Granola

This recipe is a modified version of the granola recipe from the Horn of the Moon Cookbook. Good granola. Not too sweet. I experimented for a long time with sweetness and at one point was adding 1/2 cup or more of honey or brown sugar. I quickly realized I liked it less sweet, because you can really taste the toasted oats. Plus dried fruit and coconut shavings add a nice sweetness.

Basic Granola

4 cups Oats (anything but instant oats)
1/2 cup sesame seeds
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 honey (or maple syrup)
1/3 cup sunflower oil
2 tbls. Water
1/4 cup untoasted wheat germ (optional)
1/4 cup untoasted wheat bran (optional)
3/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup shredded coconut (big flakes the best)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix all ingredients together except for the raisins and coconut. Place on cookie sheet with raised edges. Place in oven. Bake 35 to 40 minutes and stir every five to ten minutes. Usually, I tend to stir it more often as the end of the cooking time nears to avoid burning the oats. Remove from oven. Let cool before breaking it into pieces. Add dried fruit and coconut.

Variations: Lots and lots of variations exist. A few I have tried include:
1. Vanilla granola. Add two teaspoons or a little more of vanilla extract to the oil and water. Stir rapidly and pour over dry ingredients. This will help the vanilla to spread evenly. Also, some people add a vanilla bean to the granola when they store it and this will also impart a vanilla flavor.
2. Ginger and dried peaches granola: Add chopped candied ginger to the granola about 20 minutes before it is done baking. Amount varies depending on taste but a little goes a long way. Add dried peaches instead of raisins.
3. Cranberry granola: substitute cranberries for raisins.

Special note: If you are doubling or tripling the recipe, the cooking time will take a bit longer. The best way to figure out when granola is done is when the oats turn golden and you can smell them baking.

Fried Eggs

I recently read a Cook's Illustrated article about fried eggs. It said you were supposed to heat the skillet on low for five minutes. Add butter. Wait a minute. If butter is browned, then skillet is too hot. Add egg. Flip when appropriate. I tried it sort of but it didn't really work.

I feel like my fried eggs have been getting more disastrous. I am on a 75 percent success to 25 percent failure rate. Usually, I heat the skillet on medium heat. Add butter and then the egg. The lower the heat I cook it at the more likely it is the yolk breaks when I flip it. If it is too hot, the egg gets that weird brown crust. I have to think about how to fix this problem...

Apples, Fake Sausage, and Me

So it has been awhile. Been the week from hell. Did a huge needs assessment on sleep deprivation and college students that was due on Thursday. I haven't been this sleep deprived in a long time. On the brighter side of life, lots of good things happened after the cake was eaten. Personal details disclosed by letter, email and phone. This weekend I have been eating breakfast for every meal. Today's posting hails from one of these meals.

Apples and Fake Sausage

Gimme lean
One apple
Olive oil or butter
Cinnamin
Salt

Heat frying pan. Low-medium heat. Add olive oil or butter. Wait a minute. Slice apples about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Put on frying pan. Form gimme lean into patties. Heat 'em up. Brown the sausage. Flip the apples a couple of times. Near the end add a little salt and cinamin on top of each apple slice. When the gimme lean is done, the apples should be done. Serve hot.

I am sure this would be better with real sausage but I don't really cook a lot of meat. Enjoy!