Ok, so it’s officially sold out but the organizers said that if there’s still room, and you’re waiting at the door with $5 in hand, then you, too, can eat bugs. It’s a Critter Salon at Machine Project this Friday, and you may or may not be excited about it. Attending this event will bring you into a whole new world of eating! You’ll try several different kinds of insects (no, they aren’t poisonous), including the wax moth larvae that apparently tastes just like crispy bacon. If you’re afraid to look at the bug while you eat it, no worries, they’ll be wrapped up in handmade tortillas and you can add sour cream and salsa verde to the mix. The drink of the evening will be mead, a honey based wine (maybe a slight reference to bees?). The point of this event isn’t to make you throw up; bugs can be good! Just wait and see…
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WHAT: Eat Bug Eat
WHEN: Friday, March 12th @ 8pm
WHERE: Machine Project
$$$: $5

Didn’t get to be George Clooney’s plus one?  That’s too bad.  Guess you’ll have to watch the Academy Awards on TV like the rest of us.  Fortunately, you can impress everyone else at your Oscar party by bringing some sweet desserts taken straight from the Best Animated Feature category.  Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Coraline Button Cookies and the piece de resistance, UPcakes.

I found both of these awesome treats on the Bakerella blog and just in time — rumor has it I won’t be able to get into the party I’m going to tonight without something punny.

Coraline cookies with the poking straws in the middle

Bakerella explains in perfect detail how to make the Coraline cookies, but I’ll add my two cents here as well.  I didn’t dip mine in chocolate like she did and they turned out just fine.  I tried dipping a few and I thought that the plain ones were actually better (which means a lot coming from me because I am a huge chocoholic).  Also, I usually LOVE Paula Deen’s peanut butter cookie recipe because it’s so ridiculously simple.  You can’t go wrong with only three ingredients.  However, in this case, you might want to with the mix like Bakerella suggets.  Mine came out okay, but they were a little more crumbly than the ones she used, so my button edges weren’t perfect.

Whoops...mini jellybeans didn't quite work out.

For the UPcakes, I followed Bakerella’s instructions…mostly.  Seriously, click over and check these out.  Mine aren’t assembled yet and I don’t want to steal her picture, but it’s pretty cute.  I used this Martha Stewart recipe for coconut cupcakes, but added six drops of blue food coloring to make the batter sky colored.  I also topped the white frosting with coconut shreds to make it look even more cloud-like.  If you use the Martha Stewart recipe, don’t put the balloon toppers into the cupcakes until right before you plan to serve them because the noodles will warp from the moisture of the cake and the balloon toppers will fall over.  I discovered this last night when I came back from Point Break Live.  Fortunately, everything was salvageable and I’m going to leave the toppers and the cupcakes separate until this afternoon.  I guess you could also just use toothpicks if you need to make them in advance.  As for the sprinkles, you might have to do a bit of scavenging to find them.  I couldn’t find them at Vons or Albertsons (and instead attempted to use mini jellybeans…didn’t work).  I finally found them at Jon’s of all places, so try there if you can’t find them elsewhere.

Get baking.  The Oscars are only a few hours away!

As if you need another reason to trek over to Highland Park’s bat-obsessed Little Cave – a place that looks like something Jack Skellington might own if he grew up in East LA and became a nightlife entrepreneur — Thursday nights are now all about Rehab and Free Tacos. (The “Rehab” part means absolutely zip, aside from a jab at the clientele’s predilection for liquid excess.)

For all the talk about the “diversity” of LA after hours, Rehab is the real deal — the crowd is a merry mixture of Salvadorian goths, glam-punk Asians, Dominican hipsters with “Boondocks” afros, and at least three nerdy white dudes who seem to frequent the same hoody shop. (Four if you count me.) DJ JesC keeps the sounds as far-ranging as the sights, with Love and Rockets and MGMT rubbing elbows with George Clinton and Ice Cube.

And the tacos?  You get what you pay for, but they’re still a damn sight better than the lukewarm sadness they serve up over at The Gold Room. To the batcave!

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WHAT: Eclectic weekly shindig (with gratis carne asada)
WHEN: Thursdays, 9 PM – 2 AM
WHERE: Little Cave
$$$: $5 for a pint of Shock Top

So, as a foodie and locavore and all (I try my best), I’m psyched about the potential of the upcoming Yamashiro Garden Market. Essentially, it’s an evening farmer’s market and “outdoor dining experience” at a historic landmark atop Sycamore Avenue in Hollywood with amazing views of the city. You’ll be able to buy the best local produce from the likes of Apple Sherrill Orchards, Tutti Frutti Farms, hydroponically grown Japanese vegetables, in addition to other goodies like Bulgarini Gelato, Cobbler Mania, BreadMan, J & P Westcoast Seafood, crepes, organic cheeses and more. Then a grill station will be set up for chef’s to provide al fresco market cooking, with items between $4 and $8, and the Pagoda Bar will serve wine, cocktails, and a corkage fee for you to bring your own booze. Sounds cool, right? There will also be live jazz. It takes place every Thursday from 5pm-9pm, starting tomorrow! So this is like one of my dreams for the city (SF has an underground nighttime farmer’s market), but something tells me it will be disappointing. Maybe because they have $2 valet? The farmer’s market should not be a bourgeois affair. Anyway, check it out and let me know how it goes! Worst case scenario: an evening farmer’s market, which is pretty fine by me.

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WHAT: Yamashiro Garden Market
WHEN: Thursdays 5pm-9pm
WHERE: Yamashiro Restaurant 1999 Sycamore Ave., Hollywood 90068
$$$: $2 valet with market validation; assume cash only

UPDATE: Check out pictures from the first week!

Your weekend has officially begun.

Celebrate the end of a shark-infested workweek and pet a few live ones at the resurrected Shark Lagoon Nights.  Find an excuse to sneak out of work or revel in your freelance-society bliss because this one gets started early (6-9pm) and is located at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.

A little bit of a journey for you Angelenos, but definitely worth the trek!  For FREE you can get up close and personal with bamboo sharks and sand tiger sharks, among other sea giants.  Liquid courage is available in the form of various wines and beer (for those feeling a little faint of heart) as well as coffee treats and sugar snacks for a different type of happy hour.  Rotating bands and dj’s perform, according to the night, but be sure to check their calendar before heading to this outdoor escape, just in case the rain STILL hasn’t migrated its way back to Seattle.

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WHAT: Shark Lagoon Nights
WHEN: Most Fridays, 6pm-9pm, starting March 5th
WHERE: Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach
$$$: FREE!

The weekend don’t end Saturday night y’all; keep it going with a day party at Best Fish Tacos of Ensenada tomorrow. From 2pm-dark, come grub on indeed the best fish tacos around (with plenty o’ radish relish of course), listen to some beats courtesy of Moredillon, Osaka, St. Andrew, and possibly a special guest or two. This happens every last Sunday of the month, so if you don’t make it out tomorrow, there’s always March.

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WHAT: Most Awesome Sunday Day Party
WHEN: Sunday 2pm-dark
WHERE: Best Fish Tacos, 1650 Hillhurst Ave, Los Feliz, 90027
$$$: bring yo’ taco money ($1.50-$2) and BYOB

There was a time in my life when I associated food from trucks with some very negative things: I only saw them at construction sites, they always looked dirty, and I was always assured eating from them would lead to some pretty nasty diseases.  Without fail, on the few occasions that I was offered to eat at a food truck during my youth, I politely declined. And this prejudice against vehicular nourishment went on for 18 years.

And then I moved to L.A.

Needless to say, my life began anew.  I won’t go on extolling the many virtues of mobile street food, as I believe that this website has already gotten that point across already.  However what I am here to tell deals with this matter very closely.

The Silver Lake Art*Craft and Vintage Market, which takes place every last weekend of the month, will this weekend feature a food truck block party.  Now in addition to great shopping within a Broken Social Scene-friendly atmosphere, you can enjoy some of the best food on four wheels that our fine city has to offer without the need to feverishly follow their migratory patterns via Twitter.  It’s just a bunch of food trucks, all in one place, ready to sell you food, right next to some awesome shopping.

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WHAT: Food Truck block party at Silver Lake Art*Craft and Vintage Market
WHEN:Saturday and Sunday, February 27-28, 10AM-4PM (Trucks open at 11)
WHERE: In Silver Lake, Off Sunset
$$$: Free (unless you buy something)

We’re in for some chilly nights coming up (at least by LA standards) and so what’s better to warm you up than a steaming mug of hot chocolate topped with a couple marshmallows?  I saw a recipe for homemade marshmallows on Smitten Kitchen the other day and thought that it seemed like a pretty ridiculous thing to DIY, but might be fun to try.  Even if they weren’t better than the store-bought kind, it would be a fun experiment.

Wow, did I luck out.  Homemade marshmallows are leaps and bounds better than the ones from the store and they’re pretty simple to make, though you do need a few kitchen gadgets.  Unfortunately, the batch I made got completely devoured by hungry friends before I had a chance to take pictures, but take a look at the tutorial and hopefully the beautiful photos there will convince you that they’re worth trying.

What you need:

-saucepan
-candy thermometer
-electric mixer (stand or handheld)
-powdered sugar
-granulated sugar
-gelatin
-water
-sugar
-corn syrup
-salt
-vanilla extract (or peppermint, almond, orange…depends how experimental you’re feeling)
-egg whites
-food coloring (optional)
-rectangular baking pan
-cooking spray
-knife
-fridge

Got it all?  Head over to Smitten Kitchen and follow her instructions there.  They’re spot on.  If you only have a hand held mixer, you might want to enlist a helpful friend to trade off mixing with you because your arms will get tired of after almost 20 minutes of beating. If you want them to be a color other than white, add a few drops of food coloring as you’re stirring the sugar mixture in with the egg whites.  I added about five drops of red and it made mine a sweet pink color.  Also, since these have raw egg whites in them, you might not want to feed them to babies/old people/pregnant women/the immunocompromised, etc.

Oh, and if you’re not a fan of hot chocolate, pick up some graham crackers and Hershey’s bars and have a marshmallow roast over one of the burners of your stove.  My friend tried it and said it turned out well.

With February’s unseasonably warm weather upon us, it might be a good idea to enjoy some good fashion, interesting art and live music in sunny Costa Mesa.  Oh, also there’s bikinis.

Graffiti Beach will be showcasing Jonathan Bussiere’s self-aware commentary on high fashion, Hips and Hair, (he was in our art show last spring!) in the form of a Pop-up Shop at The Camp Site on the 20th and 21st of this month.  Hips and Hair will be presenting their fashion line along with some select pieces of art for your purchasing pleasure.  To add to this, live bands will be playing to the tune of free food, live portrait art, and a raffle of Hips and Hair merch.

And there’s a bikini fashion show.  Saturday at 6:30 PM.  In case you didn’t notice.

PS: Our good friend KDikio Vintage will also be a vendor at this event! Her ad is on our page on the right, so uh, you should click on it! Or click here.

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What: Graffiti Beach presents Hips and Hair Pop-up Shop
When: Saturday and Sunday February 20th and 21st
Where: The Camp Site in Costa Mesa
$$$: Free, unless you buy something

Every Friday and Saturday CC Beans, a cute little coffee shop downtown, hosts free music in the “BackRoom Gallery”. This Friday and Saturday is SOUNDING OFF, presented by dramastage-qumran…Friday features Ron Allen and Saturday features Sarah Cruse. There will also be an open mic section so if you’re feeling talented, you can join in! It’s a laid back place, and I’m sure it will feel more like a jam session than a serious show, which makes it even better! The best part is that while you enjoy the free shows, you can sip on some really great coffee and it’s so good you’ll want to start buying your beans from their personal collection. This is the sort of place that needs community support! It may not be in the most ideal place, but the owners are trying to add a little something to the downtown area that, although has cleaned up a lot, is still lacking in certain areas. So come out this weekend and support CC Beans!

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WHAT: CC Beans Live Music
WHEN: Weekend Nights, starting Friday, February 19th
WHERE: CC Beans
$$$: Free

There are a TON of things to do in our wonderful city to celebrate the Lunar New Year! Frankly, the happenings going on around town are kinda cooler than regular new year’s festivities, if you ask me. Starting downtown at the Music Center, the Chinese song and dance stage show, Shen Yun Chinese New Year Spectacular, will be showing through the 14th. Tickets are at the cheapest $39 but take the Metro and you can save $9 on parking! Garden Grove is having their annual Tet Festival along Westminster Blvd. with dragon dancers, live music, dance performances, rides, and most importantly: food. Lots and lots of delicious, authentic Vietnamese food! From Friday to Sunday, this fest is only $5 a day and you can get more info on their website.

Back to the downtown area, more specifically, Chinatown, there will be an awesome scavenger hunt set up by Out of the Box Events. Teams of 6 will run around Chinatown answering trivia and finding hidden Chinatown secrets! It’s $25 to partake in the event and trust me, it is totally worth the money. These hunts are ridiculously elaborate and incredibly fun! A great way to kick off the new year! (Especially if you win!) Over in Monterey Park, the Chinese New Year Floral Street Fair and Lantern Festival will take place on Saturday, Feb. 20. Another festival with food and flowers, more food, and more flowers. This festival has free entry! More info here.

Oh, there’s more. Chinatown will be quite busy, because on February 20th and 21st, the Golden Dragon Parade will be taking place. Definitely try to take the Metro since parking will be extremely limited with all the streets closed offf! It’s a parade, so it’s free, but you can pay $25 for a grandstand ticket. Finally, even Olvera Street is joining in on the celebration, with the Chinese American Museum Lantern Festival taking place there on Saturday, March 6th. (Seriously, a whole freaking month of celebrations so you won’t miss out!) Lion dancers, acrobatics, music, dance, craft workshops, and more, all free. So yeah— uhh…. the lunar new year is way cool. Plus if you’re lucky, maybe you’ll get a little red envelope filled with hundreds of dollars! I definitely won’t be that lucky.

If you don’t have any friends throwing Superbowl parties or if you wouldn’t even watch the Superbowl but feel left out of the mass partying, why not go to the Downtown Independent to watch it on the big screen? It will give you something to do Sunday afternoon, and you’ll get to experience the awesome new theater which I hear has swank, comfy and romantic seats. Seating begins at 2:30pm, accompanied by pretty cheap beer, chicken wings, and nachos. Also, you can stick around after the game and watch their current movie selection- Bronson- for only $5. Best of all, admission for the game screening is FREE.

WHAT: the Superbowl on the big screen
WHEN: Sunday 2:30pm-7:30pm
WHERE: the Downtown Independent, 231 South Main St., Downtown LA
$$$: free admission

There’s lots of Valentine’s festivities going on, and many cost a pretty penny to woo your sweetheart. The deal that I’m about to fill you in on is more my style because it’s a) affordable b) involves dinner and c) involves dinner at a really great place that cooks with delicious, quality ingredients. I’ve showed my love for Bacaro L.A. before, and they have a stellar Valentine’s Day 3-course menu for only $35 per person! Try taking your sweetie out for less than that. Add an extra $15 and you’ll get wine pairings with each course, and add $20 and you’ll get unlimited sparkling wine for the night. The menu includes two choices for each course; for the main, options include pork tenderloin with parsnip puree, market vegetable quiche, and seabass with brown butter and market beet ricotta gniochi. Sounds perfect to me. Make reservations ASAP by emailing bacarola@yahoo.com for either 6:00pm or 8:30pm. A completely vegetarian menu is available upon request.

WHAT: Valentine’s Day Dinner at Bacaro L.A.
WHEN: Feb. 14th 6pm or 8:30pm
WHERE: Bacaro L.A.
$$$: 35

Probably the most well-known food critic, Jonathon Gold of LA Weekly, is hosting his magical Food & Wine event at the end of February. The Los Angeles Gold Standard 2010 is your one-stop shop for 40 of the most delicious LA restaurants. Included with the $60 entry fee you get to taste food from restaurants like Mozza, Jitlada, Angeli, Ludobites, Hungry Cat, Ciudad. Even low key places like Wurstkuche, Let’s Be Frank, and Kogi will be there. On top of that the wine, beer, and spirits are included. It’s not about focusing on LA’s fanciest restaurants, it’s all about the quality! With the VIP entry, you gain entry to the venue an hour before the rest of the crowd and get to leave with a special gift bag while supplies last. It’s going to be crowded but I’m assuming the venue is bigger than last year and they’ve reorganized it so less people complain and more people will be able to focus solely on the eating. Not only will you eat very well, you can meet some of your favorite chefs. Everyone in the foodie world is sure to be there, so get your tickets while they’re still available and prepare your stomach for an intense day of eating!
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WHAT: LA Gold Standard 2010
WHEN: Sunday, February 28th @ 12pm-5pm
WHERE: Peterson Automotive Museum
$$$: $60/VIP $80

If you’ve been listening to KCRW at all lately you’ll know that they’re in the middle of their Winter Subscription Drive. To lure you into becoming a member, they often have pretty sweet deals in exchange for your donation. Evan Kleiman’s Good Food show is no exception; if you subscribe during her show this weekend you could win a Ford Hybrid and get a free dinner from Evan (host of Good Food and owner of Angeli Caffe). Plus, you’ll be supporting a pretty cool radio station. Or you could just listen to her interesting and educational program. Her Saturday show features frequent guest Jonathan Gold introducing a new Little Tokyo restaurant and Lesley Balla of Tasting Table LA discussing where to get genuine French macaroons in the city. Mmm, macaroons.

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WHAT: Good Food Pledge Drive
WHEN: 2/6/10 11am-noon
WHERE: www.kcrw.com/goodfood or 89.9
$$$: donation and chance to win prizes!

(Stolen directly from their facebook event here.)

1. Your facebook relationship status says “It’s complicated”, “In an open relationship”
2. You’re attached but “not attached”
3. You’re just “hanging out”
4. You’re free!–free at last!!
5. You’re not looking for anything serious
6. Want to bring your booty call friend out to do other activities for a change
7. You want to bring your “lover” instead of your significant other
8. You want to hang out with your frienemies & BFF
9. You have a +1 ( whoever that +1 is)
10. Just because…the food & beer pairings is damn good

Buy tickets here for Frysmith’s Valentine’s Day Supper with beer pairing at The Verdugo Bar. On the menu is butternut squash soup with habanero and chickpea, seared scallop with Spanish chorizo, lemon jam and apple “fries”, duck legs braised in Cognac Ume tomato sauce, with collard greens and fries, and a trio of mousse cakes. Ummm…. kinda sounds incredible. And all for a presale price of $23.
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WHAT: Valentine’s Day Supper with Frysmith
WHEN: February 14th, 7:30PM
WHERE: Verdugo Bar
$$$: $23 presale, $28 at the door

If you’ve got a little extra cash to spend this weekend, a great option would be Silverlake Wine’s tasting on Sunday, featuring Mozza2Go as a food pairing..yum! Labeled as “the most structured” of the tastings, you’ll sample four featured wines plus one aperitif, each paired with an hors d’oeuvre that compliments the wine and/or represents its region (in this case Mozza! can you tell I love Mozza?)  Expect Italian wines (duh) and hopefully pizza, pizza, pizza. Reservations are a must- 323 622 9024.

WHAT: Silverlake Wine Tasting featuring Mozza2Go
WHEN: Sunday 3pm
WHERE: Silverlake Wine, 2395 Glendale Blvd
$$$: 20

Interested in street food but don’t hit the streets enough? Street Food Festival is for you. Let the street vendors come to you in one convenient location so you can try all the food trucks your co-workers have bragged about and even sample a thing or two you may have seen on Bourdain. In my humble opinion, this kind of thing defeats the purpose of randomly stumbling upon something unique and delicious and to-be-eaten-with-hands, but I guess convenience is key for most fully-functional adults in the world. LA’s first street food fest is not just a food truck fest- no, no, no- there will be authentic LA street food like coconut fritters, Korean chicken wings, and everything you can imagine from a traditional taco truck, as well as vendors from LA’s Breed Street, like barbecoa and pancakes. There will also be vendors of inedible delights like UniqueLA’s pop-up mini-mart, a DIY den to make your own Valentine’s, a Valentine’s food truck themed photo booth, live entertainment, beer and wine bars (hallelujah), and a bike valet. Man, that’s one jam-packed street fest. Of course, the food trucks are the stars of the show- including The Buttermilk Truck, Grilled Cheese Truck, Sweets Truck, Fresser’s, Frysmith, Slice Truck, Flying Pig, Fishlips, many more and hopefully Coolhaus (can you tell which one is my fave?)!! So hit up those beer/wine bars heavily so that you can eat in full denial. It would make an odd Valentine’s date, but an interesting one at the very least.

*Update: Tickets are $5 at the door or presale. Maximum of 60,000 peeps can attend, so get there on time! I’m confused because some places say they are “giving away tickets” but as I far as I can tell you don’t need tickets.

WHAT: LA Street Food Festival
WHEN: Saturday Feb. 13th 11am-5pm
WHERE: LA Center Studios, 500 S Beaudry Ave
$$$: 5 entry + cash for vendors

Remember that fantistic, old-school southern barbecue joint on Hoover and that great local band that also has a knitting shop? Well, if you don’t, you’ll learn when all such craziness converges at Forgather, a small art collection at Territory Records. Isn’t LA great sometimes? Portraits of the Pity Party illustrated by themegoman, whose illustrations are whimsical yet slightly askew, will be unveiled, in addition to portraits of other bands like Vivian Girls, Cold Cave, and Our Lady J. The party of sorts will include a DJ, free food (reason enough to go right there) and free Colt 45 (of course).

WHAT: Forgather Art Show
WHEN: Saturday Jan 23 7-10pm
WHERE: Forgather Territory, 534 N. Hoover St.
$$$: freeee

Sunday the 31st, Locali Conscious Convenience store in Franklin Village is graciously sponsoring a vegan bake sale to raise funds for the relief effort in Haiti- directly through Doctors Without Borders. Locali will also donate a percentage of their sales that day to the cause, so buy some sweets from the bake sale and some savories (and organic booze!) from the store (grass-fed Let’s Be Frank dogs, the best vegan reuben in Los Angeles…come on). You can even bring your own treats, just be sure to include an ingredient list and let them know what you’re making, but all vegan goodness is welcome and appreciated. You can also help out by handing out fliers; to do so contact bakesale@veganpr0n.com or send them a message in response to the Facebook event. Mmm, I can’t wait. (*the photo is a vegan red velvet cupcake from Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale at Scoops last summer).

WHAT: Vegan Bake Sale for Haiti
WHEN: Sunday January 31st 11am-4pm
WHERE: Locali, 5825 Franklin Ave.
$$$: bring cash for as many goodies as you’d like, and for Doctors Without Borders!