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This vegetarian dinner party menu lets the host relax

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:00:08 GMT

By David Tanis, The New York TimesMost of the time, I take a very casual approach to having guests for dinner. I don’t mind doing a little cooking while people hang out in the kitchen; in fact, I enjoy it.But sometimes, it’s more relaxing to have the entire menu ready, especially if some of it can be cooked a day in advance. This is one of those menus. It takes a little work to put together, but comes with great reward: There’s barely any last-minute fussing.In Morocco — and similarly throughout the Middle East — the most delicious salads are made with seasoned, cooked vegetables, not leafy greens. For a first course, I made a smoky eggplant salad with cilantro, infused with cumin, hot pepper and a generous amount of olive oil. It’s a winning combination.Seriously blackening the eggplants — preferably very firm ones, with fewer seeds — under the broiler achieves the perfect smoky flavor. Once they collapse from the intense heat, you scrape away the charred skin, then shr...

Policies locked in the past could cost Bulgaria dearly

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:00:08 GMT

A 2013 EU Commission review of the Bulgarian energy sector noted the country’s “high energy intensity, low energy efficiency, and deficient environmental infrastructure hamper business activity and competitiveness”, writes Dick Roche.Ten years on state state-owned enterprises still retain a stranglehold on Bulgaria’s electricity assets including power generation and transmission, creating a structure that the EU Commission has flagged as inconsistent with the requirements of the Regulation dealing with the EU internal market for electricity.  In Bulgaria’s gas sector, the stranglehold is even worse.  From the outside, Bulgaria’s energy structure looks like an entrenched bureaucracy dedicated to its own objectives, rather than the interests of the Bulgarian people,  a long way from the model favoured by EU law.  Protecting the Status Quo The dogged determination to protect the status quo is strikingly demonstrated by a series of events ove...

The Granada declaration

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:00:08 GMT

We, the Leaders of the European Union, have gathered in Granada to mark the start of the process to define the Union’s general political directions and priorities for the years to come, setting a strategic course of action to shape our common future for the benefit of all. We reiterate the original promise of the European project to ensure peace, stability and prosperity for our citizens, guided by our values and principles, fundamental rights, democracy, and the rule of law. The Strategic Agenda agreed in June 2019 has been our guide for action. The pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine have tested our resilience, highlighting the need for the Union to enhance its sovereignty and leading us to take major decisions to protect our people and our economies. Following our meeting in Versailles, we have acted decisively. Threatened with energy blackmail, we have greatly reduced our dependencies and diversified our sources. Faced with tightening supply chains and intern...

Jessica Alba talks about her family's L.A. roots, Hispanic heritage

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:00:08 GMT

Mexican-American actress, television host and entrepreneur Jessica Alba can trace her wildly successful career back to her family’s roots in Pomona, California.Alba recently sat down with KTLA’s Megan Telles to discuss her Hispanic heritage, her family values, and growing up in the Los Angeles area.

Clippers volunteer at food bank to help Maui wildfire relief

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:00:08 GMT

Los Angeles Clippers players and coaches teamed up with the Utah Jazz to help Maui wildfire relief efforts this week. Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue and several players, including point guard Xavier Moon, forward Kenyon Martin Jr., center Mason Plumlee and rookie Bryson Williams, visited the Hawaii Food Bank Wednesday. "Both teams played a crucial role in sorting and inspecting fresh produce and dry items, preparing them for delivery to nourish our ‘ohana," the Hawaii Food Bank posted on its Instagram page along with video of the day's events.Images of Lue and the players volunteering at the warehouse were also posted on the Clippers' Instagram feed. Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue (foreground) is seen at the Hawaii Food Bank in an image posted on the Clippers' Instagram feed."We hope to see you again soon and wish you the best of luck in Sunday’s game! 🏀," the Food Bank said in appreciation of the effort. The Clippers opened their 2023 training camp in Hawaii this week and will face...

From Kylie to Kesha — the New LA Weekly Playlist is Live

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:00:08 GMT

From Kylie to Kesha: The 177th LA Weekly playlist, reviewing the musicians that we’ve been writing about all week, is live now. There’s electronic music from IDRISS D, hip-hop from 6LACK, pop from Kylie Minogue and Kesha, metal from Tool and Judas Priest, and so much more.Find us on Spotify here,or on Soundcloud here.Don’t forget to “Like” the playlists and “Follow” the profiles.Judas Priest (James Hodges Photography)From Kylie to KeshaAlso this week:In our cover story about the Power Trip metal festival, Judas Priest’s Ian Hill told us that, “We’re used to European festivals – multiple bands on every day on multiple stages from the beer tent all the way up to the main stage. It might go on for two or three days like that — we’re used to that. Ever since 1970 when I went to the Isle of Wight. So yeah, six bands over three days, everybody gets to see the headliner. You couldn’t get six bands of this stature all on the same bill on the same day. There wouldn’t be the time,...

Summer in October? Friday signals start of weekend warmup for Bay Area

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:00:08 GMT

Even after a sizzling Thursday which saw one beach community break a temperature record, a warmer, sweatier day was predicted for Friday ahead of what’s expected to be a toasty weekend throughout the Bay Area.Thursday’s skyrocketing temperatures resulted in a record high in Half Moon Bay for Oct. 5, as the 90-degree day surpassed the previous high of 82 set in 2013, according to the National Weather Service.Forecasters set a heat advisory that would run from 11 a.m. Friday to 11 p.m. Saturday, with most of the region set for days above 90 on Friday and Saturday. The advisory warns residents of the dangers of the high temperatures, reminding people to stay hydrated, limit outdoor activities and be on watch for signs of heat exhaustion.Only official climate station to set a new record maximum temperature today was Half Moon Bay. Half Moon Bay reached 90°F, which breaks the old record of 82°F from 2013. #cawx #caheat pic.twitter.com/9TXZRguEcF— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBay...

Pac-12 recruiting: Cal’s big weekend, Utah’s in-state haul, Arizona’s cause for concern and a major JuCo decision

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:00:08 GMT

The Hotline is delighted to provide Pac-12 fans with a regular dive into the recruiting process through the eyes and ears of Brandon Huffman, the Seattle-based national recruiting editor for 247Sports. He submitted the following report on Oct. 5 …Cal looks to make Bay Area impressionDespite the ACC move taking their conference affiliation out of the Western footprint, the Bears are still trying to impress West Coast prospects.And they will have a chance to make a very deep impression Saturday when 15th-ranked Oregon State comes to town.That’s largely because Cal, which has been spurned by a number of Bay Area recruits in recent years, will have several local players inside Memorial Stadium.Ironically, Oregon State used former Bears tight end Jermaine Terry, who’s now with the Beavers, in a game week graphic.Terry was part of Cal’s recruiting class the last time the program found true success locally, but both he and Moses Oladejo left Berkeley after the 2022 season and e...

Charlie Munger gave 77 shares of stock to a California museum. It’s enough to build 30 homes for visiting scholars.

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:00:08 GMT

By JOSH FUNK | AP Business WriterOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Investor Charlie Munger, who’s been Warren Buffett’s right-hand man for more than five decades, has made a $40 million gift to a California museum.Munger gave 77 Class A Berkshire Hathaway shares to the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Museum in San Marino, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. At Thursday’s closing price of $523,545.06 a share, that made the gift worth more than $40.3 million.Huntington spokeswoman Susan Turner-Lowe said the donation will be used to build more than 30 residences for visiting scholars to use while they spend time at the museum doing research.Turner-Lowe said scholars often spend a school year studying at the Huntington and the expensive rental market in Los Angeles has made that difficult to afford. She said this is “a long-time dream that is in the process of being fulfilled in a major way.”A decade ago, Munger gave the Huntington museum nearly $33 million worth of ...

Cal Bears linebacker Elarms-Orr hungry for tackles and experience: ‘I’m striving to be the best’

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:00:08 GMT

BERKELEY — Even before there was any tangible evidence suggesting it might happen, Cal inside linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr has always had confidence he will someday play in the NFL.He believed it at Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward, where he was a three-star prospect at a different position, projected to play on the edge or outside linebacker.He believed it his freshman season at Cal, even while rehabbing a torn ACL he suffered during a spring 2021 senior season at Moreau.And he kept the faith last fall as an anonymous special teams player.“I always believed in myself. Always believed that I was going to do good things,” Elarms-Orr said. “I knew I had tools to be somewhat good. I’ve just got to keep working hard.“Not to be cocky or overly confident, but I’m confident in what I do. I’ve always believed I could make the NFL, it’s just a matter of time.”He’s not there yet, but from zero tackles in 10 games as a third- or fourth-stringer a year ago, the 6-foot-2, 230-pound redshirt...