Homemade Granola...Heaven on Earth

I LOVE making things from scratch!! There is something so incredibly empowering in making something with your own hands and having it taste BETTER than something you'd buy at the store. I also take great pleasure in knowing exactly what's in my food.. and knowing that's it's healthy and void of chemicals and preservatives. Although, I have to admit... more times than not ~ I resort to fast food and quick fixes due to my schedule. My long term goal, however, is to make more things from scratch and one day (probably years from now), I would love to go organic. So for now, I squeeze in the homemade things when I can and continue to build my recipe collection.

So tonight, I tried my hand at GRANOLA. I found the absolute BEST granola recipe from a blog called A Beautiful Mess. WOW! I plan on using it in my yogurt every morning this week. It's sweet, and SO simple!

I used extra virgin olive oil, homemade vanilla extract, homemade maple syrup, almonds, cranberries and coconut! It's FANTASTIC! You just mix the dry ingredients (oats as a base + whatever nuts or dried fruits you like), then add olive oil or vegetable oil + honey or maple syrup. Add a few spices and bake, stirring every so often to keep it from sticking. HEAVEN ON EARTH.

Homemade Granola

2 cups of oats (old fashioned kind)
1 1/2 cups nuts/seeds of your choice
1/4 cup dried fruit
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey or pure maple syrup
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
pinch ginger
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a bowl combine the oats and nuts/seeds. Pour in oil and honey (or maple syrup) and stir to combine. Add in seasonings and vanilla and mix well. Spread out on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper and bake at 350 F for 35-40 minutes, stirring every 15 to make sure all pieces bake evenly. Add in dried fruit during the last 10 minutes of baking. If using coconut, add in during the last 5-6 minutes of baking so that they dont burn.

Store your granola in an air tight container or zip lock back for up to two weeks! Although I can guarantee that mine wont make it through ONE week.

Goin' To The Fair

One of my FAVORITE yearly traditions.. is to visit the East Texas State Fair! They always come to town a couple weeks before my birthday. In years past, my brother and I would wander around, grab us some food and go laugh at all the carnies. SERIOUSLY! There are women who look like men, men who have no teeth, and half of them... you just can't understand what they're saying when they're trying to shout for you to come over. It never ceases to amaze me all the different styles of people who show up to these things.

So last year, I met my husband and invited him to come with me to the fair. He's lived in Texas for 10 years and had NEVER been to the fair! Can you believe it? Never! Well, we get there and I always head straight for the food. There is absolutely NO way for you to visit and leave the fair without getting a foot-long corn dog and a lemonade. (BTW: back in the day... they were called corny dogs.)

Come to find out, my husband had never had a corny dog! What rock have you been living under man?? So needless to say, he is now a corny dog addict. I may have to put him in therapy for it. This year, as soon as we crossed through the gates, that's the first place he headed! Once our corny dogs were in hand, we headed straight for the expo buildings. Every year, there are all sorts of crafts, photos, artwork, and collections that have placed and won ribbons. Some of them are pretty good! It's pretty fun walking through and seeing all the entries. The last expo building is usually FAV. Every year, they have booths set up showing you how to conserve water and compost your leftover scraps, but this year there was also a cow milking machine. This thing not only taught you how to milk a cow but there was even a little contraption for you to put your finger in and see what it felt like to be milked! Whaaa? Yup, that's right. Get your finger milked! Step right up!  There is NO telling how many fingers have been put in that thing. YUCK. I think I'll pass.

So anyway, we round the corner and the next set of booths are all about the birds and the bees. No really! The have an incubation container with chicken eggs, and also the East Texas Bee Keepers Association with a transparent bee-hive filled with live bees!  I usually pass on the bee station but I LOVE looking at the little baby chicks. This year, one of them hatched seconds before we got there! He was taking in his first few breaths while I was snappin' pictures like a feign. SO PRECIOUS! There is NUTHIN' like seeing a newborn baby figure out the world. 

So this years fair = SUCCESS! Got to eat my corny dog and get me some fresh squeezed lemonade, taste tested Richard's cotton candy, wandered through all the exhibits, watched a pig race, threw some rings at some bottles, watched a baby chick hatch, and walked away.. one happy lady. Can't wait for next year!

Home Is Where The Heart Is...

Not many people can say that they were raised by a 60 year old. Rumor has it that before I was born, my Auntie and my Grandfather debated over whose birthday I would fall on. Hers was October 3rd. His was October 5th. I was born on October 4th. I've always joked that I was born to be the peacekeeper in the family, so naturally I split the difference. Lula Mae Granberry was my great-grandmothers' sister, hence: my great-great Aunt. I called her Auntie. She was not able to have any children of her own so, instead, she helped raise my grandmother, my mother and then me. She was 67 when I was born, and there was an instant connection the moment she saw me. I became hers.

My childhood at her home consisted of warm homemade cherry pies, picking fresh vegetables from her garden, watching her cook in the kitchen, fried eggs, biscuits and Owens hot sausage for breakfast, coffee and pecan shortbread cookies for snack, tuna sandwiches and soap operas for lunch and the humming sound of the a/c unit in her kitchen window during the heat of summer. She hung her laundry on the line out front, and her washer and dryer were in a makeshift room connected to the garage, which was separate from the house. My entertainment as a child was asking her to tell me stories of her past. I would sit for hours asking her to tell me stories that I had already heard a thousand times. I couldn't get enough of them. She would smoke her cigarettes, drink her coffee and always laugh in the same spot of the story. As she got older, things impacted her more deeply and she would tear up recalling those old memories. I loved going through her things. I would memorize her dishes and pick out the ones that I wanted to inherit one day. I also spent hours looking at her old pictures or organizing her costume jewelry. She even caught me on occasion playing with her makeup. She loved pink nail polish and she had this lipstick that was green, but when it touched your lips it turned pink. I was fascinated with it.

As I got older, I would force her to slow down when she cooked so that I could notate every ingredient and step in the recipe. She made practically everything from scratch. She began losing her eyesight by the time I was in my late teens. She had to feel the ingredients for the right amounts, and she ran her hands over the dishes after washing them to make sure there wasn't any food residue that she missed. All dishes were washed by hand. I began helping her put on makeup when she needed to go out. I made sure to draw her eyebrows just right and paint her nails that perfect shade of pink. When she finally stopped dying her hair, it faded from a fiery red head... to a beautiful dark auburn sprinkled with grey.

She passed away in 2004. There aren't many days that go by that I'm not reminded of her. Some days it's simply a dish that I use, that was hers. Some days it's a meal that I cook. Changing the sheets and folding the laundry also remind me of her. She had her own way of doing everything and it was mesmerizing to watch her work her magic. Everything was done to perfection.

That simple, country life is something that you rarely find anymore. Life is such a whirlwind of appointments and to-do lists. People are so rushed all the time that they miss out on enjoying the simplest of things in life. A cool breeze. The smell of coffee brewing. The sound of rain. The feel of home. Something in my spirit is connected to that simplicity. You can call it old fashioned. You can call it vintage. But I've made it my life's goal to fill my world with things that take me back to that wonderful serenity.

This is my journey home....