Granola

A couple days ago I made some tasty granola. I found a recipe in a Real Simple magazine and doctored it up a bit. Here's the results:




Recipe:

4 cups old fashioned rolled oats (do NOT use quick oats)
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 cup dried fruit (I used craisins)
1/2 cup real maple syrup
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Place everything except the dried fruit on a cookie sheet with edges and toss it around until everything is coated with the syrup and oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, taking it out about halfway through to stir it around for even cooking. Once out of the oven add the dried fruit and toss it around. Place it in an air tight container and it will last up to 3 weeks.

Serving suggestions:
Eat as cereal, sprinkle on yogurt, or my personal favorite, top a nice bowl of vanilla ice cream. Yum!

I plan on trying a few things with this recipe like using honey instead of the maple syrup and using different fruits and nuts. I'll let you know how that goes.

French Bread

I tried a new recipe for French Bread today that I found on Tasty Kitchen.

My yeast was probably on its last leg, so I'm sure my next attempt will turn out much better, but here is a close upof said bread, straight outta the oven with some butter rubbed on top. MMMM

Chicken and Noodles

Today Matt decided to cook up a batch of his yummy Chicken and Noodles (with egg noodles from scratch, I might add). SO YUMMY!

Snickerdoodles!!!

I promise in the future to get a better setup for lighting so I can stop ruining all these with the flash, but until then here are some Snickerdoodles we made today:







Recipe as follows:

* 2-¾ cups All-purpose Flour
* 2 teaspoons Cream Of Tartar
* 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
* ¼ teaspoons Salt
* 2 sticks Unsalted Butter, Softened
* 1-½ cup Sugar
* 2 whole Eggs
* 2-½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
* 4 Tablespoons Sugar
* 2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon (more if you prefer)

Preparation Instructions

1. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a baking mat and put in refrigerator to chill.

2. Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

3. Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, it should have a very light and fluffy texture.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Mix in the vanilla.

4. Gradually stir in the flour mixture, slowly beating just until the flour is blended.

5. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes (it will make forming the dough much easier).

6. In the meantime, mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

7. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Scoop 1-inch balls of dough and roll in the cinnamon and sugar mixture to coat.

8. Place on chilled cookie sheet about 2 inches apart and bake for 10 minutes.

9. Chill the dough and cookie sheets between batches.

10. Let cookies set on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.

Sausage, Egg and Cheese Biscuits!

It's one of my favorite dinners: Breakfast!






I cheated a little on the biscuits (Pillsbury's homestyle buttermilk Grands! are good enough that I don't need to use extra time making biscuits from scratch).



Matt's secret for yummy fried eggs? Season your butter in the pan, not the eggs! We use REAL butter, because it's all about flavor, not gross processed oil.


Sausage. Crispy and browned. Yum!