Thursday, May 14, 2009

Top tip

Should you ever find that someone has decorated your computer monitor with a Sharpie marker, color over with with a dry-erase marker and wipe off. It works beautifully - thanks to the very clever person who suggested this online. Thanks to you, our son shall live to see another day.
If you haven't encountered this problem yet, don't laugh, or we'll send Noah around with a Sharpie for a visit...

Seriously good granola

I've been making this stuff for a while now, and it is good. Care to try?
Preheat the oven to 300 F. Mix 4 cups oats, 1 1/2 cups sliced almonds, 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 1/2 tsp salt & 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Make sure to break up any lumps of sugar. In a saucepan, warm 1/4 cup cooking oil and 1/4 cup honey. Whisk in 1 tsp vanilla. Pour liquid over oats and mix well.
Pour into an adequate baking dish - I usually use a large glass loaf pan or casserole dish. Bake for 40 min. You're supposed to give it a little stir every 10 min while in the oven, but I rarely bother. Once it's out, pour in 1 1/2 cups of dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, whatever you want). Let it cool a little, then keep it in one of those nifty glass counter-top jars, for asthetic principles.
You can omit the nuts if you prefer, or use pecans, which makes a lovely twist.
Modifications are wonderful, but the original recipe is in the 2002 edition of the Better Homes and Gardens Annual Recipes book. Good stuff.