Granola Recipe

We've relocated downtown. Hooray! And I know I'm finally getting settled in because this morning we had homemade yogurt and granola for breakfast. Here's my favorite granola recipe:

4 cups rolled oats (not quick oats)
1 teaspoon cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla, maple or almond extract

1 cup raw nuts roughly chopped
1 cup dried fruit (chopped if using big pieces like apricots, mango slices, or dates)

Preheat oven to 300.
Combine oats and spices in a large bowl.
In a small saucepan heat next 4 ingredients just until it starts to simmer. (If you boil honey, the proteins solidify into a yucky brown scum, so don't let it boil.) Add the vanilla or other flavoring to the syrup.
Drizzle syrup over oats and stir well to coat. Stir in the nuts.

Bake on a greased large rimmed baking sheet for 15 minutes--do not use an enameled roasting pan, it holds heat too well and burns the edges. Turn and stir the mix with a spatula. Reduce oven temperature to 275 and continue baking for 25-30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with dried fruit.

If you like chunks in your granola, do not stir when you remove it from the oven the final time. Just press all over the top with your spatula. If you want all of the little oats separate from each other, stir it when it comes out of the oven and again after 10 minutes of cooling. When the granola is completely cool, store in an airtight container.

Optional ingredients:
Flaked coconut, wheat germ, wheat or oat bran, 1/2 cup, mix with oats at the beginning
Pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds (raw), 1/4 - 1 cup, add with or instead of the nuts
M&M's or chocolate chips, 1/2 - 1 cup with fruit (at which point I cease to consider this a breakfast cereal)

I like to vary the spices, extracts, nuts and fruits for different flavors of granola. Here are some of my favorites:

Oatmeal Cookie
cinnamon, oat bran, vanilla, walnuts, raisins

Maple Pecan
1/2 tsp. cinnamon, maple syrup, maple extract, pecans, no fruit

Tropical
ground ginger, coconut, vanilla, cashews, papaya, mango

Banana Nut Bread
cinnamon and nutmeg, wheat germ, vanilla, walnuts, dried banana (the chewy kind, not banana chips)

Dishwasher Cleaner

Finally, after several different recipes and modifications that failed my expectations, I found the cleaning formula for me. I'm in the middle of unloading the inaugural load and what made me pause to post was the completely clean plate that went in with several hours old egg yolk. Now you know that if that came out clean, its a good recipe! So here it is:

Heat 1/2 c. Castile Soap in 2 c. water. Don't boil but get it really hot.
Add 1/2 c. Borax, 1/2 c. Washing Soda, 1/4 c. Baking Soda and stir till its completely dissolved.
Add a few drops Essential Lemon or Orange Oil (optional).
Let it cool and use enough to fill your little detergent holder in the dishwasher.

I also fill my jet dry rinse aid with White Vinegar. If you have hard water or are concerned about a really good rinse getting all the Borax off and neutralized then this may be a good option for you!

Happy automatic dishwashing while you read a book or take a bath or watch your robotic vacuum cleaner terrorize the dog.

PS: Don't bottle the potion until its cooled as you may blow the top. Common sense. Anywho, you may need to give the bottle a good shake before it will pour. Two loads down and still happy! I used a Peppermint Castile Soap and Lemon Essential Oil so my kitchen smells clean and minty. Mmmm.

Gardening Mysteries

I don't know why some seeds that I plant and water grow while others die but that kind of mystery seems to go with life's territory.

This summer's shoulda-been pepper crop.

This fall's promising spinach sprouts.

Old vs. New

Sometimes I think Modern Life just sucks the dignity out of things. Take spaghetti sauce for example.

What glory is there in opening a jar (from who knows where) and pouring it (made of who knows what) into a pan and flipping the switch to Med-High? (Or in my case to High, as I like to cook things as quickly as possible. [My husband likes to remind me that 'burning' is not the same as 'cooking'. But I digress.])

Now, don't get me wrong. There's nothing 'wrong' with canned spaghetti sauce. In fact, I use it often. I do make sure it doesn't have high fructose corn syrup (banned in Germany, I found out yesterday) and that it does have organic ingredients. But still. Where's the joy?

But THIS year, I'm planning to make spaghetti sauce from scratch. Not just scratch but scratch-scratch. I'm making sauce from tomatoes grown either in my garden or in a local one (purchased at the Farmer's Market). With real garlic that I'll cut up with my own two hands. And onions with local dirt clinging to them that I will brush off myself. And herbs minced by hand. And I'll be trying canning for the first time in my life without Mom standing at my elbow.

I look forward to this winter, when I will pull one of these jars out and pour IT into a pan on Med-High. The simmer of the sauce. The bubbles slowly popping as my creation heats to perfection. The oohs and aahs at the dinner table as the saucy redness is poured over our brown rice noodles. I think it will feel glorious.

I just hope it tastes good. And that I don't botulize* anyone.

*botulize - v. to inadvertently infect a loved one with botulism

Modern Housework

This afternoon as baby napped, I folded diapers and realized that my dishwasher was washing my dishes, the robotic vacuum was vacuuming my bedroom, bathroom, and closet, and my washing machine was washing my clothes. No wonder I have trouble enjoying one simple thing at a time without thinking constantly of what else I could be doing!

from: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

I'm still stumped for an answer, whenever the religion of time-saving pushes me to zip through a meal or a chore, rushing everybody out the door to the next point on the schedule. All that hurry can blur the truth that life is a zero-sum equation. Every minute I save will get used on something else, possibly no more sublime than staring at the newel post trying to remember what I just ran upstairs for. On the other hand, attending to the task in front of me - even a quotidian chore - might make it into part of a good day, rather than just a rock in the road to someplace else.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

I've had a hankering for butternut squash soup for the last week or so. But I'm trying to learn to eat food in season and not just because I want it - which also means learning when things are in season and when tye've been imported from Chile. Imagine my delight when I saw reasonably priced local and organic butternut squash at the Co-op this week! Here's what I made:

2 medium butternut squash
put in oven at 400 until soft enough to cut in half (about 15 minutes)
cut in half and lay cut side down, roast at 400 until squash meat is soft (an hour or more)
*tip: line pastry pan with foil to avoid run off into oven and onto pan

2 medium onions, coarsely sliced
3-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 generous tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 generous teaspoon curry powder
a few tablespoons olive oil
optional, add a couple chopped tart apples
saute the above until onions are transluscent
add 2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
heat until simmering

puree cooked squash and sauteed mixture working in batches and adding up to 3 more cups stock so that everything gets smooth

transfer everything into stock pot on medium heat

add to stock pot:
2/3 cup sherry
1 teaspoon salt
pinch white pepper
fresh-ground black pepper to taste
pinch cayenne
additional pinch of curry if desired

add stock until desired consistency is reached (about 5-7 cups throughout recipe)
when hot (don't boil) add a couple cups Asiago or comparable grated cheese

enjoy for the week or with a big dinner party!