The other night, two of Marissa’s best friends, Kaley and Lindsey, were over. They wanted to cook or bake, but my cupboards are currently pretty bare.

I had been thinking of baking up a batch of Chai something. Not sure what, but I’ve really been craving Chai lately. So we settled on Chai Granola, mostly because I had everything needed so no trip to the grocery store would be necessary.

They threw it together while I instructed (bossed them around) and snapped photos.

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We are taking a one-day break from our “Take Your Lunch to Work Week” so that I can put up a recipe I made last night for the first night of my 3-week cooking class series at Les Gourmettes.  I want my students to have all four of the links to the homemade versions of several components of this beautiful salad, at their fingertips, and not have to search for them.

The salad includes lemon curd, vanilla extract, limoncello, and granola – all items that can be store-bought or made from scratch. Mind you, while the vanilla extract and limoncello are easy to make, both take time to ferment, so if you’re craving this salad and want to have it NOW, buy those two items for the time being. But also get them going so the next time you just HAVE to have it, you’ll be armed and ready.

Finally, remember that any one of the four would make the perfect gift. Any lucky recipients would love you for life if you handed them a bottle or jar of homemade lemon curd, vanilla extract, limoncello, or granola. At least I know that I would!

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Yesterday I told you that I found the recipe I posted on Pinterest and that it was pinned by my friend, Gwen. Coincidentally, while I was whipping up that batch of Lemon Rolls, Gwen emailed me.  When I responded, I let her know I was making the rolls she had pinned and that she NEEDED – NO, not just needed, but actually owed it to me, to come by and take some of them off my hands.  She refused! Imagine that! Refusing free Meyer Lemon Rolls…OK, she had a good excuse as to why she could not, but still…

So today, in retaliation, I’ve decided to make one of Gwen’s most famous recipes… a version of her granola. Yes, Gwen is famous for her granola, you can check out her blog post HERE to find out why and see Gwen’s recipe.  But the real honest-to-goodness reason Gwen is famous for her granola is that it is so darn good.

Below is my version of Gwen’s Granola with a few tweaks of my own.  I’ve taken the name the of the Good Witch of the North, from Broadway’s Wicked, which also happens to be a combination of our two names – Gwen and Linda… and named it…

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