4.18.2010

Mmmm granola!

Granola has got to be one of my all-time favourite cereals! It's nutty sweetness has always struck my fancy, but with the nut allergies around this house, we've had to come up with this equally yummy, nut-free substitute. Seeds make a really nice replacement of the nuts in this recipe!
Cranberry Crunch Granola
4 C oatmeal
1/2 C sesame seeds
1/2 C pumpkin seeds
1/2 C shredded coconut
1/4 C olive oil
1/4 C honey
Mix above ingredients together and place in large baking dish. Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes, stirring often, until golden brown. Let sit in baking until cooled and add 1C dried cranberries. Store in air-tight container in refrigerator and enjoy!

4.11.2010

There's dirt under my nails

Well the world seemed to slow down just a bit this weekend - just enough to get us all outside to start doing a little work in our gardens. Mid-April I'm usually still in fantasy mode about gardening around these parts. You never know what surprises Mother Nature can pull weather-wise this time of year, so we've always been apprehensive about getting a jump start on the vegetable beds. But the weather has been consistently lovely the last few weeks we thought we would at least have the soil prepared and ready for planting. We've never been very good at putting our gardens to bed in fall. It always seems to be spring before we get around to pulling out the last of the previous year's harvest. But that seemed to work out okay for us this year as Mother Nature left us a few pleasant surprises  popping up out of last year's long-forgotten stragglers. An incredible jump-start on this year's growing season! Looks like we'll be eating our own fresh produce in no time!
I uncovered this lovely patch of ready-to-eat kale growing out from under last year's crop.

A few lost onions surprised us with these nice healthy green tops.

Oh Swiss chard! You never let me down! No matter how much I neglect you, you come back year after year to grace us with your glossy green deliciousness!

And you, succulent rhubard, our garden's old faithful. It won't be long before you're added to our Sunday dinner desserts! 
There's dirt under my fingernails, and I couldn't be happier!
What's growing in your garden?