GRANOLA

The rain here in Seattle has been steady all morning so Eve and I have been quarantined here in our apartment. After doing the fun and exciting household chores (laundry, sweeping, clothing repairs, etc.) we decided to make some granola. Scott and I are not big cold cereal fans. In fact all we have is Cheerios, or rather Joe's O's, which Eve devours by the handfuls. However, we do like granola. I've been experimenting for the past couple of months and I think we finally have a winner.

7 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup almonds or walnuts broken up

1 cup pumpkin seeds

1cup sunflower seeds, raw or toasted

½ cup flaked coconut

¼ cup ground flax seed

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup maple syrup (I use grade B)

¾ cup vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cup dried mangos*, chopped

1 ½ cup dried pears*, chopped

*Not the sulfur squishy kind but the thin dry homemade-type.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Combine the oats, coconut, wheat germ, nuts, seeds and salt in a very large bowl. Mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, oil and vanilla. Pour the syrup mixture over the dry mixture, stirring and tossing till everything is very well combined.

Spread the granola over 2 large baking sheets with rims.

Bake for 2 hours, stirring the mixture after 1 hour or so. Remove the pans from the oven and let cool completely. Transfer the granola to a large bowl and mix in the dried fruit. Store in the freezer if you have room (ask my sister Mindy about storing home-made granola in the cupboard).