Tomato, Rice and Cucumber Salad

A simple and healthy rice salad dinner recipe made with tomatoes and cucumbers from the backyard edible garden, some left-over albacore tuna and thinly sliced pork belly.

Video on YouTube on the link below...

Mediterranean Chicken With Garden Tomatoes and Basil

A colorful tomato harvest for dinner with chicken, basil and kalamata olives. Seasoned with a pinch of salt, a good cracking of black peppercorns and a teaspoon of smoked paprika. Yum!

Video on YouTube, link below...

Shakshouka With Homegrown Tomatoes

Summer weekends are for lazing away like eating breakfast and lunch together. For today's brunch, I prepared a Mediterranean dish called Shakshouka made of the juiciest and sweetest homegrown tomatoes and homegrown bell pepper, seasoned with paprika, cumin, a sprinkle of salt and freshly-cracked black peppercorns. Simmered for about 20 minutes, then I cracked three eggs and then I topped the shakshouka with homegrown herbs - shiso leaves and chives. Also on the table are some homemade aebleskiver, homegrown apples and nectaplums and coffee. 

Video on YouTube and link below...

Backyard Apple Picking For A Picnic In Malibu

Ah, finally it's weekend! We've been homebound all week and it's time to breathe some fresh salt air from the ocean. So off we went to Malibu Bluffs Park, spread out the blankets and ate our picnic. The picnic - apples and tomatoes from our backyard edible garden, sandwiches from an Italian deli and some sliced watermelon.

Video on YouTube, link on profile

Summer Harvest Au Gratin

This evening's backyard edible garden haul for a perfect weeknight recipe - SUMMER HARVEST AU GRATIN. I picked different varieties of tomatoes, eggplant, and zucchini. They were sliced along with ham steak, topped with freshly-grated parmesan cheese and cooked on a Le Creuset baking dish on a 350-degree pre-heated oven for 30 minutes. The zucchini and eggplant got a head-start on the pan. The lavender was placed onto a glass half-filled with water and the nectarine will be eaten tomorrow..

Video on YouTube, link below...

Grapes and Tomato Harvest for Dinner

Summer is a season of bounty! For last night's dinner, my little knight in shining armor and I harvested some vine-ripened grapes, sun-kissed tomatoes and delicious peaches from our backyard edible garden. Then on to the kitchen to prepare dinner - silk snapper, seasoned and broiled and tomatoes turned into salad with salted eggs.

Apple Picking in Los Angeles and Making Apple Pie

Apple season kicks off early in our backyard garden with some harvest turned into an apple pie. We picked the apples, peeled off the skin, then sliced. A sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg and ground ginger and a cup of caramel sauce. Then on to an apple pie dish lined with a crust, a lattice on top and on to a 425 F pre-heated oven for 15 minutes, then 350 F for another 45 minutes. Our Homemade apple pie with backyard apples is ready. A dollop of ice cream on top.... yum!

Video on YouTube, link below...

Nectaplum Harvest From A Small Backyard Garden in Los Angeles

Our nectaplum backyard harvest - the first of the season - turned into our favorite summer treat. Nectaplum is a cross between nectarine and plum. It is hybrid, but non-GMO since it was done through the old-fashioned way of pollinating by hand. Happy summer!

Video on YouTube, link below...

Steak, Tomato Salad and Baked Potatoes On 4th Of July

On the 4th of July, we harvested some tomatoes, berries and herbs for lunch. We had grilled porterhouse steak with rosemary, baked potatoes with chives and garden tomatoes with basil. Happy Independence Day everyone! Let us take a moment to remember all those who have given the ultimate sacrifice so that we may live free. God bless America... our home sweet home!

Video on YouTube, link below...

Panzanella with Homegrown Tomatoes & Homemade Ciabatta

Just a few steps away from our kitchen is our edible garden where I picked different varieties of tomatoes that I used for our panzanella. Panzanella is a tomato and bread salad from Tuscany. For the bread, I used the ciabatta that I left in the oven a little longer than I should the other day. The ciabatta and some tomatoes were sliced into cubes. The cherry ones were sliced in half. A drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then topped with basil chiffonade. And there goes our colorful panzanella. In the second half of the video, I showed clips of how I made the ciabatta as well as pandesal. Pandesal is a Filipino version of dinner rolls.

Video on YouTube, link below...

Breakfast In The Garden With Backyard Harvest

One of the great things about summer is the endless bounty of fruits and vegetables in the backyard garden -- like the donut peaches that are dropping off the tree. So on my summer day off, I picked some of them along with a handful of blueberries, raspberries and a lone strawberry for our breakfast while I listened to the birds sing their morning song.. The berries and the peaches all came together on a shredded pancake which was carried back to the backyard garden and eaten under the shade of a fig tree.

Video on YouTube, link below..

French Apple Cake With Apples From The Backyard

Ana apple is the best cultivar for Los Angeles as it can tolerate warm weather. It is delicious when eaten fresh and also great for cooking and baking as it retains its shape better than some other varieties. For our apple harvest, I turned them into French apple cake. Happy gardening, happy baking and happy summer!

Video on YouTube, link below...

Picnic Frittatas For Our Picnic By The Ocean

Popped up early in the garden to snip some flowers and harvest some vegetables and fruits for our picnic. Some tomatoes, peaches, cucumbers, grapes, bell pepper and calamondin/calamansi. Then to the kitchen. Cracked five eggs, a sprinkle of salt topped with bacon, tomatoes, bell pepper and freshly grated cheese. On to the oven for 12 minutes and voila... our picnic frittatas. For the juice, I squeezed a handful of calamansi into a picnic carafe, sliced a cucumber, a tablespoon turbinado sugar, then filled with ice cubes, some freshly-picked splenda and a bottle of water. Closed the lunch boxes, grabbed the picnic blankets and drove to Malibu Bluffs Park for a lovely picnic overlooking the ocean. Then came the squirrels.. one, two, three,.... six of them playing that kept us entertained and amused. We walked a little bit. We could not hike on the trail because it's the season of the rattlesnakes.

Video on YouTube, link below...

Summer Squash Pizza and Bruschetta With Homegrown Tomatoes

A summer squash recipe that kids would surely love -- pizza! Last night's laid-back dinner in the backyard garden were summer squash or patty pan pizza and bruschetta with colorful homegrown tomatoes in homemade ciabatta. Buon appetito! Happy gardening & happy cooking!

Video on YouTube, link below...

Summer Garden Harvest For Fish Pinangat

Preparing food from back home "pinangat na isda" with some backyard garden pickings - the colorful tomatoes, calamondin/calamansi, fushimi eggplant and Japanese eggplant.

Video on YouTube, link below...

Colorful and Healthy Dinner with Backyard Harvest

A delicious and healthy dinner with some harvest from our California backyard garden -- yellow zucchini, cucumbers, colorful tomatoes and donut peaches. Ah, the bounty of summer! The pink roses were also picked from the garden.

Video on YouTube, link below...

Tulips and Tomatomania

At Descanso Gardens to see the tulips, magnolias, cherries and irises in full bloom as well as to visit the TOMATOMANIA, the world's largest tomato seedling sale.

A Healthy and Delicious Breakfast from the Garden

Weekends are for slowing down and lazing away and there's no better way to kick off the weekend than a healthy and delicious breakfast with vegetables from the backyard garden.

Migrating Painted Lady Butterflies in Los Angeles

A magical phenomenon is currently happening in Southern California as millions of painted lady butterflies flutter in the sky as they migrate across the state heading north from the desserts of Mexico to the Pacific Northwest.  

Backyard Vegetable Garden In March | Los Angeles

A tour of a backyard vegetable garden in Los Angeles.