Here we are.

For some reason I thought this was going to be easy.  I imagined myself sitting down on my sunny patio, an ice-filled glass of water in hand, and writing (using my brain!).  Writing about something that I already spend most of my time thinking about.  I mean, really, how hard could it be?  As it turns out, hard.  But, here I am, on my sunny patio, and I am just going to hope that starting is the hardest part.  Introductions are always tough, so I’m just going to get this out of the way so that we can move on.

I feel so overwhelmed by the thriving food blogging community, and I fully realize that I am jumping into this game a bit late, but I hope that what I share will still be valuable to some of you.  Yes, many (aka ALL), of my recipes are based on something created by another food writer.  I am not a recipe developer, that I know for certain, but the whole purpose of this space is to share my findings with those of you who do not compulsively monitor their Google Reader.  So take what you want, and use my ideas as a jumping point for your own creations.  We all have to start somewhere, right?

For the first post it only seems right to share a recipe for something that I eat everyday: granola.  The beauty of this recipe is it’s endless adaptability, so do not feel tied down to the ingredients I use.  If you hate shredded coconut, don’t use it.  If you want to swap pure maple syrup for the honey, go for it.  Go crazy, try agave as your sweetener.  The one thing I will say is try this with the coconut oil.  I will talk about this in more detail later, but for now just trust me.

Here’s to beginnings.

 
Granola

As I stated above, please feel free to use whatever ingredients you have on hand, since the proportion of ingredients is more important than actual ingredients in this recipe.  Also, please note that this make a lot of granola, but as long as you keep it tightly sealed in a jar or plastic bag, this should keep for about a month.  I eat mine everyday for breakfast, so this never lasts me more than a week.

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (NOT instant oats)
½ cup each of desired add-ins (use raw nuts and seeds, which are easily found in bulk bins or at Trader Joe’s): sliced almonds, sunflower seeds, pepitas, shredded unsweetened coconut
½ tsp salt (I use Kosher and generally add just a small pinch more than this)
1 rounded tsp cinnamon
small pinch of cardamom (nutmeg and/or cloves also work well here)
¼ cup unrefined virgin coconut oil, melted (I usually stick the whole jar in the oven for a few minutes to melt)
¼ cup honey (pure maple syrup or agave nectar are also delicious, although the maple syrup will have a stronger flavor and the agave will be less sweet)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
½ - ¾ cup raisins (add after baking!)

Preheat oven to 325 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk together liquid ingredients and stir into the dry mixture.  Use your fingers to make sure everything is well-coated and spread evenly onto lined baking sheet.  It is important that the granola not be piled very high on the baking sheet or else the oats will start to steam instead of toast, resulting in a soft, chewy granola.  So, if you need to, line a second baking sheet and divide the granola between the two.

Bake for 15 minutes, remove from oven to stir, then return to oven to continue baking for another 10 minutes or so.  If your kitchen starts to smell really fragrant around the 7 minute mark, check to make sure the oats are not getting too crispy.  If the oats do not seem golden after 10 minutes, leave the granola to bake for just a couple minutes more.  Remove from oven, toss in your raisins, and allow everything cool on the baking sheet.  The granola will crisp up as it cools, so give it at least 30 minutes before storing.

Eat, enjoy, and then make more next week.