SMB: Granola

Wow, we woke up late today - 10am! That's unusual for us. Guess we needed the rest. Anyway, we hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving and have recovered from the inevitable Thanksgiving Day food coma. While we missed out on the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie, we thoroughly enjoyed an excellent takeaway curry from one of our favorite Indian restaurants in Cambridge. Now, before you start thinking "curry is just not Thanksgiving fare," perhaps you should consider the following:

1. It involves Indians.
2. India was a British colony too (far more important than America; the 'jewel in the Empire's crown' if you will).
3. Having lived in Britain, we can assure you that the pilgrims would have totally served takeaway curry (or more likely, ready-made meals from Sainsburys/Tesco) at the first Thanksgiving if they had access to it at the time.
4. Most importantly, it's how we spent our first Thanksgiving in a 'new' land.

Of course no Thanksgiving meal would have been complete without dessert. However, gulab jamun was [cruelly] not available for takeaway. As a result, we had something a bit more traditional. Our last veggie box included a lovely, intelligent sweet potato (Brit English: yam) that magically transformed itself into a delicious adaptation of this recipe Will's mom shared with us [last fall].

That being said, let's move on to the weekend. Specifically, weekend breakfast. Though we did not suffer the food coma, after cinnamon rolls last weekend and curry on Thanksgiving, we were in the mood for something a bit lighter and healthier for breakfast (oh yeah and easier to make too).


We'd never made granola before, but found it to be quite simple. The basic granola components (oats, syrups, nuts and dried fruits) are suited to customization which allowed us to play around according to our tastes, the seasons, etc. Since Thanksgiving is over and it is now officially acceptable to listen to Christmas music, decorate the tree, and engage in other Christmas-related activities, we're calling this particular mixture of spices and flavors 'Holiday Granola' (and by 'we" you should know by know that we mean Jackie). It still needs some tweaking, but it was tasty nonetheless.

Our Holiday Granola
3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup slivered almonds
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3 tbsp vegetable oil (we use grapeseed; canola is good too)
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tbsp orange zest
1/2 tsp vanilla or 1 vanilla bean split open and seeds scraped out

Put the honey, maple syrup, orange juice and zest, oil, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla in a small pot. Bring to a gentle boil, then stop heat and let sit, covered for 30 minutes to infuse.
Preheat oven to 300 F/150 C. Prepare baking sheet with Silpat or parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, mix together remaining ingredients (except for dried cranberries). Pour liquid mixture over dry and mix well.
Spread granola on baking sheet and bake for 45-60 minutes. After taking out, let cool completely, then add dried cranberries.
Makes 2-4 servings. Enjoy with milk or yogurt. Add fresh berries too if you'd like.