Jon made up a delicious batch of granola last night. He used Amanda's recipe and included 2 cups of almonds, 1 cup of coconut and raisins and dried cherries. It's delish! We've got seven other recipes to try, so we'll definitely be experimenting with granola recipes for the next few months.
Here's her recipe:
8 cups old fashioned oats
2-3 cups goodies (nuts, coconut, etc. don't add the fruit here)
mix together in a large bowl
-----
1/2 cup veg or canola oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup honey
dash o' salt
generous splash of vanilla
heat these ingredients until well blended
then add this to the oats mixture. stir to coat.
bake at 350 degrees stirring every 10 minutes or so until brown.
then I throw raisins on a pan and stick them in the oven just until they start to plump up a bit. take them out of the oven and stir with sugar. (the sugar will stick to the raisins, just like in raisin bran)
Our bleeding heart bush is in full bloom. I think it has tripled in size since last year. This is one of my favorite plants, so I picked up another one at a local plant sale last weekend. Early blooming spring plants are such a great treat! Walking outside to take pictures was really depressing this afternoon...I've been trying to ignore the yardwork as long as possible and it's getting really overwhelming. Jon and I will be working up the vegetable garden soil (read: hauling dirt), planting some new perennials, digging up last years' annuals and mowing this weekend. Our yard is a dump right now! Eek...I hope the weather is nice this weekend!
I've been a little preoccupied lately with this new crafting venture, the Common Threads Virtual Quilting Bee. Everything is set up and I mailed out my fabric for the swap last weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing all of the quilts and squares everyone will be making in the next year! Special thanks to Melissa for coming up with this great idea! Be sure to check out the blog to see all of the great quilting inspiration that's coming from all of our members. My head is swarming with ideas for new quilts!
And, of course, what post wouldn't be complete without another ball band dish cloth picture? This was about my only crafting adventure this past weekend.
glad that you like the granola recipe!
your quilting bee sounds like so much fun. I know I sure am enjoying mine!
Posted by: amandajean | 14 May 2008 at 09:25 AM
Yeah!! I can't get over how nice the flowers have been looking lately
Posted by: Betty | 14 May 2008 at 03:05 PM
(hey - looks like you post got cut short!)
thanks for the granola recipe... i'm going to give it a spin on the weekend.I just discovered bleeding hearts and i loooove them! can't imagine have a bush-full of them!
Posted by: amy | 14 May 2008 at 04:22 PM
i love bleeding hearts, too, i just got back from seeing Obama in GR :)
Posted by: joel hoekema | 14 May 2008 at 10:42 PM
The quilting bee sounds like it will be exciting. I'm looking forward to seeing the quilts unfold.
Posted by: Amy | 15 May 2008 at 05:14 AM
Thanks for the scrapbook stuff. I got it and love it all. You're amazing. I can't wait to see what you get through the quilting bee, I think that is a great idea.
Posted by: Cami | 15 May 2008 at 04:42 PM
Granola looks good. Wow, those flowers look so pretty! Hope you guys get lots done in the yard!
Posted by: priscilla | 16 May 2008 at 03:56 PM
mmm...thanks for sharing that recipe!!! That is a gorgeous picture of the flowers. We just saw some the other day on a walk and I thought of this picture that you took which captured them perfectly.
Posted by: Natalie | 18 May 2008 at 11:47 PM
I love those colours!! wish I could knit that well.
Can't wait to see your Japanese garden. I have one but it's more like an overgrown jungle. It would take a lot of hard dedication to restore it to it's original beauty.
Posted by: Blooming from Mee a Bee | 25 May 2008 at 09:47 PM
OMG, i want some o' dat granola! it looks delish!
Posted by: mikejonze | 29 May 2008 at 12:06 AM