Slow Roasted Cranberry Coconut Granola

I think some things are just better when you slow them down.  

Thinking of food, imagine savoring slow braised short ribs, or smelling the aromas from a pot of spicy chili that has been simmering away on the stove all day... But the beauty of taking things a little slower is not just restricted to the kitchen - I love spending a long afternoon just walking around in the park, or lingering over my morning latte on the weekends.  With those sorts of things, it is easy for me to be lazy and enjoy them, but other times I have to remind myself to take it slow. For instance, when I am reading a good book, I just race through it as though I have no discipline to tell myself to put it down and do other things, like you know, eat and sleep.  Many times, it is easy to just run through life at a breakneck pace, but then you end up missing out on so many little things.  

So when I saw a recipe for slow-roasted granola on Healthy Green Kitchen, I loved it not only for the practical reasons for slow roasting (keeping the dried fruit soft), but also because it was the perfect recipe to make over a long relaxing weekend. Having just come back from camping in Sequoia, I was really excited about making something healthy that also keeps well and is perfect for snacking.  

The original recipe that I saw on Winnie's site was a slow roasted granola sweetened with honey, and with bits of dried persimmon and crunchy pistachios. Now while I adore both persimmons and pistachios, I know someone (ie. the best sister ever) that really loves cranberry and coconut, so I decided to switch up the flavors to make something for her.   

Peanut Butter and Oat Energy Bites

It is Sunday morning.  Hopefully you will wake up well-rested, stretch out your arms, and open your eyes to a sunny day.  Maybe you will have a warm cup of coffee, some eggs with toast, or maybe you will even get really lucky and have some homemade pancakes.  After that you might relax with the Sunday paper, catch up on the news, or watch some cartoons with your kids.  Of course, you will do all that while still in your comfy pajamas.  On Sunday morning, you can rest easy because the next work week is still a distant 24 hours away.  

As the day wears on, you might run some errands, meet a friend for lunch, or do some laundry.  But by Sunday evening, you will have the unfortunate revelation that Monday morning and that-thing-that-shall-not-be-named (ie. work) is right around the corner.  You will start gearing up for the week, thinking about what you need to accomplish, what you will wear for work, and hopefully you will think about what you will eat for lunch during the week.           

Maybe you have a catered meeting on Tuesday, and lunch with a co-worker at that new burger joint on Friday.  The other days you will probably bring your lunch, and I would wager a guess you will eat sandwiches, leftovers from the night before, or healthy portable foods like fruits, yogurt, or hummus.  Some days if you are extremely busy, you might not even have time to eat lunch at all!  Am I describing your week about right?  

I wouldn't call myself a fortune teller, but I can also reasonably predict that by the time 3 or 4 o'clock comes around, you will be looking at your watch - your eyes will bulge with astonishment as you realize there are still several hours to go and lots of work to be done before you can eat dinner, and you are hungry.  Your energy from lunch is gone (if you had time to eat anything at all) and you are seriously contemplating a vending machine run.  It is a situation of serious food desperation, and we have all been there. 

At the root of this problem lies the simple facts that: 

A.) You are hungry. 

B.) You have failed to anticipate you would be hungry. 

C.) As a direct consequence of B., you have no food on hand.  

You could also make the excuse that: 

D.) You anticipated the hunger strike, but had no time to rustle up some grub.

Ok fair enough.  But since this problem occurs on a daily basis for most people (and amnesia is not currently an epidemic), fact B. is clearly ridiculous.  If you are honest with yourself, I am sure you can agree that you know you will be hungry.  So really, the reason we suffer through these late-afternoon snack monster attacks is that we don't take the time to prepare.  

I know we all have busy lives full of very important things to do, but let me tell you how you can feed the snack monster with something healthy and delicious that will give you the energy you need to finish the day strong.  You can make it in 5 minutes over the weekend, and these snacks should last you for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.  Now that sounds like quite the payoff doesn't it?

Pumpkin Sandwich Bread, and Voting is Open!

So yes, I did more baking this weekend with more pumpkin!  I just can't seem to get enough!!!  (This actually isn't the only thing I baked this weekend; the other things were non-pumpkin and definitely in the Christmas spirit.  You will probably see them next week. *wink, wink*)  

I thought I would share this bread with you today to try and stretch out Thanksgiving just a little longer, and also to remind you of something important... Voting for Foodbuzz's Project Food Blog Challenge #8 is open today!  Did you see my original post where I made Pumpkin Bread and then used it for Rum Raisin Pumpkin Bread Pudding?  If you didn't see it yet, then just scoot your little butt over here and and take a seat on my couch while I share some comfort food with you.

(Here is a visual... are you tempted yet???  Oh, in case you were wondering, the bread pudding is topped with Butter Rum Glaze and Cinnamon Whipped Cream.  Sinful.)   

I hope you enjoy my entry and that you will continue to support me by voting!  Project Food Blog voting is open until 6PM PST on Thursday, Dec 2nd, so be sure to get your vote in before then.  Each and every bit counts and I have greatly appreciated all of you that have been sharing my posts on Twitter and Facebook.  I have been completely overwhelmed by the outpouring of support, and each day I am overjoyed to see all the enthusiastic comments and kind words in response to each of my posts.  I wish I could give each of you a big hug to show my thanks!

My Mom's Cranberry Relish

Last month, I had planned to make my pocket pies with cranberry pear filling and I wanted to use fresh cranberries.  Imagine my dismay when I realized that I was one whole month too early for the arrival of these beautiful red beauties at my local grocery store.  I put on my best pouty face, grabbed some dried cranberries, and made damn good pocket pies anyway.  (And might I add, these pies would be the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving dinner table!) 


But now, Thanksgiving is finally upon us and the season for fresh cranberries is officially here.  For me, seeing these cranberries means it is really the holidays.  They smile at me with their bright crimson faces and give me the red light to fully immerse myself in Thanksgiving and Christmas preparations.  So prepare yourselves.  I might get a little crazy.

This is the best nutmeg grater ever.  It is the same one that my grandma uses, and she got me mine from Amish country in Ohio; this nutmeg grater from Norpro looks exactly the same (and is less than $5), and also has the small compartment on top for storing the nutmeg like mine does.  LOVE it.   

Seeing cranberries also makes me think of my mom.  No, she isn't small, red, and round, but she makes me happy too.  Mostly I think of my mom because I grew up eating her cranberry relish every year at Thanksgiving and I loved it.  Excuse me, saying I 'loved' it makes it sound past tense - I love it, as in I swoon over it each time I make it.  When I still lived at home, we would fight over it and eat it on/with everything, or just by itself.  It is cranberry greatness.

And really, the recipe couldn't be more simple.  In my book, the perfect way to worship cranberries is to marry them with a heady mix of spices and just the right amount of sugar; not too much sweetness as to disguise the cranberry, but just enough to dull the sharp tart taste.  One of my other favorite components of this recipe are the big golden raisins and the crunch of the chopped pecans.  I like my applesauce chunky, and my cranberry relish even chunkier; it lets me know there are real ingredients in there and it is not over-processed.  If you like your relish smooth, I would normally just tell you to go ahead and throw in a blender or food processor, but frankly, that is blasphemy in my eyes so we will just pretend I didn't even mention it. 

Instead, I will just leave you with this lovely, crimson, traditional Thanksgiving recipe, and tell you that I hope you love it as much as I do.  And you can thank my mom for the recipe, I make sure to thank her each year when I make it myself.     

My Mom's Cranberry Relish

3/4 cup apple juice
1/2-3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
3 cups fresh cranberries (12 oz.)
1/2-3/4 cup light or golden raisins
1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans






Combine the first four ingredients in a medium saucepan and stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.  Add the cranberries, raisins and cloves, bring to a boil, and then reduce heat.  Cook until the cranberries pop, then add pecans and stir to mix.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly before serving.  Keep refrigerated in an airtight container for 1 week. 

Spiced Pear and Cranberry Pocket Pies

When I was little, I remember eagerly waiting for my dad to come home from grocery shopping.  He would unload all the big bags full of fruits, vegetables, and canned goods, and I would always be peeking to spy the inevitable sweet treat that he had snuck in with the rest of the healthy groceries.  We didn't eat many 'gourmet' foods back then (this was in the pre-foodie era), so the sugary surprise might have been some Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies, or maybe some Swiss Rolls, and I can remember eating Entenmann's Raspberry Danishes on dozens of occasions.  I would usually gobble up a slice of Entenmann's danish after school, but those plastic-wrapped Little Debbie treats usually made their way into my lunch bag since they were perfectly portable.

And speaking of wrapped, lunchbox treats, I can't forget about all the Hostess Fruit Pies that I used to eat!  My memory of whether or not we had fruit pies at home is slightly foggy, but I do know that I could get them with my lunch if I ordered from the school cafeteria.  I remember I could never quite decide which flavor to get, but I could be sure that the filling would be super sweet, oozing, and not at all 'made with real fruit.'  The pie 'crust' was waxy, chewy, and also laden with sugar.  As a kid, this was exactly the way I wanted it.  

Nowadays, I prefer more adult-type treats, but that doesn't mean I need to completely shake off my childhood addiction to snack cakes.  For grown-ups and kids alike, a dessert that will give you the tasty goodness of a slice of pie in a compact hand-held form is delicious and just plain fun.  Plus, there is the added aspect that it is yours, and only yours; it is your own personal pocket pie and you don't have to share it with anyone.