No Need For Words

Apple Pan's Banana Cream Pie.

Apple Pan
10801 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 475-3585

Case de Chow

Menu du Jour:
"Three Cup" Chicken
Roasted Asparagus and Mushrooms
Sauteed Bean Sprouts

Yum.

Miso Hungry

I love eating out, but needless to say, meals out are pricey. Le cub and I eat out once or twice a week (usually on the weekends). Nothing fancy, but always tasty.

During the school/work week, we cook a lot. I generally stick to Chinese recipes adapted from my mom and uber-cute "Aniang" (grandma). "Three Cup Chicken" (a wonderous concoction of soy, sugar, cooking wine, basil, and chicken drumettes) and Mapo Tofu are our favorites.

But when I'm feeling "fancy", I turn to two cookbooks.

1) Simple to Spectacular by Jean-Georges Vongerichten & Mark Bittman

2) The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen by Eric Gower

Both cookbooks are easy enough for beginners to follow along... and the end-results of my cooking sessions under the guidance of these two manuals have always been delish.

I'm making Gower's Edamame Mint Pesto tonight. I've made it before, and it's such a pretty dish. Camera's malfunctioning, so in the meantime, check out Masak-Masak's rendition HERE. YUM!

At Last

In exchange for a home-cooked meal of Chinese food, my talented classmate, Kanako, bought me and Josh our first Sprinkles cupcake. She chose one in my favorite flavor. RED VELVET! OMG, OMG, OMG... the cupcake was so incredibly moist. The frosting? Nothing short of incredible. And the presentation? The trademark "sprinkle"? To-die-for. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!!! Sprinkles is the Christian Louboutin of cupcakes...

This cupcake is now not only Oprah-approved, it's Le Cougar-approved. I am now officially torn. Susiecakes or Sprinkles?!? Aaaargh!

Sprinkles
9635 Little Santa Monica Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA

Breakfast is Served

One of my favorite past-times as of late is watching "The Biggest Loser" while consuming Cheez-its and a Trader Joe's "Sublime Ice-Cream Sandwich." Hmm.

In the latest episode of the show, the "Losers" were shown munching on Multigrain Cheerios for breakfast. It looked so good, I made Le Cub buy me a box.

Check it out. Sugary goodness in a bowl!

Just Dough-It!

"Life's too uncertain. Eat dessert first." - Sign in the window of Stan's Doughnuts. (Love it when folks bother to write out "doughnuts" fully - as opposed to "donuts"...)

A visit to the barber (for Josh) led to a stop at Stan's. I'd always wanted to go in... and today I did. I bought the above-pictured "Homer's Donut" for a buck. It was delightful :)

Stan's Doughnuts
10948 Weyburn Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90024

Joie de Vivre

Laduree's signature macarons. A must-have when one is in Paris. I cross oceans for these.

Laduree
16, Rue Royale, Paris
+33 1 42 44 19 77

Le Poisson, Le Poisson

Hee-hee-hee, hon-hon-hon! Photos of our seafood feast at the seaside food stalls of Essaouira. Perfection that came to less than US$10 per person.

Undefeated

The most delicious panna cotta I've ever had the pleasure of tasting was the one on the menu of Grand Cafe de la Poste in Marrakech. Visit the restaurant's website HERE. A dessert so good, our crew of six returned to the restaurant on our last evening to taste it one more time. And it certainly didn't hurt that the restaurant's French colonial decor was gorgeous...

If you're ever in Marrakech and are feeling a lil' yuppy and want to chill with the ex-pats, Cafe de la Poste is the place to be.

McArabia

No joke. The McDonalds in the Gueliz area of Marrakech was advertising McArabia sandwiches featuring halal meat. Our crew ordered both versions along with a Diam flavored McFlurry (Diam is some sort of European candy bar). All items were surprisingly delicious. I miss my McArabias.

It's All Me

Results from my cooking class at La Maison Arabe: a magnificent chicken tagine! Josh, Nancy, Tiff and I were taught by a teeny-tiny Moroccan chef (she was shorter than me!), and she was aided by a translator (who's part-time hobby is to provide travel tips on TripAdvisor). Did our tagines taste as good as they looked? But of course!

Check-out La Maison Arabe's website HERE. A truly wonderful experience. I highly recommend it.

Baby Cakes

Vanilla, Chocolate, Mint and Red Velvet. Heaven in a box.

Susie Cakes
11708 San Vicente Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90049
(310) 442-2253

Ladies Who Brunch

I love this place. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Pictured are photos taken during a brunch I had with my lovely cousin, Jen a month ago.
A gorgeous savory breakfast tart (who can turn down pastry dough?), the perfect bowl of steel-cut oatmeal with brunch sugar (with soy milk because my cousin's a lac-tard), and a heavenly pear tart (the crust... oh, the crust...)...

If you haven't been to Joan's before, your life is incomplete. Stop on by if not just to check out the gleaming marble counters, hustle and bustle of LA hipsters and yuppies, and the beautiful spread of grab & go selection of salads and baked goods on display. It's a pain in the ass to park in this neighborhood, and a pain in the ass to find a table to grub at, but once you get over these minute hurdles, your tummy will thank you for your patience.

I promise :)

Joan's on Third
8350 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 655-2285

April Showers Bring...

May flowers? NO! April showers bring grilled cheese. It's grilled-cheese month at Clementine, my favorite neighborhood cafe. Le cub and I stopped on by last week and he ordered the "Original Beef Dip Grilled Cheese" on french roll served with hot mustard off their seasonal grilled-cheese menu. It was so good that two folks stopped by our table to ask what he had ordered, AND so good that le cub felt the need to walk back up to the ordering counter to tell them his sandwich was fantastic. We must return so that I can try "Olivier's Grilled Cheese" - a sandwich that is, apparently, offered or influenced by the folks at Maria Batalli's famous high-end pizza joint, Mozza.

Yum.

Clementine
1751 Ensley Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 552-1080

Le Birthday

In celebration of le cub's birthday, I treated us both to a meal at AOC. According to TimeOut, the acronym stands for Appellation d'Origine Controlée, the system for certifying the region of origin of food and wine in France and ensuring its quality. I had no idea. AOC might be a long way from France, but the food, served in tapas-like portions, is Gallic in their design. So beautiful! That said, we weren't impressed by all the dishes we ordered (it takes 6 to fill two of our tummies), but there were a few highlights. And here they are.

Pictured: Top - roasted dates with parmesan and bacon... my favorite item on the menu, Center - diver scallops, pancetta, peas, saffron, orange, and an unidentified leafy vegetable... le cub really enjoyed the peas and unidentified leafy vegetable, Bottom - acacia honey panna cotta with elderflower, mandelos and blood oranges... AMAZING! ALMOST as good as the panna cotta we had at Cafe de la Poste in Morocco. Almost.

Great ambience. Great service. Food's a little overrated, but I'd return just for the panna cotta.


AOC
8022 West 3rd Street
(cross street South Laurel Avenue)
Los Angeles, CA 90048