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!

Fattoush with Beef

I haven’t had Middle Eastern food before I moved state-side. Shocking, right? But where I moved to, in the City of Angels, Middle Eastern/Mediterranean restaurants are in abundance from Lebanese to Armenian to Persian to Israeli. And that’s how I acquired the taste for the flavors of the Middle East… kabob, falafel, hummus, tabbouleh, mousakka, baba ghanoush… I like them all.

Home-side, I made fattoush, Lebanon’s most famous salad, for dinner. Tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes and lettuce.

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.

Homemade Crème Brulee

I’ve eaten crème brulee in many restaurants, but never tried to make one until now.  I like to try new flavors and new recipes, expand my culinary repertoire, but quite hesitant to venture into deserts as husband is not into sweet dishes and so it always ends up with… me bake, me eat :-)

For this, I used Ina Garten’s recipe from “Barefoot in Paris.”

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.
  

Monarch Butterfly

One of the many caterpillars on our milkweed has turned into a beautiful butterfly.

Summer Crops

Planting summer crops – beans, tomatoes, peppers, chard and bitter melon.

Painting Souvenir

Whenever we travel, my husband and my mother-in-law both love to shop for souvenirs which is not my thing. I would rather spend the time exploring, as souvenirs either end up collecting dust or in boxes stored in the garage.  But hand painting a souvenir is a different story.  I love it because I am bringing home something unique, something for keeps, something that will bring back some beautiful memories of the trip.

Beach

After breakfast, we went back to our suite, put on some sunblock, grabbed our stuff, then walked to the beach to build a sandcastle.  This is what the Little Guy is looking forward to during this trip.

Little Wanderer

… and so I wander with my Pooh Bear.

Caterpillars

These caterpillars of a monarch butterfly have turned our milkweed “hello yellow” into their salad bar.

Easter Sunday

How we spent Easter Sunday after church… 

No Meat Dinner

… baby bella mushrooms, eggplant, garbanzo beans, Campari tomatoes and hardboiled eggs.

"Double Delight" Tea Rose

A very fragrant rose with creamy white petals edged with dark pink... its rich scent perfumes our yard.

Iraque Kitchree

The arsenal: basmati rice, lentil, onion, cumin, turmeric, ground coriander, ground ginger and pepper flakes

... then, garnished with thyme from the garden

Salmon, Shrimp and Asparagus

I broiled some salmon belly, shrimp (head-on and unpeeled) and asparagus drizzled with lemon juice and seasoned with garlic powder, salt, black pepper and a generous sprinkling of Cajun spices. Yum!

Orchid Rockrose

There's one in our front yard, by the pedestrian walkway. It was plated between our property and our neighbor's.  I water it once in a while,  I saw our neighbor watering it too.

Bird Sighting - Hawk

When I looked at the kitchen window, I saw a hawk looking back at me.

A hawk? Yes, a big hawk...

St. Patrick’s Day

We were in Dublin, Ireland in 2010.  Our hotel was right across Trinity College.  From what I still remember, we went to Temple bar on our first night to have some bottles of Guinness. The next day, we walked on the bridge over River Liffey to O’Connel Street to see The Spire, then took a cab to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. From St. Patrick’s, we walked to Lord Edward Street to The Bull & Castle restaurant for lunch.  From there we went to Christ Church Cathedral then to Guinness Storehouse for some more bottles of Guinness and of course to see how it is made and learn about its history.

The following day, we headed north to see the prehistoric monument Newgrange in the County Meath as well as the historic ruins of Monasterboice in County Louth.

The last day was spent strolling around Dublin.  We went to St. Stephen’s Green, shopped at the mall right across the park and walked to Grafton Street to see the Molly Malone statue.

It was a short visit, but since then, we have adopted the St. Patrick’s Day celebration in our home.  Every 17th day of March, I prepare corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots for dinner and we all deck out in green.

Peach Blossoms

... in our backyard.  It's almost Springtime!