Recent treat

I love cooking things I can feel proud of. Things I think are healthy, that are easy, and that turn rotten moods into good ones. (Since everyone I know gets grouchy when hungry.) This recipe for granola is one of them.

Try it yourself here. The version I have made follows this recipe, except that everywhere it says "cup" I substitute 1 "scoop" from the bulk foods aisle at our grocery store. I guess that probably makes a much bigger batch. And I think this is also why I do not find our granola to be too sweet, as some of the comments to this recipe mention.

Our version uses almonds and cashews instead of pecans and walnuts, just because those are what we have around. We also have been adding flax seeds, coconut, and cranberries. Yum!

Last benefit: it makes your house smell delightful.

I have been wanting to try granola for a long time because Nana Liz has made it for Pops for something like 20 years. I can see why.

Food Memories ::

I received this cookbook for Christmas from Liz. I'd been looking through it each time I went to the bookstore for awhile now. I first learned about it through this post, by Amanda Soule. The other night I decided to try a few of the egg recipes. What got me thinking was that this little meal on the left in the glass brought back some childhood food memories for Adam. Basically, it is a very soft-boiled egg cracked over broken-up pieces of buttered bread or toast and stirred so that the yolks coat the bread pieces. Add salt, and yum! Such a simple meal and so tasty. It is also really ideal for little self-feeding fingers like June's. I also made up the fried potato dish you see on the right. It was very tasty.

So anyway, after Adam's food memory, I started wondering about my own. [Besides the fact that the whole book is really about childhood memories of food, it didn't hit home until Adam's remark.]

And here is a picture of my own, most cherished food memory. It is home, it is love, it is comfort.

It is black tea with milk and sugar. And to make it the tea of my childhood delight, it is served with Chips Ahoy cookies for dunking so that the chocolate melts in your mouth. You have to be kind of fast with the dunking or the cookie will break into the tea, thus spoiling the whole effect. As for making the tea, one should really purchase PG Tips. And though the sugar can be dropped into the cup before pouring the boiling water in, the milk cannot be added until after removing the tea bag. (There are rules you see.) If you make it a lot you get a tea-sense and know exactly when to remove the tea bag.

With the cookies I recall many after-school cups of tea. I remember playing with my friend Kristin, being very excited that we were permitted tea ("caffeine will stunt your growth" echoing in our heads) and granted the responsibility of carrying sweet hot cups of tea down the stairs to watch movies. It is also a homecoming feeling to know that stepping in the door of my mom's house, or my sister's house means an invitation of, "would you like some tea?" I feel deeply satisfied by it. Sure, it is every day. But perhaps that is why it is so enjoyable.

I had some other food memories as well, and I will be posting them now and then. Please respond with some of your own food memories if you like. I am fascinated by this subject and would love to incorporate new recipes of the simplest foods into my mothering-cooking life. Oh, and if you do not have a blog and do not want to create one but really want to share, just let me know and I will post for you. Or if you'd like to be a "guest blogger."