Category Archives: Food

Julienne ~ Birthday Breakfast

My photos are being held hostage at the Photobucket site as of July 2017.

 Happy Birthday Melissa!

 I met my sister Kathy and her daughters, Michelle and Melissa, and my mom for breakfast this morning at Julienne. It is Melissa’s birthday and we love to have celebrations at this wonderful restaurant in San Marino, California.

Mom (Baba), Ellen b, Kathy, and Melissa the birthday girl

Michelle, Kathy and Melissa

The menu is amazing and the ambiance lovely. We don’t mind the drive to meet here. We kick back, forget our figures and eat wonderful things like,

Lemon Creme Brulee Scone

Blueberry Pancakes with Lemon Curd Sauce

Spinach Crusted Quiche Provencal with Rosemary Roasted Potatoes,

Parmesan Crusted Potato Cake with Poached Eggs, Guacamole and Pico de Gallo,

Open Face Omelette with Chicken Sausage, Gruyere, Tomatoes; Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

Now we can watch our calories till we meet at Julienne again…say in September for Michelle’s Birthday! Lana G, we have to time this next celebration just right so you are in town!

Michelle, Baba, and Melissa…

Carne Asada

A great marinade for steak!!! (You can even use it for chicken for Pollo Asada!)  Use skirt steak or flap meat, but any thin cut steak would work. This recipe is for up to 4 pounds of meat. Cook time does NOT include marinating time. You can use 4 pounds of chicken breast meat also.

1 –  Lime juiced
1 –  Lemon juiced
1/2 C. – Orange Juice
2 T. Chili Powder
1-l/2 T. Dried Oregano leaves
2 T. Ground Cumin
5 Cloves of Garlic chopped
1/2 C. Red Wine Vinegar
4 T. Olive oil
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 Bunch Cilantro, chopped (not stems)

 

  1. Combine all ingredients in a 1-gallon ziploc bag.
  2. Add meat, seal and massage marinade into meat.
  3. Marinate in bag for up to 24 hours, turning and massaging frequently. 4-6 hours for beef and 2-4 hours for chicken would work fine, also.
  4. Grill to medium rare for beef and of course for chicken till it’s cooked thoroughly.
  5. Serve whole, sliced, or diced for tacos or burritos!

 

Come back tomorrow to see more grilling recipes from the bloggy world….

 

 

Shashlik ~ Barbecued Lamb Kebobs

 

1 leg of lamb de-boned
3 large onions sliced
Juice from 4 lemons mixed with 1/2 cup olive oil and 4 cloves of garlic crushed.
Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and pepper

Cut the lamb in pieces about 1-1/2 inches thick to 2 inches square. Trim off excess fat. Place a layer of onions in a large pot, then a layer of meat, season with Lawry’s and pepper, then sprinkle with lemon juice oil mixture. Repeat layers until all meat is in the pot ending with onions and lemon juice mixture. Cover and let stand in refrigerator for at least 4 hours or better overnight, stirring occasionally to let all the meat marinate thoroughly.

After the meat is done marinating, separate the meat from the onions. Thread the meat onto skewers, and broil outdoors over hot charcoal embers, turning the skewers occasionally to brown the meat on all sides. Now for the modern method you could use those fish cages to put the meat in and BBQ it on your gas grill. This is a lot simpler by far, but some swear by the old school method.

Serve with rice pilaf and a cucumber, tomato, onion salad.

Growing up when we were part of the Russian Molokan Church I remember the all church picnics we had at Brookside Park in Pasadena where there were several open grills cooking this wonderfully marinated lamb. So suculant, so yummy. We’d have rice and salads with it. What a highlight of the year those picnics were! For special family gatherings my father is the one who marinates and barbeques the lamb.

 

El Tecolote ~ por Bridget!

The Founder of El Tecolote (The Owl) ~ Mike

The Story of EL TECOLOTE:
The El Tecolote story begins in 1946, 50 years ago, in the neighboring community of Moorpark. A young man, fresh out of his World War II Uniform, decided to open a small restaurant, because there weren’t any jobs available and he loved to cook. The night before he opened his new restaurant, the young man, Mike Loza, locked himself inside with a shotgun to make sure no one broke in and spoiled his opening. Mike couldn’t close his eyes – the trees around the restaurant were full of owls! Mexican tradition considers the visit of an owl to be an omen of very bad luck, so to overcome the bad luck sure to follow, Mike promptly named his restaurant El Tecolote, The Owl. Mike moved El Tecolote to Camarillo, in 1948 to a small house a few blocks from its present location. The restaurant was so tiny there was always a long wait for one of the four tables. Finally, a frustrated customer offered to finance a larger building, and the first part of the current restaurant was opened in early 1952. The large dining room was added in 1957. Mike operated El Tecolote for 34 years.

Dear and I enjoy this restaurant. It’s very low key (no frills!). One of the things we think they do that is brilliant is they keep their salsa in those plastic water pitchers and come around and refill your salsa from the pitcher. At other restaurants they have to come take away your little salsa pot then come back with a fresh one. Too much time wasted in my opinion where dry chips are just sitting around waiting to be dipped! Prices here are also more reasonable. I hope you enjoyed this little post Bridget!

My photos are being held hostage at the Photobucket site as of July 2017.

Quick Family Fun in Huntington Beach

We had a last minute party in Huntington Beach on Saturday because our brother Leonard came into town from Dallas, unexpectedly. It’s his and Lana’s birthday on Sunday so we got everyone together for a meal and fun. (Lana was in Seattle so she couldn’t come to her party!)

Dear and I had to drive South for 2 hours to Huntington Beach because of …

traffic! Where are all these people going?

We had the mini birthday cake for Leonard.

Leonard always the life of the party!

Mom and Pop brought the lamb chops to barbecue. Nick (Mr. T.) barbecued the chops after marinating them in rosemary and mint.

The young T’s were there to join in the fun.

The guys (Levi, Caleb and Ryan) being nonchalant because of the camera, were discussing Caleb’s new (old) Fender Telecaster that he bought.

Michelle and Jack enjoying Unca’s cake.

I had to include this photo of my parents. Nadz (baba, mom) is stylin’ with her capri’s!

The moon from Huntington Beach when we left.

 

The moon from Camarillo when we arrived home.

I didn’t get photos of everyone there, but no worries we never pass up an excuse for a party so there are always photo opportunities in the future, Lord willing….

My photos are being held hostage at the Photobucket site as of July 2017.

Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bars with Chocolate/Butterscotch Topping

To make these wonderful bars you will need 1 cup sugar, 1 cup Karo Light Corn Syrup, 1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter, 6 cups Rice Krispies, 1 cup Butterscotch Chips and a cup of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. Bring 1 cup sugar and 1 cup karo light syrup just to a boil mixing well. Take off heat and add 1 cup peanut butter and mix till smooth.

Add 6 cups Rice Krispies and mix till all the krispies are coated well.

Put this mixture into a well greased 9×12 pan and press down evenly into the pan. Empty both cups of chips into a microwaveable bowl and microwave at 3-30second intervals, mixing well after each 30 seconds. Mix together till smooth. (You can use the double boiler method to melt your chips if you prefer). Pour entire mixture on top of the pressed down Rice Krispies and spread to cover.

Give it some time to cool and set then cut and serve. Enjoy!

Baba and Deda’s with the Girls and Jack

Deda and Baba

Niece Michelle, Daughter Katie, and SIL Kelly

We had a family “girls night out” gathering at my parent’s apartment since Katie is here for a short visit. As usual my mother went “over the top” in preparing a wonderful meal for all of us. We were doubly blessed this time because my SIL’s Kelly and Letty were able to make it.

Sister Vera, SIL Letty, and Sister Kathy

 

We had Apricot Chicken, a Honeydew Spinach Salad with a wonderful mint dressing, a mixed veggie basmati rice, not to mention appetizers. Now for that fabulous cake pictured above, yummy Pistachio Cream Angel Food Cake.

 

The sisters enjoying a laugh. What a blessing to have loving, joyful sisters with peace between us.

Vera, Lana, Kathy and Ellen

Nana Kathy with grandson Jack. “It’s a high mountain goat.” My nieces Debbee and Melissa were there but didn’t get into a photo shoot.

My photos are being held hostage at the Photobucket site as of July 2017.

Recipe Round-Up ~ Summer Salads ~ Applesauce-Raspberry Jello

 Applesauce-Raspberry Jello

1 – 3oz. pkg. raspberry jello
1   cup hot water
1 – 10oz. pkg. frozen raspberries
1 – Cup applesauce
1 – Cup sour cream
1 – Cup miniature marshmallows

Dissolve Jello in hot water. Add frozen raspberries and blend carefully. Add applesauce. Pour into 9-inch square pan. Chill until set. Combine sour cream and marshmallows and spread over top of set Jello. Cover and Chill. Serves 6-8. I have doubled this recipe and put it in a 9 x 13 pan. Refreshingly cool salad!

Now for more great salad recipes head on over to Violet’s at Promptings.

Pub Reunion in Snohomish

Beautiful Snohomish in Washington State

 

We met up with our Great Britain walking buddies at an English Pub in Snohomish. Not only are they our walking buddies but we have had many a great traveling experience with this group of six.

An English transplant from Manchester opened this Pub over a year ago. It is called Piccadilly. We had Fish and Chips, Chicken and Veggie Pastie, Toad in the Hole, and Lentil Rosemary soup. Guinness on draught and good conversation. We were back in Great Britain for a couple of hours enjoying each others company.

Seattle is sizzling these days. They are threatening 97 degrees for today. That’s H-O-T for Seattle and don’t you know it’s the news here!

Photobucket is holding all the photos of mine from this post hostage as of July 2017.

I Finally Learned How to Post These Quizzes ~ Thanks Lana!

This might be bad news for some of you but I finally learned how to post these mundane, brainless, fun quizzes. I am taking baby steps in learning how to do things on the computer with this bloggy deal. Every little thing I learn makes me a little giddy. So here you are. Now I need to learn to do the Mr. Linky thing and some of those sidebar widget dealies. I’m so happy that you are a kind bunch of bloggity bloggers. Blessings on your heads!

You Are Italian Food

Comforting yet overwhelming.
People love you, but sometimes you’re just too much.

What Kind of Food Are You?

 

You Are a Plain Ole Cup of Joe

But don’t think plain – instead think, uncomplicated
You’re a low maintenance kind of girl… who can hang with the guys
Down to earth, easy going, and fun! Yup, that’s you: the friend everyone invites.
And your dependable too. Both for a laugh and a sympathetic ear.

What Kind of Coffee Girl Are You?

Now if you decide to play, let me know how you score…

Ht: Lux Venit for the Coffee Quiz and Above the Clouds for the Food Quiz