5 Reasons Why Heirloom Tomatoes Rock

#1: They taste like the earth they came from.

#2:  Their flesh is simply more 'succulent', texture unbeatable.

#3: They are quite versatile in cooking, whether you're making a caprese salad, or fresh salsa.

#4: They are prone to less disease when they grow.

#5: Heirlooms have more essential minerals than other varieties.

And they are BEAUTIFUL!

What's On Your Kitchen Window Sill?

For about 3 years of my adult life, I lived in a 300 sq foot single apartment, with a kitchenette that measured about 4x4 feet.  My gas stove was tiny and my cupboard space limited. Though that kitchen felt stifling at first, it taught me to do more with less.  In that space, I perfected my first granola bars from scratch, which I'd offer to my then personal trainer, who absolutely loved them!  Countless varieties of lentil bean salads were also conceived there,  as well as different roasted specialties, as I hosted friends and family along the way.  I also made use of whatever outdoor space was available, be it a small ledge or a step that received sufficient sunlight. There I kept a few potted herbs that I'd share with my neighbors.  Now that I am blessed with a larger space, I'm quite grateful. I certainly can experiment more with growing herbs and vegetable.  But I have to say that any given day, I still enjoy keeping herbs where I can easily reach for them.

So, what do you like keeping on your window sill, front porch, or ledge?



Parsley, basil, and couple small tomato plants taking in the morning sun...

Reasons to Give Thanks



Cheese beureks featured appetizer on the table

Ahhh. Thanksgiving!   Dilemma for my family, every-single-year.  Do we cook, or do we go out?
Do we stick to a classic, all-out Thanksgiving menu?  or add an Armenian/Lebanese dish to the table?

As an immigrant kid in the U.S., nothing pleased me more than a sense of belonging by celebrating this newly acquired tradition with my family, in our new home. From the first attempts at planning out this feast, I'd insist on helping prepare all the fixings like savory cornbread, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, and perhaps even green beans, while leaving the turkey situation to mom and grandma. Two reasons for letting the elders handle the bird: First, they knew exactly how to prep and dress it, and second, they really reveled in the turkey itself.   They may not have been ready for total integration, but they sure LOVED the turkey idea, and respected the whole symbolism of this holiday. They honored the "thanks" part, of course.  And then, naturally, we would enjoy setting an elegant table together.  While grandma was always known for her ability to pull off an entire dinner on her own, on this special occasion, it was I who got to shine with my skills.  Still, I'd find myself arguing with the queen of the kitchen, begging her and mom not to "ruin" thanksgiving by adding any dish from the old country to the table.  After all, I'd say, I'm sure the pilgrims would not be messing with garbanzo beans, or phillo dough!   So why on earth would we add hummus or beurek to the menu?  I'd tell her she had 364 other days to demonstrate her culinary prowess.  But not today.   And though mom and grandma would say fine, fine, don't worry, lo and behold at the last minute,  that bowl of hummus, or platter of cheese beurek would magically appear on the table, right next to the gourd.  Because God forbid the last thing any female of the household wanted was for their men to go hungry without their familiar foods! It was, after all, always part of the Armenian family's food dilemma.  Over time, I realized deep in my heart, it was not about the beurek or babaganoush, or even rice pilaf, really.   It was about a sense of contribution, of putting their immutable personal stamp on the dinner table.  Well, over the years, I learned to slowly let go, and let everyone do what they'd like. Cause no matter what, our family Thanksgiving was still gonna be damn DELICIOUS!

So, this year, just after the recent passing of my dear grandmother, with a heavy heart and an empty seat at the kitchen table, mom and I decided to still go ahead and plan out a small feast with family, celebrating Grams in the usual way.   Funny enough, talking through the menu with my mom over the phone, she once again mentioned those words, "Maybe I will do a nice cheese beurek as 'appetizer', huh?".   Haha.  I thought,  Go for it :) 

A small glass of fresh pomegranate juice started this meal as a palate cleanser

Despite being sick with the flu this year, I mustered up just enough energy to bake this peach/blueberry pie. My reason to give THANKS?  An Armenian expressive family gene that shows our love of cooking/baking, no matter how we feel ;)



Not the perfect lattice, but still a fun attempt!

Current State of Veggie Garden

Took a little motivation the past few weeks to finally replant for winter.  The end of one life is the beginning of another, as they say. With my grandmother's recent passing, I have to admit it's been difficult to find that extra inspiration to bring life again to my vegetable garden.  But the strength I kept receiving told me I must renew my efforts....after all, Grandma was, and is, my direct link to the love of cooking, to natural and organic foods, and the green world around us.

So, best thing I thought, was to take it one section at a time. Some of the best outcomes I have seen, occurred in the raised bed that I built with my brother about a year ago. I think what works with this space is  that it is easy to maneuver around, and is shallow enough for winter leafy veggies to grow. Its position also helps keep most pests away, especially my pesty cats who would otherwise love to make it their playbox!

Here is the current state:

Red hot chili peppers hanging out....



Arugula seeds planted here. Note kitty scoping out his playground!



Lettuce seeds sown into this raised bed.








 



Hang On, Little Tomato!

Remember my little tomato plant, the wondrous one that sprouted unexpectedly right next to the water hose in my backyard?  Well, despite the sandy soil as its growing medium, and a few cold days in the past weeks, it managed to produce a few, peculiar, little cherry tomatoes. Too cute!!!
Oh, and delicious too....



Late summer, unusual spot



November, cold and dry but making fruit!

Oh yes, I only found it a propos to add this little song by Pink Martini, called "Hang on little Tomato".  Check it out- Food and Jazz, what a combo!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX2Hg4ldMws

Aussie Farm to Table Chef Comes To Hollywood

I recently attended a special dinner event hosted by Cadillac, at the Eveleigh restaurant in Los Angeles.  Mingling alongside a lively, professional crowd in the rear patio, I enjoyed a vibe that spoke to the respect of the menu orchestrated by executive Chef Jordan Toft.  The theme being farm-to-table, Chef Toft noted that while they don't have a live roof top garden directly supplying their food, they are still committed to using local ingredients with inspired and changing menus every single day.

Our family style tables were filled with course after course of delicious down-home food with a sleek, elegant presentation!   

We started with a variety of green appetizers, like roasted shishito peppers, and a kale salad that featured a lemon based dressing with sunflower seeds. The highlight, of course, was a whole roasted organically fed, free-roaming lamb. The jidori chicken was also succulently prepared, as was the sliced beef, as well as generous portions of sea bass. Accompanying the meats and fish was a trio of salsas like chimichurri and a tomato-based sauce. Abundant baskets of french fries with truffle aioli sauce also beautifully complemented the meats.....Finally, to top it off, we were served these lovely little hand-crafted spiced donuts with apple jam and whipped cream. Dining side by side, elbow to elbow made this a complete,  intimate,  farm-to-table experience.

When I met chef Toft, I asked him how familiar was he with Armenian/Turkish cuisine. After all, I mentioned "I'm representing my grandmother's Armenian ancestry by way of Kayseri".  Then,  I began to describe my favorite Kayseri specialty called, "tavah mante",  He automatically identified "Adana", a city not far from Kayseri, and said while training in his native Australia, he was exposed to some of those specialty dishes that incorporate yogurt and cucumber, and highlight spices such as sumac.  Not too shabby, I thought, for an Aussie chef!



Here is a clip of Chef Jordan's work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb4Gf-POzTA

Winter in L.A.

Here we are, coming up on Thanksgiving week, and the weather is just gorgeous on a Sunday such as this. In Los Angeles, we ARE spoiled. I will admit it. We revert to whining about such trivial things like tight parking spaces and growing lines at the local coffee shop. We forget how the rest of the country deals with the paralyses that come with winter, such as snowed in car parks, unpredictable precipitation, dangerous driving conditions, and so on.  Everything of course is relative.  You can ask any Angeleno gardener if we too are subject to labile weather that influences planting and growing potential. And he might say, yes, absolutely.  But on a day as fair as this, so crisp, just following a nice mild rainfall, it feels like a perfect time to finally sow in some winter seeds!  

Here are 3 varieties of leafy green seeds I picked up at the local nursery:

Thinking of freshly grown leafies this season sure makes me smile. Much of this success of course, depends on your soil.  Good soil is only after all, enhanced by good compost, and good compost, as we  know, is the product of homegrown commitment!   In the meantime,  I got myself a couple hefty bags of organic potting soil.   Um....well, let's just say that when I finally grow the patience required with producing my own compost, it will be a game changer :)

My Grandmother's Gifts

It's been a bit rough past few weeks. My grandma Veronica, my mom's mom, the woman who practically raised me and my brother, my best buddy and mentor in the kitchen,  teacher of all awesome life lessons, nurturer with an amazingly big heart, passed away on October 26th, due to complications arising from the West Nile Virus.  One day we were baking together in the kitchen, and the next (literally) she fell acutely ill and was admitted to the hospital. Shortly thereafter, her condition started to deteriorate to the point where prognosis was dismal and impossibly poor.  It was at once incredibly difficult to witness, while at the same time, proved to be a spiritually powerful experience.  She left so much for me to contemplate. And so suddenly.   Immediately, EVERY thing she had touched or owned was connected to her memory, from kitchen items like Armenian coffee cups, to the entire layout of the kitchen itself, to her favorite flowers in the backyard, to the coffee shops along the boulevards in the San Fernando valley of Southern California, where people knew her name and face.   Every single aspect of my life, I found,  vividly evoked the memory of her smile, her commentaries, her humility, her modesty, her beautiful wisdom.

Though all of these memory connections came to me at an overwhelming rate, I found one thing through my grieving that brought me peace: A new appreciation for the natural world around me. You see, beyond her love for food and cooking, and dressing elegantly, I always knew about Veronica's deeper essence, that which reveled in the sights, sounds, touch, and fragrance of natural objects that surround us.   For example, I never listened intently to the birds' songs she would hear in the morning while enjoying her Armenian coffee, turning to me to say, "How beautiful!".  But then, after her passing, I found that I heard these birds at a higher frequency,  songs that spoke to me. Then, it was the flowers, I saw shape and color in a new light, and the way the stamen pointed for bees to pollinate. Her sense of wonder was childlike, mesmerized by the sheer beauty of sights we might take for granted.   And thus, these sights and sounds are being transmitted to me, I believe, through her memory, her spirit.

So, while my garden regains a new look, in the autumn of our lives,  and as I plan to lay down some winter seeds in the coming weeks, I will share some items that I find are simply delectable, vibrant, and sensual.

For example, this weekend, at a local Whole Foods, I stumbled upon this gorgeous anomaly called,  "Buddha's Fingers" lemon.   Who knew!   Its fragrance as strong and sweet as a Meyer's or Sorrento lemon, the Buddha's Fingers(or more commonly Buddha's hand), is thought to originate from India or China, but grown in Southern California.   At $7.99/lb, it is clearly a very special item(this one weighed about 4 lbs),  I thought I'll reserve the purchase for another occasion when I can find a very worthy dessert or lemon-based dish  :)   But check it out,   freaky,   fruity,   fantastical!




Oh, and I found these intensely purple, paper-like blossoms at the Getty Center garden. Had to share. I love how they radiate their vibrant hue, almost like a purple sun :)