Lemon Ricotta Poppyseed Muffins

Happy Fourth! The best way to start a day filled with lots of quality family time and kitchen prep is to eat a solid breakfast. These lemon ricotta poppyseed muffins give you a little sweetness and tangy, zesty freshness on the go; just one muffin is substantial enough to get you going in the morning or to stave off your pangs of hunger before the grill’s ready in the afternoon. The ricotta is essential to its crumbly, scone-like texture and the light lemon flavor of each bite is bright and refreshing.

Ray’s at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

In my opinion, Ray’s at LACMA is the most impressive museum restaurant in the city; so good that it actually doesn’t need to be qualified as a “museum restaurant” and can stand on its own with some of LA’s more acclaimed establishments. My boyfriend and I really enjoyed our relaxing weekend lunch together at Ray’s and our touring of some current exhibitions. The combination of fresh, well-prepared food and interesting artwork were central to a memorable and fun day. Ray’s is absolutely not the mediocre and depressing museum café with club sandwiches and canned soup. Though the prices are high, we left feeling like our splurge was money well-spent.

Nobhill Tavern, Las Vegas

Having driven past Michael Mina’s XIV several times while on the Sunset Strip, I was disappointed to hear that the space is now for many private events and is no longer a fully functioning restaurant. Of course, I say this as though it happened yesterday, but it’s actually been almost a year. Thankfully, Stephen and I tried out one of his Las Vegas establishments, Nobhill Tavern, and had a delicious meal with excellent service. Unlike XIV, which was supposedly marred by an identity crisis in menu (and service), Nobhill Tavern shines in its creative interpretations of classic American fare.

The Restaurant at the J. Paul Getty Museum

There are a lot of reasons the Getty is so popular in L.A. Beautiful architecture framing gorgeous views of the city, interesting art exhibitions, and relaxing gardens, all for free (or $15 if you drive there and park) makes a museum-going experience that is fun and enjoyable for casual museum-goers and families.

Currently, there is a great exhibition called L.A. Style on the late Herb Ritts’ black and white photography. The exhibition is quite large, one could easily spend a good hour at least looking at some truly iconic shots of famous celebrities and oiled athletes. After I spent a few hours wandering around the galleries and examining the Ritts show, I headed over to The Restaurant for lunch and tried their three course tasting menu inspired by Los Angeles and the Getty’s recent, L.A. focused programming.

Golden Deli, San Gabriel

After almost four years of living in Los Angeles, one gets used to planning forty-minute drives to the other side of town for awesome pizza or some crazy food truck. This time, our destination was a family-style, couldn’t-find-it-unless-you-were-looking-for-it establishment that served incredible Vietnamese cuisine. Back home in San Diego, I had a standard rotation of my favorite Vietnamese places, but in L.A., a decent Pho Citi partially addressed, but did not fully satiate a periodic hunger for delicious Vietnamese food.

Golden Deli Restaurant is in the San Gabriel Valley, which necessitates braving I-10, plenty of traffic lights on long stretches of local roads, and crowds of hungry, mostly patient SGV insiders that know all the neighborhood gems. Once you’re about to be seated however, the wafting aromas of steaming soup and barbecued meat dissipates any transport-related frustrations, succumbing to a suddenly very apparent craving in your core that simply wants something, anything, from their menu.

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts

If cupcakes are so 2011, it would appear that doughnuts are in a good position to dominate 2012. Granted, neither cupcakes nor doughnuts are great for you, but my belief that making something homemade (even if it’s indulgent junk food) is better for you remains as steadfast as it did last year. To make homemade doughnuts, you need only go to the blogosphere’s resident expert, Lara Ferroni. Her recipe will allow you to make unbelievable doughnuts that put your favorite doughnut joint’s productions to shame.

This is my first attempt to make something from her wildly successful first book, Doughnuts, and if this recipe is any indication of the whole book, I am expecting to permanently inhabit my stretch pants. Her advice and guidance is concise and easy to follow, so my first attempt gave me wonderful doughnuts. A simple topping of cinnamon sugar is perfect to highlight the sweet, bouncy doughnut dough and light buttery, yeasty flavor.

Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill, Las Vegas

Growing up in California (and in a Chinese family) meant that many family vacations involved Las Vegas. Chinese people love Vegas. I have lost count of the trips I have taken with my parents and the number of buffets in which I have indulged. For my boyfriend however, who was born and raised in Texas, Las Vegas existed only in movies and television shows. So for his first trip, we planned an array of sights and dining for experiential diversity. For me too this first trip to Las Vegas would have a few firsts. In particular, this would be my first trip without my parents so it would be a good opportunity to try places other than the usual haunts.

A longtime staple for fans of the Southwestern-inspired chef, Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill in the Caesar’s Palace was an ideal place to have brunch after wandering around the Strip for several hours. Mesa Grill is casual, intimate, and relaxing. It’s the kind of restaurant you wish you could transplant back home and make it a part of a weekly tradition.

Tom Colicchio’s Craftsteak, Las Vegas

My boyfriend and I have always enjoyed watching Tom Colicchio, head judge on Top Chef, call people out on various culinary sins, such as sub-par butchering skills, too-stiff risotto, and over-salting. Our experience at Craftsteak was definitely not marred by any of those missteps. After a good 6 hours of driving, we craved a hearty steak. Craftsteak certainly delivered, though various service-relate hiccups prevented the experience from being flawless.

Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti

This week I finish an eight month internship at a major art museum in Los Angeles and I am a little sad about it. While there, I have developed relationships with people that are passionate, smart, and kind. Learning from them has made me even more sure about the career path I wish to pursue and feel an immense amount of gratitude for their mentoring, patience, and friendship. This being my senior year at UCLA and all, I have mentally prepared myself for several “lasts;” last sorority sisterhood event, last final exam, last Diddy Riese ice cream sandwich, etc. Yet, the realization of my first “last” has hit me like a cold wind and I find myself dreading my last day.

I made these chocolate pistachio biscotti for those mornings when all you want to do is linger a little longer and savor the random things that you never thought you would miss. As an intern, I did do a fair share of paperwork and heavy lifting, but it was definitely worth it for things like walking by Egyptian antiquities everyday on my way to the office and taking “art breaks” to see the latest installation of a crazy new contemporary piece or a full eighteenth century gown.

Pink Grapefruit Sandwich Cookies

Lately I’ve been thinking about bright, pretty things that remind me of being a girl, daintiness in general, and looking at life through rose-colored glasses. My senior year has been more grueling that expected and I didn’t really get the chance to catch up on all the fall and holiday baking I had wanted to do.

Pink grapefruit sandwich cookies from one of Martha Stewart’s recipes is a nice girly cookie to counteract the rather blah constants in my life right now, like my androgynous, de facto school outfit of black workout pants and a hoodie. Admittedly, the recipe is not 100% perfect, but baking for me is as much about the process as it is about the product.