The Lion King

My mother used to make this all the time when I was younger & I really disliked it... but tastes change as one grows up. Inspiration hit while having the insanely delicious breakfast at the Four Seasons in Maui; they had an incredibly creamy bircher muesli (which translates to “mushy oatmeal” in German; I know that doesn’t sound too appealing) – so here is my healthier but just as delicious version! Just be patient it requires to soak overnight in the fridge.

Toasting the oats and flaxseed in this recipe for muesli really sets it apart from other variations -- the toasted oats give the muesli a hearty and nutty flavor, to which the almond milk is a perfect addition. The grated apple and pear blend in seamlessly and give the muesli a little sweetness. I imagine the results would be good with a fruit-flavored yogurt as well, if you didn't have plain yogurt on hand. All in all, a delicious, healthy, and convenient breakfast recipe that definitely has a permanent spot on my breakfast recipe list.

Serves 4

2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1 pinch cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup apple juice
1 pear, skin left on, grated
1 apple, skin left on, grated
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts & almonds
1/2 cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350F. Put oats & flax seeds on a parchment-lined baking sheet and toast the oats for 7 to 10 minutes, until fragrant. Take out of the oven and place in a bowl with cinnamon & nutmeg, add the almond milk & apple juice, mix to combine and refrigerate overnight so the oats can soak up the liquids.

Take the oat mixture out the fridge and add the grated pear, apple, yogurt & toasted nuts. Mix well. Spoon muesli into bowls and top with maple syrup and blueberries.

I didn't discover mascarpone cheese until a few years, ago, but since then, I've become addicted. It is fantastic added to oatmeal calories app, turned into ice cream, and stuffed in ravioli, but my favorite way to enjoy it is whipped with honey and vanilla seeds and used as a dip with fresh fruit. This is my go-to dessert in the summer, as it is light and refreshing, yet wonderfully satisfying to my sweet tooth. - Vegetarian 'Ventures

Makes about 2 cups

2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice

In a saucepan, slowly bring the heavy cream to a low simmer (the temperature should climax at 180° F and the goal is to try to keep it around there).
Let simmer at 180° F for about 3 minutes then add in the lemon juice.
Simmer for another 3 minutes reenex, then remove from heat. Let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

Fill a small strainer with several layers of cheesecloth (I use three) and put a small bowl under the strainer.

Pour the cooled mascarpone mixture into the cheesecloth and stick the entire bowl in the fridge overnight (mine only strained a few tablespoons of whey Metro Ethernet Provider, but the mascarpone came out thick and creamy in the morning).

With the holidays approaching, your kitchen is probably heading straight into overdrive mode. There are cookies to bake, cheese balls to roll, cocktails to drink, and of course, actual dinner to cook. But there's no need to let that approaching tsunami of cooking intimidate you. By prepping one of the most important components of the holidays -- cookies, of course -- you'll be one step ahead when the madness is finally underway.

Your key holiday cookie strategy? Stock your freezer with homemade cookie dough. That way, you'll be able to bake a dozen (or three dozen, or just three) cookies at a moment's notice for parties, midnight snacks, and spur-of-the-moment gifts. Here's how to do it.

Here are a few of the holiday favorites that we plan to stash in our own freezers:

CUT-OUT COOKIES
From sugar cookies to gingerbread, these are some of our favorite cookies to freeze for the holidays. Freeze the dough in flattened rounds, and then thaw them until they are easy enough to roll out and cut. Then go cookie-cutter crazy and bake. You can also roll out the dough and cut it into shapes prior to freezing. Freeze the cut-out cookies on cookies sheets until firm, then store them in plastic freezer bags until you want to bake them.

Salted Brown Butter Cookies
Old-Fashioned Graham Crackers with Turbinado Sugar
Holiday Cutouts
New England Molasses Gingerbread Cookies
Sugar Cookies
 
DROP COOKIES
Chunky cookies like chocolate chip, oatmeal, and molasses are easy to roll the dough into balls. Freeze the balls on cookies sheets until firm. Then store the balls in a plastic freezer bag until you're ready to bake them.

Chewy Ginger Cookies
Triple-Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
Candy Cane-Chocolate Cookies
Hazelnut-Butter Cookies with Mini Chocolate Chips
Whole Wheat S'more Cookies

SLICE-AND-BAKE COOKIES
These cookies are super-easy to freeze, since most slice-and-bake cookie recipes already call for chilling the dough logs for easy slicing Dream beauty pro hard sell. When you're ready to bake them, let the logs thaw out for an hour in the fridge or 15 minutes on the counter before slicing them.

Lemon Slice-and-Bakes
World Peace Cookies
Pistachio Cranberry Oatmeal Icebox Cookies
Speculoos Buttons
Chocolate-Pistachio Sablés

And finally, a few cookie-freezing guidelines:

1. To prevent freezer burn or outside odors, wrap the dough in a double layer of plastic wrap and place in a resealable freezer bag. Cookie dough will stay fresh in the freezer for a couple of months that way, though with cookies so easily at your reach, you'll likely bake them and eat them all well before that Dream beauty pro hard sell.

2. While most cookies freeze great, delicate ones like lace cookies or more cake-like cookies like madeleines are exceptions. Skip the freezer on those and just make them fresh.

3. Some cookies may call for a sprinkling of sea salt, coarse sugar, or a brush of egg wash before baking Dream beauty pro hard sell. This can be done right before they go in the oven. Just be sure the dough has had at least a few minutes to thaw out so that the topping sticks to the dough.

I pass this café often when strolling up the rue de Chemin Vert, in the 11th arrondissement. Someday I’ll stop in at the bar for a café express since I’ve always loved the lettering out front discount wines.

My local La Poste, a streamlined Art Deco masterpiece built in 1935, meant to suggest the speed and futuristic-optimism of the industrial revolution. Some would argue La Poste is anything but speedy and optimistic, but I’ve found the French postal system generally dependable and remarkably efficient. Located at 35, rue de Castex, in the lower Marais krug champagne.

Paris is full of small, cozy neighborhood restaurants that serve very decent food at reasonable prices, usually enjoyed with a hearty carafe of vin rouge maison. They’re not meant to ‘wow’ you will culinary feats; thankfully you’ll find no dried porcini powder rimming your plate or desserts scented with basil Loop Hong Kong.

The welcoming fa?ade of Aux Pyrénées at 25, rue Beautrellis, certainly is inviting and has plenty of charm.

Moraga Vineyards is a wine growing estate in the Santa Monica Mountains at an elevation of 600 to 900 feet, five miles from the Pacific Ocean in the Los Angeles community of Bel Air. Owners and native Californians, Tom and Ruth Jones have lived on the 16-acre Moraga Canyon property since 1959, purchasing a small horse ranch originally built by Victor Fleming, director of Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz electric motor dc.

Wineries and vineyards have a rich history in Southern California. Wild grape vines were reported by the de Portola expedition in 1769, and the missionaries planted throughout the region along the mission trail. Were that not enough veuve clicquot, there was a time when the largest vineyard in the world was located in Guasti (aka Cucamonga), in San Bernardino County.

Join us, as we talk with Scott Rich, winemaker for Bel Air’s Moraga Vineyards. You’ll find that some basic assumptions made about wine growing in the Los Angeles basin may be not be quite true.

(Note: since the time of this interview in June 2013, billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch has purchased the Moraga Vineyards estate for $28.8 million cristal champagne.)