Sunday Morning Granola

One morning, after taking advantage of the morning light to photograph "the twins" - the newly-filtered cherry liqueur and the orange peel liqueur, I realized it was time to start Sunday breakfast. I abandoned my plan to continue reading my copy of Ottolenghi's brilliant cookbook, and wandered into the kitchen.

The twins posing on Ottolenghi's cookbook.

We hadn't partied or entertained the night before, so a full on breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns, bacon seemed excessive. Oatmeal seemed like the stuff for work mornings and camping weekends. It had to be granola.

I'll be honest, I'm not too crazy about sprouting mung beans or any of the other hippy things I was surrounded with when growing up on the west coast of Canada. For the longest time, I lumped granola in with the rest of the foods I associated the word "hippy" with. To my uninitiated palate, these foods seemed flavourless, perhaps even joyless.

However, granola has quickly become mainstream in the last decade, with wee but fashionable boxes of the stuff demanding high prices. I will admit that my palate and appreciation for granola evolved in step with the mainstream trend. Many boxes of commercially available granola usually have some form of wheat or gluten in it. Between the allergies, being too lazy to walk to the store, and too cheap to dole out the dollars for a tiny bit of oats mixed with dried fruit, I decided to make my own.

The results? Oh hello, tasty, flavourful granola. Quick and easy to make, it's lovely (I'm told) with some milk. 

I used this lovely honey!

Sunday Morning Granola


2 cups regular oats
1/2 cup flake or dessicated coconut
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (didn't have any, used up some trail mix)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup honey or maple/agave syrup
1/3 cup grapeseed oil (Or use something like canola. If you try olive oil, let me know!)

1. Combine all the dry ingredients and mix well.

2. Add in the wet ingredients and mix well. Spread in an even layer that's no thicker than one inch on a well-greased cookie sheet (I used a giant tray, but you can use two smaller sheets).

Granola before I baked it.

3. Bake in 350 degree oven until golden. After about seven minutes in the oven, take the tray out out, and flip the ingredients around using a spatula. Another seven minutes, move it about again. Let it be until it looks golden.

This granola stores well in an air-tight container for up to two weeks. Some people keep it longer. Mine never lasts that long!

Granola is a free-form creative exercise. Try adding things like minced candied ginger, any sort of dried fruit, or different sorts of flaked grains or flaxseed meal. It's a great way to also use up those bits and ends of trail mix that no one seems to want to finish.

Do you have a favourite granola recipe or item to add to granola?

Pickled beets and quilts

I had just finished photographing the newly completed sun-bathed back of my quilt when Tooley mentioned his recent batch of pickled beets.

I was moonlighting as a quilter at Tooley's family home in the posh 10 Mile Point area of Victoria. It's one of the times I get to vicariously enjoy the perks of being a propertied dog owner who lives out by the seaside. But back to the beets.

Beets. How I adore their shades of red and pink, their delectable candied texture when roasted, and their iron-y twang on my tongue after eating the second beet. I promise, absolutely promise to share my roasted beet salad with chevre and candied pecans with you. And a killer Tamil recipe for shredded beet called poriyal.

Tooley's pickled beets are a marvel of unconventionally canned perfection. Sweet and sour with a perfectly toothsome bite, they were too pretty to pass up for a photo op.

After nibbling on pickled beets, I finished photographing the top bit of my quilt. The quilt is a two year labour of love; it's made up of bits of fabric I picked up on my travels. I refuse to accept that quilting is an acceptable activity for middle aged ladies and grandmas. Quilting is a meditative exercise in discerning the algorithm of colours between pieces of cotton; mustering the precision and focus required for sewing the perfect 1/4 inch seam and cutting fabric.

Easy Peasy Pickled Beets

2 bunches small beets – scrub and trim ends
4 small onions – slice and separate rings
1/2 cup liquid set aside from boiled beets
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves

Add just enough water to cover the beets and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a moderate setting boil for about 40 minutes. Add the onion slices and boil for another 5 minutes.

Drain out the beets and onions, and save a 1/2 cup of the liquid that you boiled them in.

Set the beets and onions aside, add the liquid, vinegar, salt, cinnamon, cloves and honey to a sauce pan and bring it to a boil.

Peel your beets and slice according to preference. Place the beets in a sanitized jar and pour the liquid over top. Leave them in the fridge for at least two days. The beets will keep for several months.

Special credit to Megan for sharing this recipe.