Swiss Chard

Our first harvest of the season – Swiss Chard.  They were planted a month ago on the same planter box we had arugula and kale in the winter.  On the other box, we have different kinds of tomatoes – San Marzano, early girl, ….  Then on the side, by the fence, we have beans and bitter melon. I water them all every morning before I get ready for work.

We have a faucet in the backyard and another one on the side yard, both are about 25 feet away from the planter boxes.  Since our hose is not long enough, I use a sprinkler. The tomatoes are watered first, then the beans, the pepper, the bitter melon, the chard, the herbs, the grapes, green onions, navel orange, calamansi and pomegranate.  I go back and forth about ten times in total which helps bump up my steps.  My daily goal is 7k. 

The pomegranate, it was planted right on the fence, so I had our gardener move it to another spot.  Right now it looks dead, no leaves have come out on the branches yet, but when I scratched the bark, it is still green, so I am not losing hope.  

Dolmas

The grapevine we planted in December is thriving. Tiny leaves started sprouting in early March and now it is fully covered with leaves.  I cut about a dozen leaves, soaked them in water for about 3 hours and then filled them with a mix of rice, ground beef, pine nuts, diced onion, salt and pepper.  Then, I arranged them on a pot, covered with water and then simmered for 45 minutes.  I put a heavy baking dish on top so they stay in place.

Voila, there goes my dolmas… my first attempt at making them.

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.

Our Fig Tree

... in late May.  I see lots of fig + cheese + wine evenings in our future and I can't wait. 

Cherries!

The month of May is the start of cherry harvest season...

Lovely Blooms

I love this time of year when flowers are in full bloom.  Some snapshots from our garden below...

BBQ Time

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

Butterfly Bush

We have three of them in the backyard -- two magenta and one purple.  And we have two resident butterflies too.

Peach Tree

A young peach tree in our backyard bearing three fruits this season...

Sausage, Beans and Kale Soup

... is what we're having for dinner today. Slurp, slurp!

Mockingbird

Loving the soothing serenade of this mockingbird perched on top of a tree...

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!

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.