Spring

A spring onion isn't a type of onion; rather, it's an onion that has been harvested at an immature stage, when it has just begun to form a round bulb and the top is still green. At this point, it will seem sweeter than a mature onion because it hasn't yet developed its full chemical complex, including the elements that give onions their characteristic bite. Really, though, it's probably more accurate to call it milder, because it hasn't developed its full sugar yet either. At farmers markets, you will find spring onions in all sorts of varieties -- red, white and yellow.

There are a lot of places and interesting things to do on spring break. But an off-duty California police officer capped off his vacation by becoming a hero. Cpl. Justin Rogers of the Pinole Police Department was on vacation in Hawaii and had just removed his shoes to go through security at Honolulu International Airport when he saw a woman hitting a female officer of the Transportation Security Administration, according to the security video of the March 30 event. Rogers, a six-year veteran of the Pinole Police Department in Contra Costa County, is seen leaping over the small barrier and wrestling the suspect to the ground.

Hear that? That's the sound of silence from NASA's Curiosity rover -- and possibly the sound of separation anxiety at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, as the intrepid Martian robot takes nearly a month-long break from exploring the Red Planet. Mars has entered a phase known as "solar conjunction," which is when the sun lines up between Earth and the Red Planet, blocking communications with the rover. To avoid any mishaps, the Mars Science Laboratory mission is letting the rover operate solo until about May 1 -- giving it about three and a half weeks of vacation time.

If, like me, you're holding yourself back from snatching up Tom and Ruth Jones' 16-acre Moraga Vineyards estate in Bel Air, you might want to stop into the Redd Collection in Culver City Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. for a vertical tasting of wines from the estate. A flight is $50, which is a little steep but certainly a lot more affordable than the property, which is listed at about $29.5 million. (See a slide show here .) The tasting, which is free with a store purchase of $250 or more, consists of three vintages (1999, 2005 and 2010)

As Los Angeles' young breweries mature and grow, many have turned to packaging as a way to reach more beer fans, and some new brewed-in-L.A. beers are about to find their way into your fridge. Apart from the machinery and the manpower required for a brewery to package its beer, there are significant logistical obstacles to overcome to get bottles into your fridge. From procuring and storing the bottles, to designing and receiving government approval for the labels, to producing enough beer to fill both kegs for draft accounts and bottles, the prospect of packaging beer can be a daunting prospect for a small brewery.

After weeks of speculation, NBC confirmed today that Jimmy Fallon will succeed Jay Leno as host of “The Tonight Show” in the spring of 2014. As part of the switch from Leno to Fallon, “The Tonight Show” will move from Burbank to New York City. Leno has served as host of “The Tonight Show” for more than two decades and has been in first place in the ratings during much of that run. Fallon, who hosts the show that currently follows Leno, recently signed a new deal with NBC. No replacement for Fallon has been named but there is talk that Seth Meyers of “Saturday Night Live” is the leading candidate.

The Jim Mora coronation is over at UCLA, and the coach is happy to be moving on. There were Bruins faithful who grumbled when he was hired now giddy with the memory of a nine-win season and a victory over USC. But 2012 ended with a three-game losing streak, including a 49-26 shellacking at the hands of Baylor in the Holiday Bowl. "The destination is still far out there," Mora said. "I like the excitement that was generated last year, but nobody was satisfied with how the season ended.

The Easter holiday put many of our Twitter #Weekendeats chat participants in the mood for spring. In addition to the baked hams, Peeps and Easter basket candy, spring fruits and vegetables seemed to dominate everyone's holiday tables. Here's a look at the highlights: Gerry from the blog FoodnessGracious.com shared a recipe for a beautiful roasted tomato and goat cheese galette , AZgrabaplate.com shared a recipe for asparagus and asiago frittata and theAdirondackChick.com shared a recipe for spicy chipotle roasted butternut squash with cilantro lime quinoa . Susan Orlins shared 12 recipes for vegetable dishes including a broccoli soup and glazed onions.

Here's the kind of day Hank Conger had on Saturday: With two outs in the last inning of the last exhibition game of the spring, he hit a pinch-hit home run to lift his Angels to a 2-1 win over the Dodgers at Angel Stadium. And that was only the second-best thing that happened to him. Just a few hours earlier Conger was told he had made the Angels' opening-day roster after an up-and-down spring that looked as if it would end with the switch-hitting catcher headed back to the minors.

The Freeway Series had to be reassuring for anyone concerned over Matt Kemp's full return from off-season shoulder surgery. Understandably, he had been a tad timid earlier this spring, the surgery seemingly in the back of his mind, each hard swing something of a test. The Dodgers held him back a few games and then he got off to a slow start, hitting just .186 when the Dodgers broke camp in Arizona. But in the three games against the Angels, Kemp looked a lot like they guy who came in second in the 2011 MVP voting.