱☀️ 🍅

Harvesting vegetables, herbs and fruits from our small urban backyard garden in Los Angeles, California.

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Filipino Cooking, Gardening and Life in Los Angeles Vlog 🌱🍋 🍳

Filipino Cooking, Gardening and Life in Los Angeles Vlog 🌱🍋 🍳  | Weekend brunch in the backyard garden, some harvest, front yard gardening and some random life vlog in Los Angeles.

On this video:

📍 Capriotti's Sandwich Shop

📍 Porto's Bakery and Cafe

📍 Paris Baguette

📍 Pardis Restaurant 

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Sunday Night

It was quite a busy day of gardening.  Spent a couple of hours watering the plants before church. Then after church we headed to the nursery to buy more vegetables.

First, I uprooted some tropical flowers on our side yard.  Not sure what they are called... palm-like wide leaves with bright red flowers.  They are very invasive. Then, I planted some zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant and moringa. Transplanted the mint and hibiscus and watered them generously.  I hope they survive (fingers crossed)... especially the hibiscus.

We squeezed in a nap on the grass then as soon as the sun disappeared on the horizon, we fired up the grill.

Dinner was a repeat of last night... chicken and beef kabob.  The ikra on the side was new.  The wine, red and white, were left-over from the other day.

Cheers to a wonderful week ahead!

Backyard Dinner

Summer has not officially arrived, but the grilling season in our house has officially opened a day before Memorial.  This is our third for the season.

The meat is from Alameda Market on Glenoaks Boulevard and East Alameda Avenue in Burbank... organic chicken and beef kabob... juicy and almost melt in your mouth. 

On the side, we had grilled tomatoes, green bell pepper and basmati rice with saffron.

Grilled peaches for dessert and a bottle of red from Italy.

The flowers, lantana, I cut from our front yard.

Candle light flickers while we watch the planet Venus shining bright next to the half moon up in the beautiful evening sky. 

Summer Friday

Prepared a colorful supper on my first Summer Friday off.. roasted pork marinated in mojo criollo sauce, potatoes, golden beets, red bell pepper, sauteed Swiss chard, cucumber and hard-boiled eggs.  

Ate outside while a mockingbird perched on its favorite spot serenades us from a distance. 

Souvlaki & Tzatziki

In the mood for some Greek food today.  On the table..

Souvlaki: chicken and beef marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, onion and some Greek herbs and seasoning

Tzatziki: yogurt with grated cucumber, lemon, olive oil, a dash of salt, some cracking of black pepper and dill from our herb garden.

BBQ Time

Kicking off the BBQ season with chicken & shish kabob on lavash, shirazi salad, basmati rice, pickled eggplant and grilled vegetables.

Octopus and Capers Pizza

On my day off, the Little Guy and I made pizza with octopus and capers then enjoyed a leisurely lunch under the shade of a pistache tree.

Poulet Au Citron Et Lavande

Saturday dinner date with my loves at home. 

On the menu:

- chicken with lavender, lemon, honey and thyme from the garden
- watermelon with feta cheese and mint
- roasted potatoes

Happy weekend!

Friday Date Night

Supper in the backyard eating pasta with tuna, tomatoes and capers, freshly-baked bread and cucumber with caviar, lemon rind and chives. 

Cheers to a happy weekend!

Steak and Ratatouille

It’s a beautiful day to bring lunch in the backyard and eat under the shade of a tree.

I seared a rib-eye steak to medium and made ratatouille. Ratatouille is sautéed aubergine, red bell pepper, zucchini, tomatoes and herbs from our garden.

Crunchy French Toast

I tried to re-create the crunchy French toast... one of my favorites at the Blu Jam Cafe on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks.

This French toast was dipped in egg mixture with a splash of vanilla, then coated with panko + cinnamon + sugar + butter mixture, then cooked in a skillet over medium heat until golden brown.