Eat In. Lasagna.

Everyone loves Italian food. It's one of those types of food everyone can agree on. When in doubt of where to eat out, Italian is a sure hit. Most Italian food consists of cheese, noodles, and amazing tomato sauce; it's no wonder everyone loves it.

With a lasagna, you can make a sheet of it and have food for a week. Here's how to make an amazing lasagna.

What you'll need:

--One package of ricotta

--Mozzarella, shredded (you can shred it yourself at home to save a bit of money)

--Parmesan, shredded ("")

--Lasagna noodles

--Red sauce

--Vegetable medley, mushrooms, onions, spinach, tomatoes, asparagus, whatever vegetables you want really.

What you'll do:

1. Saute the vegetables in a dash of olive oil with just a bit of salt and, if you want, Trader Joe's lemon pepper.

2. After all the vegetables are cookedish (not too cooked since they'll go in the oven after this), pour in the tomato sauce.

3. While your veggies are cooking, boil water and add the noodles. Add a dash of olive oil and monitor carefully because they will want to stick together.

4. Just warm the tomato sauce a bit and mix well with the veggies. To spice it up a bit add some delicious merken. You can also add a cream sauce to make it creamy, but that's not necessary.

5. Next, take a square or rectangular pan and spread a thin layer of the sauce at the bottom. Layer the lasagna noodles next, then the variety of cheese.

6. When your pan is full, sprinkle a bit of parmesan on top and pop in the oven. What temperature doesn't really matter because everything is all cooked, it's just getting heated up. When the parmesean on top is melted, you can take your lasagna out of the oven. Let it sit a minute before serving.

-- Lauren Williams

Check It. World Cup commercials [The Monday Download].

Football (or as we Yanks would call it, 'soccer') isn't much of a big deal here in Los Angeles or in the U.S., but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the fun promotion and hype coming out of the upcoming World Cup. To wit, both sports apparel empires Nike and Adidas have recently put out creative and amusing ads--with cameos to spare--that'll make everyone feel like a sports fan.

First up is Nike's 'Write the Future' commercial, or rather, near-cinematic masterpiece. The three-minute piece was helmed by 21 Grams and Babel filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu, who definitely leaves his dark and swift-moving directorial mark as he takes you on the field for the ultimate football star match-up: Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba versus England's Wayne Rooney versus Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (swoon). Throw in some fun cameos by Kobe Bryant, Roger Federer and Homer Simpson, plus the thrill of football fanaticism, and you'll be confused why you never followed the sport in the first place.

Then we have Adidas' input, which really has nothing to do with football at all--although it is apparently "an intergalactic 2010 FIFA World Cup viewing party that you'll never forget," and does features a bit role by David Beckham. Either way, the ad creates a fun game of I Spy by mixing actual footage from the original Star Wars' famous Cantina scene with interactive appearances by Snoop Dogg, Daft Punk, Noel Gallagher and Jay Baruchel, among others. Definitely wish my World Cup viewing party were this fun (Chewbacca included).

The World Cup begins this Friday.

-- Chau Tu

Do It. Ray LaMontagne at the Greek.

Ray LaMontagne is coming to the Greek Theatre with David Gray on September 8, and I suggest you get tickets for it. They went on sale Saturday, and aren't sold out yet.

I've seen him three times--first at the Troubadour in 2006 (above), at the Orpheum, and at the Hollywood Bowl last summer. In settings both tiny and large (and somewhere in between--the Orpheum) he was touchingly good. All of his songs are enjoyable, and he sings from the heart. "Trouble", "Shelter", and "You Are the Best Thing" are favorites. David Gray's "This Year's Love" is a hit that has maintained appeal after over ten years, and would be great to hear live.

Outdoor summer concerts in Los Angeles are really fun, and it should still be warm enough in early September to drag summer on bit longer by going to see LaMontagne on a Wednesday night.

Plan on attending, you'll be so glad you did.

The Greek Theater is located at 2700 N Vermont Ave. in Los Feliz. Tickets available from Ticketmaster, $45-$75.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: the BEAT

Advance Notice. Men Men style talk at LACMA.

Love the costumes in Mad Men? Who doesn't, really? There's an awesome sounding book coming out this fall by the show's costume designer Janie Bryant, and Monica Corcoran Harel (who, when at the Los Angeles Times, wrote the best All the Rage blog posts for the Image section).

While you'll have to wait till November for The Fashion File: Advice, Tips, and Inspiration from the Costume Designer of Mad Men, you can hear Bryant and Corcoran Harel discuss it at LACMA this Wednesday night.

They'll talk about the process behind the clothes worn on the hit show, and how it has influenced fashion today. A fashion show and reception to follow discussion.

Wednesday, June 9 at 7:30 p.m. LACMA is located at 5905 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles. Tickets are $60 and available online.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: nyu.edu

Eat Out. M Cafe's Big Five special.

M Cafe is one of those eateries that I consider to be quintessentially "L.A.": the food is painstakingly fresh and healthy (specifically, it's macrobiotic, so add an extra point there), the setting is open with natural light and outdoor seating for optimal be-seen opportunities, and there's usually a celebrity or two (and subsequently, paparazzi). Oh, and the food is really good.

It's a true L.A. staple, which makes it a little surprising to think that it's only been around for five years. And tomorrow just happens to be its 5th anniversary, and you're invited to celebrate with the Big Five deal, when you can enjoy everything on their menu for just $5! The deal lasts from 5pm to closing, and you're limited to five items each (see a pattern here?), but that should be enough time for you to grab a delicious Big Macro burger (usually $9.75) or a varied sushi combo (up to $9.50). Just try to stay clear of the paparazzi.

The M Cafe Big Five deal is being offered at all three M Cafe locations, including: 7119 Melrose Ave. in Hollywood, 9343 Culver Blvd. in Culver City and 9433 Brighton Way in Beverly Hills.

-- Chau Tu

Photo credit: M Cafe

Eat Out. Lares.

Lares in Santa Monica is my new favorite Mexican restaurant. My parents read about it in the Los Angeles Times 'My Favorite Weekend' feature, as being a favorite of Brad Paisley. While this wasn't quite enough to sell me on the place, I thought it was worth a try, and I'm so glad I did.

It's dark inside with lots of wood, and white tablecloths. The upstairs is nice, it has a large window as the wall on the side that looks out to Pico. While they do serve gourmet dishes, the food feels very authentic. Potatoes accompany a lot of the menu items, including my favorite, the Rancheros Tacos, which are made of beef and potato.

Everything--including the salsa--has just the right amount of spice. The warm tortilla chips are addictive, and they're quick to refill the basket as it gets low (dangerous!). The margaritas are very good, blended or on-the-rocks. If you're in the mood for a fruit margarita, their peach is fantastic. Carnitas and steak fajitas are also recommended.

Lares is located at 2909 Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: latimes.com

Do It. Theatricum Botanicum.

Summer isn't summer without a visit to an outdoors theater in LA. My favorite of the ones I've visited is beyond a doubt, Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum, which is opening for the season this weekend.

It is a beautiful, quite outdoors theater in the Topanga Canyon, and the costume design is spectacular. I have never seen a more impressive "Midsummer Night's Dream" performed, and their actors are amazing.

Started by Will Geer in the 1950s after the actor was black listed by former Sen. McCarthy and accused of being pink, Geer sought refuged in his Topanga Canyon home where he and other blacklisted actors would perform.

Jump to the 2000s, this is an amazing place to have a pre-theater picnic dinner and has become a summer tradition for so many people --- so many, in fact, that seats often sell out. Performances are weekends only through October, and prices seem to have jumped up a bit. $45 for all adults, seniors, and students.

On the schedule for this year's performances are The Three Musketeers, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, Carry It On!, and Master Class.

The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum is located at 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd.

-- Lauren Williams

Advance Notice. The National at the Fox Theater.

In a year that has already been filled such great new music, The National has certainly made an impression with their latest album, High Violet, and it was only about time. I was able to catch one of the sold-out shows they played at the Wiltern last month, and though the sound mix could have been far better, the Brooklyn-based band still forged ahead with admirable energy and talent to spare.

But if you missed the boat the first time around, you're now in luck: The National is set to return to L.A. on October 16 for a date at the Fox Theater in Pomona (which I believe might be a slightly smaller venue than the Wiltern..and probably better sounding). And even better, opening up for the show will be the super-talented Owen Pallett, who is incredible at looping live (click here to listen to this beautiful-sounding show recorded by NPR).

Tickets ($30-$45) go on sale for the show this Saturday at 10am. Don't miss out!

The Fox Theater is located at 301 S. Garey Ave. in Pomona.

-- Chau Tu

Check It. Lakers vs. Celtics.

Tonight, at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles (photo from the Goodyear Blimp, below) the Lakers play the Celtics in the first of this season's playoff games.

It's going to be a really fun night in L.A., whether you're downtown in the heart of the action or on the Westside, people all around the city will be glued to their TV sets this evening from 6:00 p.m.

Go Lakers!

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: Los Angeles Times

Check It. Janet Klein and her Parlor Boys.

Once a month, Janet Klein and her Parlor Boys perform at the Steve Allen Theater in North Hollywood, with her next upcoming show tomorrow at 8 p.m. I have a soft spot for all things 1920s including music, architecture, shorts, movies, and posters, and watching Janet Klein perform before a series of black-and-white sing alongs is, for me, a treat.

The band is 100 percent authentic, with old timey clothes, and the tiny lady with the tiny ukulele gets up on stage with her half dozen or so parlor boys to sing tunes from the 1920s and 30s, with a few black-and-white shorts following.

The Center for Inquiry, West, is something to behold, with notes from Harry Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle's Ouija experiments lining the walls near the bathroom. The CFI is devoted to all types of alternative thinking. Kind of a strange place to find a 1920s jazz show, but an interesting place to visit to say the least.

Tickets to Janet Klein and her Parlor Boys are $10 through Goldstar, $20 at the door.

The Center for Inquiry, West, is located at 4773 Hollywood Blvd.

-- Lauren Williams