Slices of blood oranges ready for garnishing our marias

I love the farmer's markets in Los Angeles. Luckily on our recent trip, visiting family, we got to take full advantage of their offerings. Citrus was in full harvest; we tried the blood oranges, pomelos, oranges, meyer lemons and super juicy limes. Here are a few blood orange slices, and a citrus strawberry maria (any tequila based drink not considered a margarita) that my husband made.

Citrus strawberry marias with a feast of snacks

Culver City is home to Rutt's Cafe, a Hawaiian joint that offers spam sushi, and specializes in "royales". Below is my Atkins-friendly royale, chock full of broccoli, sprouts, spinach, scrambled eggs and Char Sui.

Char Sui Royale

We headed to the Santa Anita Race track to catch a few horse races. I'd never gambled before, but wow, I can see how people get hooked. We picked a horse that ran behind for 3/4's of the race, then almost pulled off an upset. WHAT A RUSH! And, what a setting. Head out to Pasadena for a stunning view and good times.

Setting up Race 6, Santa Anita Race track.

We cooked like mad while we were out there. One of my favorite dishes was a Sriracha marinated chicken that my brother and sister-in-law turned me onto. The recipe will be in a future post.Here's a sampling of our dinners.

Thomas Keller's caramelized sea scallops, grilled marinated shrimp, roasted asparagus with prosciutto, and mushroom risotto

Sriracha Marinade: spicy, sweet, complex and delicious.

Sriracha marinated chicken with garlic kale, ginger carrots and saffron rice

My husband and I love La Brea tar pits and the Page Museum. We figured our soon-to-be three year old would love it too. And, he sure did. He was a little scared by some of the animatronics, but he loved the giant bones of the mastodons and mammoths. Literally, next door at LACMA, is the Levitated Mass sculpture. It's definitely worth a visit. It's an outdoor installation of a giant boulder that you get to walk underneath.

Levitated Mass at LACMA

Visiting La Brea Tar pits with my little guy and hubby (not pictured).

Apparently my husband and I can't go to LA without stopping by Pink's Famous Hot Dogs. I went "classic" with the chili cheese dog, my son had a plain hot dog with mustard, and my husband went "exotic" with house-made sausage filled with jalapenos. All of them delicious....

Pink's Chili Cheese dog