Homemade Granola

Before my husband and I were married, breakfast was a bit of a sticking point.  While I liked a big, hearty American-style breakfast, my European sweetheart ate nothing but cornflakes and milk.  This didn't seem to bother him one whit, but was a problem for me; who wants to poach just one egg or whisk a tiny dollop of hollandaise sauce?  While bringing Arnoud breakfast in bed was as easy as pouring milk over flakes, I never received the same special treatment in return, and really, who could blame him?  It would have involved hours of chopping potatoes and flipping omelets.

This rift was healed, symbolically and actually, on our first morning as husband and wife.  We woke in our charming room tucked under the eaves of the J.D. house, a bed and breakfast in Mendocino, to the smell of cinnamon and toasted almonds.  Following our noses downstairs, we were served bowls of homemade granola with yogurt and fresh fruit.  Finally, the perfect breakfast to satisfy us both: hearty and full of enough protein to keep me content for hours and crunchy sweet grains to please my sweetheart.  And we lived happily ever after.



Homemade Granola, the simple recipe for a lifetime of wedded bliss
Although there seem to be a lot of ingredients, you probably already have all of this in your pantry.  But don't worry if you're missing something as substitutions, additions and creativity are very welcome.  It all comes together very quickly and it makes a big batch, so your little bit of effort will be rewarded every morning for quite awhile.

7 cups rolled oats
3 cups nuts and/or seeds (any variety.  I've used almonds, walnuts, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and flax seeds.  Mix and match, be creative, go wild.)
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup powdered milk or soymilk (optional, adds a bit of protein and creaminess)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oil (vegetable or a mild flavored olive oil)
1/2 cup maple syrup (or substitute honey)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, cherries, banana chips or chopped dates, apples, apricots, etc)

1)  Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
2)  Mix the dry ingredients (oats through salt) together in a large bowl.
3)  Add the wet ingredients (oil through vanilla) and stir well to coat.  If you've used honey, you should warm it with the oil and vanilla so it will spread evenly.
4)  Spread the granola on two ungreased baking sheets and toast in the preheated oven, stirring every 10 minutes, until warm and just starting to turn golden brown, about 30 minutes total.
5)  Return the granola to the mixing bowl and stir in the dried fruit.  Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Hemming Jeans in 15 Minutes

I have short legs. Very short legs. And is it just me, or are jean legs getting longer? All those beautiful expensive jeans seem to come only in 36 inch inseams. I think they're trying to give me a complex. Of course, I could spend $25 to get my jeans hemmed professionally, but since I'm cheap thrifty, I figured I could find a way to do it myself. And let me tell you, this has been life changing. All it takes is 15 minutes, a measuring device, and a bit of sewing (I used a machine, but you might even be able to sew your jeans by hand) and the results are nothing short of magical. And with all the money I'm saving, I might just be able to buy myself that pair of premium jeans.

1) First, try on your jeans and the shoes you'll usually wear with them and cuff the jeans to exactly the length you'd like. Pin this cuff in place before removing the jeans. This step is a bit easier if you have a partner to help you pin.



2) Next, measure the length of the cuff including the original hem. We'll call this measurement A.



Unpin the cuff and re-pin it to measure 1/2 of measurement A excluding the original hem.



For example: if measurement A is 2 inches including the hem, your pinned cuff should measure 1 inch excluding the hem.

3) Using a thread color to match your jeans, sew this cuff in place. Use a straight stitch and stitch as close as you possibly can to the original hem.



4) Finish by pressing the cuff up out of the way inside your jeans and then tack the cuff in place by making a few stitches at both of the side seams. This will keep the cuff from drooping down and ruining the magic.



That's it! Now throw on those fancy jeans and walk tall. Add a pair of heels and no one has to know you've got a 30 inch inseam.



I'll stick with my dirty flip-flops though. Just keepin it real.

Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

Today is the first day that I can really feel autumn in the air. There are great big clouds racing across the sky, chased by strong wind. And the leaves are falling off the trees, swirling and dancing their way to the ground. It's the kind of day that makes me start thinking about putting things up for winter, about laying away provisions for the time when (it's hard to imagine!) there won't be tomatoes dripping off the vines and such an over-abundance of cucumbers that I almost can't imagine eating another. It's also a day for being cozy and lazy, for cuddling up with that little person who's recently stolen my heart. So no big projects, no canning, nothing time-consuming. Instead, I offer a simple recipe (more of a guideline) for slow-roasted tomatoes.  It's the perfect way to use up that glut of tomatoes without slaving away at canning or making pasta sauce.  It's a lazy cooks dream, with only a few minutes of hands-on time.  And it's the perfect way to make your house cozy and warm so you can cuddle up with your favorite little person and watch the leaves fall.

Slow-roasted Tomatoes
1)  Halve or quarter tomatoes (depending on size, I used halved cocktail tomatoes) and place cut side up on a baking sheet.



2)  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.  Add herbs or spices if desired.  Fresh thyme leaves are nice or follow Molly's suggestion and use ground coriander.  This is also the time to throw in a couple of garlic cloves as well.



3)  Bake at 250 F until the tomatoes are shriveled a bit and the juices are concentrated.  This will take at least 2 hours depending on the size of the tomatoes.  We're not making sundried tomatoes here so don't let them go too long or dry out.



The tomatoes will store well in the fridge in a covered jar.  They'll probably last at least a week that way although I can't seem to test that theory as they always disappear much faster than that around here. And if you're much better at delaying gratification than I am, I bet you could even freeze them so you can enjoy summer in the dead of winter.



Use these little rays of sunshine on pizzas, sandwiches or salads.  Make a pasta salad with slivers of basil, capers and cubes of fresh mozzarella.  And slow-roasted tomatoes make a very grown-up substitute for ketchup on hamburgers, so if summer decides to give us another few days, break out your grill and enjoy the changing of the seasons.

Fleeting Smiles

These precious glimpses of the funny little person he is becoming are more frequent now. He's responding to our smiles from time to time and is definitely ticklish!

He's here!

10 Things I'm Loving Right Now

1) Watching sunrises. Photographing people watching sunrises.

2) Designing my dream house on Google Sketchup
3) Taking photos of birds (no, this is not the same as bird watching and don't ever call me a bird nerd!)

4) Knitting baby hats and then making my dog pose for pictures modeling the hats.

5) Ravelry.
6) Using only solar power for electricity and hot water.
7) The view from my private yoga studio. In the morning, I see rays jumping, sea lions, and occasionally dolphins. In the evenings there is an osprey who comes to hunt along the shoreline. There are always flying fish and pelicans to watch.

8) That time early in the morning when the only sound is the waves.
9) This picture (from December 15th.)

10) This video (from yesterday.)

Santa arrives in Baja!

He came a little early and he left the reindeer and sleigh behind...

Merry Christmas everyone!