“The future starts today, not tomorrow.”  Pope John Paul II

November 2011

LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER    

Dear Life Bites News Readers,

Happy Thanksgiving! This issue includes stories on hotels and chefs, including the reopening of the historic Bel Air Hotel, featuring a new restaurant by Wolfgang Puck. Our Book Bites section has some great new cookbooks that would be wonderful holiday gifts for family and friends. Our story with photos on Santa Barbara International Film Festival Michael Douglas Excellence in Filn Award at the Four Seasons Biltmore is in TTT. This month you will find close to home features, as well as features on family friendly destinations.  Sips has some wonderful holiday drink ideas, as well as wine festival news.

Entertainment news and fun film tips are seen in TTT, and Sense of Style has a bevy of cultural updates. We are running travel news on holiday trips being offered throughout the world, and assisting our tourism and travel freinds with their promotions during this challenging economic period. Use the tourism board offices for helpful information. We have them listed on our links and archive page. They all have special offers for winter travel, which is the best time to be anywhere the snow is if you ski or enjoy snow sports.

We have some great recipes for Thanksgiving, and recommendations for where to eat out if you are not cooking. Health minded is filled with new and unique products; We have a bevy of chef news for you; lots of changes and exciting new menus. Below is a great quick turkey gravy from Mc Cormick, and a fantastic Texas style chili for hungry football fans. The Apple Pancakes will be a perfect breakfast for visiting family. Bon Appetit!

Thanks for joining us this month.

Cordially,

          APPLE PANCAKES Recipe from Book ROSE PETAL JAM

Makes 8 pancakes
These are small sweet pancakes served for breakfast or afternoon tea. My grandmother placed whole apple slices on the batter while it was sizzling in the pan.
Ingredients:
2 eggs, 12 fl. oz milk, 2 tablespoons superfine sugar, 11 oz self rising flour, 4 small eating apples, 2 oz unsalted butter for frying, and powdered sugar for decoration.
Whisk the eggs, milk, and sugar together, then fold in the flour. (These pancakes are like pikelets and need to be thick and fluffy so it is best not to use an electric mixer). Add a pinch of salt, cover and put aside for 30 minutes. Peel the apples, cut into halves, de-core and slice thinly. Melt a knob of butter in a hot frying pan and add a dollop of the batter mix to form a pancake. Lay one or two slices of apple on top of the batter then fry for a couple of minutes. Turn over and cook the other side. Sprinkle with icing (powdered) sugar and serve hot.

Campbell's Green Bean Casserole

Five Tasty Twists on Campbell’s Green Bean Casserole

1. For added crunch, add ½ cup sliced almonds to the onion topping.
2. For bacon lovers, add 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled, to the bean mixture.
3. For a festive touch, stir in chopped red pepper with soup.
4. For cheese lovers, stir in 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese with soup. Omit soy sauce. Sprinkle with an additional 1/2 cup additional Cheddar cheese when adding the remaining onions.
5. For Golden Green Bean Casserole, substitute Campbell's Condensed Golden Mushroom soup for Cream of Mushroom soup. Omit soy sauce. Stir in 1/2 cup chopped red pepper with the green beans.