Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the BEAT of young los angeles! Some ideas for celebrating ...

Try Real Simple's recipe for Ale-Braised Corned Beef, Brussels Sprouts, and Carrots (above).

Or Bon Appetit's Grilled Corned Beef and Fontina Sandwiches ... and for dessert Chocolate Stout Cake.

Guinness Cocktails

Wear: Pleated tank dress by Parker in green, from Intermix

Soundtrack: U2: The Best of 1980 - 1990

-- the BEAT

Photo credit: Real Simple

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, readers! Whether you're volunteering, cooking a feast at home, eating out (in Palm Springs, maybe!?), or taking it easy on the couch and watching Thanksgiving movies, enjoy!

Check back tomorrow for our picks of the week, from Los Angeles and beyond.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: alfredhitchcockgeek.com

Do It. Gwyneth Paltrow book signing at Williams-Sonoma.

Gwyneth Paltrow will be signing her new cookbook, My Father's Daughter, on Thursday at Beverly Hills' Williams-Sonoma.

The food lover and loyal gym-goer is featured on Self magazine's May cover, and is rumored to be Bon Appétit's June cover girl.

With a forward by Mario Batali, the book's off to a good start.

Thursday April 21 at 5:00 p.m. at Williams-Sonoma (or you can pre-order now to secure a place in line/"ticket"), 339 North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills. Info: williams-sonoma.com, (310) 274-9127

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: yourbellalife.com

Check It. Anthropologie latte bowls.

I've had my eye on these for awhile, and finally ordered a set yesterday. I'm so looking forward to getting them! Anthropologie's latte bowls are not only really adorable, they're also highly versatile. Using them for ice cream, cereal, and snacks came to mind even before lattes. I think they'll also be really helpful to put chopped ingredients in while cooking, to keep things organized (like on cooking shows!).

The sets of six come in matching or assorted colors. I think the set pictured above is a fun, pretty mix, but if you're not a fan of the mix-and-match style, there's ivory, red, lime, grass (a dark green), and coral to choose from. And four options of assorted color combos. Something for everyone, really.

Now all I need is an espresso machine!

Set of six latte bowls, $30.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: www.anthropologie.com

Eat In. Easy Casserole.

Often in the summer months, the stovetop and oven can be forgotten about as means to make a good meal. Obviously no one wants to spend any more time around such a heat producer than necessary when the thermometer is rising, but a few simple steps can create a delicious hearty dinner that will last for days. Fusilli, lean ground beef, marinara sauce, and cheddar cheese are the three main ingredients.

You can find organic fusilli at Trader Joe's, I recommend a higher end market for the ground beef (such as Gelson's), and the grated cheddar, you can buy pre-grated or make yourself. Marinara sauce is easy, a big brand name like Classico won't let you down, or go with the Trader Joe's brand for convenience when you're buying the pasta.

Cook pasta (a little over 2 cups) according to instructions on bag - about ten minutes.

Put ground beef into a large pan until brown/cooked through. Drain excess fat. Pour in marinara sauce (1.5 cups) and stir together.

Mix meat sauce with cooked pasta, and make one layer on the bottom of a large Pyrex dish. op with grated cheddar. Repeat until dish is full.

Bake in oven for about 20 minutes at 325°F.

Enjoy!

Will last in fridge for about two days - typically four dinner size servings, but as portion sizes are rough, it could serve six if you had last minute guests.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Etc. Wooden spoon.

Not to be confused with the overpriced "Brazilian" restaurant downtown, I'm talking about actual wooden spoons.

I've recently started using wooden utensils in the kitchen rather than plastic or metal and love it. I remember my mom using a wooden spoon with a handle that warped from the heat of cooking. It looked like it had been handed down from my Mennonite grandmother (it hadn't) and remember always thinking food tasted better when she made it with that spoon, especially oatmeal.

I recently purchased and started cooking with a wooden spatula/paddle and love it. It absorbs the flavor of the food you cook with and doesn't ruin your pots and pans by scratching the bottom the way metal cookware does -- and it's cheaper than metal utensils. An added bonus.

-- Lauren Williams

Eat In. Lentil salad.

A refreshing, healthy salad that is very easy to make early in the week and stores well is the lentil salad. Before my aunt made this for me, I didn't know you could use lentils in anything other than lentil soup, but this salad is very easy and quite tasty.

What you'll need:

--Steamed, packaged dark lentils, available at Trader Joe's

--One Granny Smith apple, finely cubed

--red onion, also finely cubed

--red bell pepper, diced

--dried cranberries, optional

--balsamic dressing

Just combine all these ingredients together in a large bowl, adding dressing and salt to taste. As the week progresses, the lentils will absorb more of the dressing and become a bit tastier. It may be better to let this sit a while before eating, actually. Super easy and healthy.

Bon appetit!

-- Lauren Williams

Photo credit: Food Network

Eat In. The Gladys Special.

Anytime someone visits our small apartment on Gladys Avenue in Long Beach, my roommate and I always make the exact same dish for our guest. It's a form of casserole, using a grain, ususally Israeli couscous, vegetables, and faux meat and it's amazingly tasty and inexpensive, and, if you're smart about it, you will have food for lunch the next day. This dish was almost all I ate for the first few months of this year.

You begin by warming garlic with a small drizzle of olive oil in a skillet on medium heat.

Add a whole veggie sausage, and gradually add vegetables according to how fast they cook. For instance, onions and bell peppers first. Zucchini and tomatoes last. Basically any vegetable would go quite well in this dish (artichoke hearts and asparagus are very tasty in this dish). And, of course, chop all the vegetables to be similar in size and shape.

Season with pepper, salt, balsamic vinegar, and lemon to taste.

Leave a lid to a large pot over the skillet to steam the vegetables and ensure they are cooked all the way through. Break apart the sausage into smaller pieces, so each bite of the mix has some

During this time, begin heating a tea kettle of water.

Add couscous, rice or other type of starch or grain totally dry. I like a blend sold at Trader Joe's of Israeli couscous, orzo, and some type of garbanzo, but the garbanzo's never quite cook all the way and are a bit crunchy. Still the blend is delicious.

Brown the grain a bit in the juices of the vegetables and faux meat, then add the hot water to the skillet. Reduce heat and allow water to be absorbed. You can use broth or concentrated broth packets to add flavor.

After all the water has been absorbed or steamed off, the food should be ready to serve.

Enjoy!

-- Lauren Williams

Check It. Julie & Julia on DVD.

Passion. Ambition. Butter. Do you have what it takes?

The tagline speaks to the roles of both ambitious women portrayed in the Nora Ephron-directed (Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail) foodie film--the legendary Julia Child, and New York blogger-turned-author Julie Powell. Julie & Julia, released in August of this year, is available today on DVD.

Although Meryl Streep (who graces Vanity Fair's January 2010 issue) has widely been credited for carrying the film, I found Amy Adams as Julie to be charming and relatable--qualities Adams brings to most of her roles. If you didn't catch it on the big screen (it's still in a couple L.A.-area theaters) this is the perfect chance to finally see the much talked about inspirational (524 recipes in 365 days!?) comedy. Now if only it came with a plate of baguette bruschetta!

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: www.hungrytravels.com

Eat in. Avocado/feta salad.

It seems like everyone is ravenous when they get home from a long day at work. Rather than reach for the potato chips, popcorn or other quick fix, I try to make an easy, lettuceless salad.

My former, charming Chilean roommate taught me this salad recipe and it's great. It combines three of my favorite things: avocado, tomato, and bell pepper. That’s it. Just chop all the ingredients and toss in a bowl.

Somewhere I learned that people generally like ingredients to be the same size, things taste better when ingredients are the same size, so I try to cut all the vegetables to be the similar in shape and form.

Season with lemon juice, a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pepper and salt to taste and that’s it.

Good feta on top can make this salad amazing. I try to put the feta on after the olive oil but before the vinegar so it absorbs some of the vinegar and has some of that flavor, but that’s just me.

I also like to get a bell pepper a color other than green or red to make the salad more colorful, nutritious and, if I’m serving someone else, more presentable. Orange or yellow bell peppers work well in this, but red will do. Green bell peppers are a bit too bitter for this salad.

It's a very light but filling, nutritious salad, and very refreshing. Come to think of it, I think I'll be making this for dinner tonight.

-- Lauren Williams