Peek at the Week - Week of September 24

Peek at the Week - Week of September 24 

Photo: LAist

Yup. The above happened during last year's Carmageddon, a group of friends hopped a fence and had an early morning brunch on the 405. All the warnings and terror struck into the minds of Angelenos proved to be very effective, as Carmageddon's traffic was some of the lightest in the history of Los Angeles transit. This year, the warnings seem less ominous and I fear people are thinking Carmegeddon Shmarmeggedon, "I'm going to take advantage of possibly the second lightest traffic day of all time." We will see. Who knows whats going to happen but personally, I am going to stay as put as can be.

Great food news of the week:
The much buzzed about new rustic chic bar, Phoenix opened its doors this week. Phoenix is from the owners of Surely Goat, one of my Hollywood favorite spots.
Rumor has it that Stone Brewery is looking at opening a Los Angeles location in the near future, I hope it mirrors the San Diego location with a tasting room, brewery and a beautifully set, delicious restaurant.




If you live close to one of L.A.'s fabulous museums, this Saturday is the nationwide Museum Day Live! Below is the list of participating museums offering free admission.                                                

Autry National Center, Los Angeles

California Science Center, Los Angeles

Chinese American Museum, Los Angeles

Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles

Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach

Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, Los Angeles

Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA), Long Beach

Museum of Art & History, Lancaster 

Otis College of Art and Design, Ben Maltz Gallery, Los Angeles

Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena

Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena

Palos Verdes Art Center, Rolling Hills Estates

Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica

The GRAMMY Museum at L.A. LIVE, Los Angeles

Zimmer Children's Museum, Los Angeles

Tonight is the opening of Art Platform, the first of the contemporary and modern art fair in Los Angeles. This is running until Sunday the 30th at the Barker Hanger (you know where the yearly Barney's sale is? Yes. There.). 

http://www.artplatform-losangeles.com/

Have a wonderful, stress free weekend everyone! 

L.A. Beer Week

Happy Monday everyone! Need a little help making it through the dreaded first day of the week? Take comfort my friends, for it is L.A. Beer Week, the perfect excuse to drown your 'case of the Mondays' in a case of beer... well, more like a pint for this gal. L.A. beer culture has been gaining unflappable momentum for quite a while now, with around 12 new craft breweries opening up city wide, craft beer may be on the track to becoming a new hallmark of Los Angeles food and wine culture. Even, local Eagle Rock Brewery bottles are now carried at select, Los Angeles area Whole Foods Markets.
I did my fair share of beer tasting this past weekend at the Septemeberfest event (which had a lot of local beer though no affiliation to beer week) where I snapped the above lovely photo and had grand time. It was also so fitting that it's parallel to Beer Week and left me inspired to take pride in the local breweries of Los Angeles. I'm going to make a personal point to drink local this week, learn and explore Los Angeles brews. It's just too incredible that an individual can take a talent, vision, a lot of blood, sweat and tears to create a business, let alone a brewery, and in my neighborhood? It's only fitting to take pride and support are local marvels. Below I have added the L.A. Beer Week link, there our countless events to participate in and below that, is a handy map from beermapping.com. You may be surprised at what is in your neighborhood.

http://www.labeerweek.com/

http://beermapping.com/maps/citymaps.php?m=losangeles  -  A very cool Beer Map of the L.A. area.

Peek at the Week - Week of 17th

Peek at the Week - Week of 17th

This week was incredibly busy with zero time to post, so I've decided that this weekend, my big priority is getting organized for my blog (in between Septemberfest and weekend shenanigans of course).

Say hello to Septemberfest, happening this Saturday in Santa Monica. After my friends and I discovered how amazing beer festivals are, we really don't miss any chances to be at one. 

My beer festival wisdom tips: 

1) Spring the extra $10 to get you VIP access an hour early, before the lines really start to form.

 2) Dress comfy and wear shoes that can be drenched in beer, this will happen. 

3) Don't drink and drive. As I thought at my first beer festival, "there is no way I will be inebriated from the little beer cup the event provides" (about 3 ounces). WRONG. I was so relieved that I still made a safe transportation plan regardless. You will be shocked how fast the beer creeps up on you, be responsible and have plan.

4) Don't forget your sunscreen

5) Eat a little something before you go but know that there will be plenty of food options at the event. 

This event is a drinkeatplay event, which from my experience, are fabulous. 

This week I finally ate at the infamous Park's BBQ, constantly rated on the top of BBQ and Korean BBQ lists in L.A. It was fantastic! I loved the Beef Bulgolgi and Spicy Mul-naengmyeon. It's a must try! 

If you are looking for a good laugh this weekend, hit up Riot L.A. The brightest of Los Angeles' alternative comedians will be out in full force from the 21st  - 23rd.  

http://www.riotla.com/

This is a photo from the Los Angeles Lobster Festival, I will have a blog post for you soon, the lobster was great but I just can't recommend attending this event. Details to soon come... 

Another one of my favorite, snap shots of L.A. 

 

Peek at the Week - Week of September 10th

Peek at the Week - Week of September 10th

Happy Friday everyone! This week has been very busy and I'll be honest, I'm very excited for this weekend to come. 

Here is my Peek at the Week: 

This weekend is The Port of Los Angeles Lobster Festival in San Pedro. This is the world's largest Lobster Festival and I really can't wait to be there! 

http://lobsterfest.com/

These are the little snap shots I collected over my trip to Portland this past week, it was an amazing time! I have the St. Johns Bridge in Portland, handsome Todd, the gorgeous front scene of the wedding we attended, the most delightful and oldest tiki bar in Portland - Alibi, and our delicious departure meal at George's Greek Cuisine in Burbank.

One of my favorite things is to bring the wonderful people in my life baked goods, either my own or store bought. This favorite habit has really taken me on quite the bakery tour of Los Angeles. I have a favorite bakery for any and every region in the city that I happen to be in at any given moment of receiving good, baked goods, worthy news. My only problem was that I didn't have one near my apartment. How could that be? Then I thankfully discovered Lark, on Sunset Boulevard in Silverlake. They offer delicious cakes, tarts, cupcakes and vegan goods. I highly recommend the Old Fashioned Ice Box Cake that I may have cheated on my diet sharing it with Todd. It was completely worth it. 

On Saturday night, Poolside (which in my mind is the epitome of L.A. summer sounds) will be playing for free at the Getty. I happen to know that some of the coolest cats in L.A. will be there, I'm talking about a  group of my amazing dear friends. 

   

The L.A. County Fair kicked off last week and will be running until the end of September. Go grab fair food taken to a whole other dimension- fried frog legs, chocolate dipped bacon and deep fried cookie dough- are some of the few outrageous fair fare I've been hearing about. 

Tri Colored Orzo Salad

Several years ago, my family came to L.A. to visit the then, newly opened, Getty Villa. At the Getty Villa visitors are welcome to bring picnics, the grounds are so amazing that I really don't think there is any better option than parking yourself in the picnicking area and dining alfresco. I made this Tri Colored salad for the first time for that very picnic, my oh my was it a hit. That was about 5 or so years ago. Fast forward to the current day and my family still raves about this salad. Just the other night, after my family reminded me how much they love this salad,  I decided to make it to accompany a lemon roasted chicken for a causal summer dinner with friends. I've always had this recipe tucked in the back of my mind, but the recent pleasure of eating it, I found myself wondering why don't I make this so much more often? It's really delicious. It travels very well and in my personal opinion, it tastes better at room temperature. It's beautiful to look at, light, healthy, bursting with flavors and oh so simple. 

 Tri Color Orzo Salad - Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

• 1 pound orzo pasta
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1/4 cup
• 2 cups fresh arugula (about 3 ounces)
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 12 fresh basil leaves, torn
• 1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the orzo and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta, cool. Drizzle the pasta with 3 tablespoons olive oil, toss, keep cooling.

Once the orzo is cool, transfer to a large serving bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and toss gently to combine. Serve.

Adios, Summer!

My dear blog, I have returned and you were terribly missed. After being horribly sick last week, I crawled out from under my mountain of tissues, pulled myself together and spent the weekend up in Portland for one of the most amazing experiences. Todd had a family wedding and in efforts of keeping his family on the personal side, I will just say that it was such a phenomenal, unforgettable and beautiful experience in which I was so honored to be a part of. As I ride my happy high and adjust back to life, I am thrilled to get back to my blog routine for it is something that I really missed.
As the summer is quickly fading, I find myself in quite the bittersweet dichotomy. I madly love the fall, but if fall didn't exist, I think perhaps, summer would be my new hearts desire. I love summer foods- light, crisp, flavorful and fresh. It's the fall when I start slipping up on my health and steering towards the heartiest of foods, I just so want to be immersed in all things fall, for I love it that much. Then, by the close of fall and the twentieth butternut squash I have eaten, I start to yearn for my summer flavors to be back. As the beach sand grains of summer are slipping through my fingers like an hourglass, I grip on to the last of my favorite summer flavors knowing they will be missed and grow excited for my favorite most exciting time of the year. Today, I have an extremely simple, refreshing and very healthy treat featuring one of my absolute favorite summer fruits: the blueberry. This little blueberry shake does wonders for me while I focus on eating healthy and helps me stay cool during LA's heat waves. We currently are having our last rendezvous together before everything becomes all about pumpkin flavor. 100 calories and your sweet tooth will be satisfied while your waistline shrinks and your body is nourished to your bones.

Purple People Eater "Shake"
1 cup of frozen blueberries
1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk
1 packet of stevia or more to taste

Dump the blueberries, almond milk and sweetener in a blender, blend until smooth. It really couldn't be easier. Enjoy!

Sicky McSickerson

Good morning all! Today I am battling a horribly aggressive cold that has been wreaking havoc on my life since Sunday. I have so many great foodie things to share with you but they must wait. I have a mind altered by too much DayQuil and interrupted by restless sleep, blurry vision, burning eyes, constant sneezing and coughing. I'm on the mend though, yesterday I had a sore throat and could barely talk! I promise to post as soon as I am able to get my wits about me, I'm really excited to share the photos I have collected recently. In the meantime, I am living off tons of green tea, Palermo's in Los Feliz, soul warming minestrone soup- delivery (I'd photograph it but minestrone in styrofoam is not so photogenic) and Todd's amazing, nutrient packed dinners of black beans, tomato, peanuts, hominy, lot's of exotic spices, and Sriracha all poured over brown rice. Its really fabulous and the spices feel ultra cleansing against this bug I have. My view and best friend for the past days, is below. Miss Daisy has been right by my side, parked on the couch and snuggling up with me. Clearly, we've been doing tons of sleeping. Stay healthy my friends!