World Cup of Yum

Creamy Broccoli Salad

I love this Creamy Broccoli Salad for a picnic or a day at the beach. It doesn’t have any lettuce to get soggy, and actually gets better with some time soaking in the sweet creamy dressing. It’s got so many layers of flavor and texture, and lots of good for you veggies! Guessipe 1 lb…

Grand Central Market Restaurant Review

Gold Dig #36 Grand Central Market isn’t so much a restaurant as it is an experience. It is an indoor market in Downtown LA, filled with stalls of cooked food, fresh produce, breads, cheeses, and spices. I have somewhat mixed feelings about it being part of Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list. I understand his love for…

BBQ Pork Pita Pizza

I put this BBQ Pork Pita Pizza together using leftover bits of this and that rummaged from my fridge. It turned out so good that I have since endeavored to end up with Chinese BBQ pork and pita leftovers whenever possible so that I can whip up this tasty snack. It’s a little spicy and…

Tsujita Restaurant Review

Gold Dig #35 Tsujita is the ramen spot that makes Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list, and is also on pretty much every “top 10 ramen spots in LA” list that you can find. It’s easy to figure out which of the many Japanese restaurants in the Little Osaka area on Sawtelle is Tsujita… it’s the one…

Chili Garlic Snap Peas

I always loved it when my mom made snap peas, because the snap peas are barely touched by heat so they stay nice and crunchy. I think lots of people grow up hating veggies because they are frequently over-cooked and under-seasoned. Chinese veggie dishes tend to be only slightly cooked so they maintain their flavor…

Cinco de Mayo

I’ll take any reason to gather around food, especially if it’s themed. So Cinco de Mayo was as good an excuse as any to do a taco night. Considering that we started floating the idea around late Wednesday night for a Friday party, it came together quite nicely. We had five different taco fillings, and…

Coffee Braised Pork

When you slow-cook pork in a delicious braising liquid, two awesome things happen – the pork becomes so tender it literally falls apart, and the meat absorbs all the juiciness and flavor of the liquid. When that liquid is coffee… it’s magical. If you dry rub pork with coffee grounds then braise it, you’re basically…

Spicy Sausage & Mushroom Tomato Sauce Pasta

I adored this spicy sausage and mushroom tomato sauce pasta when I was a kid. My mom always made it with spaghetti noodles, and half the fun was watching my brother eat it. He would suck each individual noodle through his lips, and then eat the sausage and mushrooms later. By the end of the…

May the 4th Be With You

I was looking through some old pictures, and in honor of Star Wars Day (May the 4th Be With You!) I decided to share the fun themed food we had at a work potluck when Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out. Star Wars S’mores I made Tie Fighters, using hexagonal biscuits, Nutella, and mini…

Cassia Restaurant Review

Gold Dig #34 Cassia is one of the few Santa Monica spots on Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list. I’ve been pretty excited that one of the most talked about hot LA restaurants in the last couple years is in my backyard. Every time I pass by, I see a lot of happy-looking people eating and drinking…

Chocolate-Dipped Tangerines

Cookbook Club – Thug Kitchen The cookbook for April’s Cookbook Club was Thug Kitchen by Michelle Davis and Matt Holloway. I chose the Chocolate-Dipped Tangerines. Go to my Cookbook Club site to see what all the other thugs made. For now – my dish! You can pretty much count on the fact that if you…

Warm Spinach Salad

Warm Spinach Salad always makes me think of eating in a nice restaurant. But do you know how much extra effort it takes? …about 30 seconds! If you put dressing on some spinach leaves and throw them in the microwave for half a minute, you can serve what seems like a fancy salad and class…