granola

The other day I made granola for the first time.  Well, my mama and I made it a lot when I was little, but that hardly counts, since my only memories of the process are some vague childish sensations like: fun! yummy!  mama!  For my first adult granola-making experience I loosely used a recipe from this book, but as usual, couldn't help but change things here and there.

Here's what you'll need to recreate it, but of course, do like I did and doctor it up according to your taste and whatever you happen to have in your cupboard:

-200 grams of oats (approx)
-a few handfuls each of various nuts and seeds (cashews, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds used here)
-a few handfuls of mixed dried fruits (raisins and goji berries used here)
-4 or 5 Tbsp olive oil
-4 or 5 Tbsp honey (or maple syrup, or agave syrup...)
-ground cinnamon to taste (other options - nutmeg, vanilla, ginger... the possibilities are endless!)

First step is to roast all the bits that need roasting.  In my case it was pumpkin seeds,

And cashews and hazelnuts (remember my tip from the other day?  This is when it comes in handy).

Crush all the nuts and seeds a bit, and mix them with your oats in an oven tray.  Drizzle equal parts olive oil and honey over everything, and sprinkle it liberally with cinnamon.

Get your hands in there and mix it all up so that everything's coated with your syrup.

Into the pre-heated oven it goes, at 190° C (or 375° F).  Every 5 minutes or so you want to pull it out, give it a stir, and flatten it back out again, that way all the oat flakes will get golden, not just the ones on top.  Sounds like a bigger hassle than it is, I swear.  Because before you know it, 25-30 minutes have gone by, and you have toasted granola!  Now just add in your dried fruits, give it another toss, and let it sit until it's completely cool.

Full disclosure: I made two batches in three days.  The first batch just... disappeared.  But I whipped up the second batch so quickly it really made me think I could easily do this once a week, and our house could always be stocked with super healthy, super delicious homemade granola.  Doesn't that sound luxurious?

Serve with milk or yogurt, or just eat by the handful as you pass through the kitchen.  Hmmm... maybe that's why the first batch vanished so quickly...

blueberry pancakes

Brunch last sunday consisted of extra fluffy scrambled eggs (always with Penzey's Chicago Steak Seasoning, it's my weird little secret for delicious eggs) and delicious blueberry pancakes.  The blueberries were beyond perfect: slightly tart, slightly sweet and not so ripe that they fell apart and melted into the batter. 

I used my go-to pancake recipe which you can find here, and just tossed in the berries, easy peasy.  I like to throw some berries in the ladle, but then I always strategically place a few more once the batter's on the griddle; can't leave berry placement completely up to chance!

Delicious!

quickie breakfast

Nothing earth-shattering to post, but for lack of time and energy (and health) we've been neglecting this blog for so long, I thought I'd just pop in and at least say hello.  Here's a quickie photo of my quickie breakfast this morning.  Sometimes just taking 5 minutes to whip up some whole wheat french toast with strawberries and make an iced latte can bring enough joy to last an entire day.

cornmeal pancakes save

Coming home this year after the holidays was hard, the monster known as Jet Lag pretty much tried to do us in. But we fooled him! Instead of tossing and turning in bed, or getting up in the middle of the night and watching stupid tv or wasting hours and hours online, I would get up in the middle of the night and make pancakes. Which, it turns out, is a great strategy, because then you go back to bed, and when you get up again and have to run around to make it to class on time, you've got the batter ready to go and all you have to do is drop a spoonful in the pan and the next time you pass through the kitchen your exquisite breakfast is ready.

The first batch was my usual whole wheat batter with agave syrup. But then I decided to be a little more adventurous and creative with my 3 a.m. energy. So I tried out this recipe from the NY Times. Now, this is the NY Times, people. You'd think they'd have their act together. But I knew something was wrong when I looked at the recipe. I thought, how odd! Maybe it's the jet lag, maybe I'm reading it wrong. But I read it over and over and yes, indeed, they are basically suggesting that if you mix cornmeal, water, milk and oil (with a few extra flavoring things thrown in), you will get pancakes. Well, if your intuition tells you, like mine tried at 3 in the morning, that all you will get is mush, pay more attention to it than I did. Seriously folks. Liquid and cornmeal, that's all you're using here. How could it possibly turn into a pancake? Well, let me tell you. It won't.

Of course, I didn't listen to my instincts. I did it like it says, minus the pine nuts because I didn't have any (but I hardly see how that could affect things). And then I heated the pan and put a little oil in it, and then when it was nice and hot, ladled out some of the 'batter'. Oh, the horror. If only I had a video or pictures to show you what happens. You'll just have to trust me. It is a splattering hot blob of crap; I'm sorry but there is no more refined way to say it. And the mush just sits there and bubbles and splatters everywhere, and, well, stays mush. So I scooped it up out of the pan and threw it in the garbage.

But now I had a huge bowl of cornmeal mush, and no breakfast to show for it. So I had to make something up. Here's what the recipe ended up being:

1 1/2 c. cornmeal, soaked in 1 1/2 c. boiling water until all the liquid is absorbed and the cornmeal softens
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. milk
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp. baking powder
2/3 c. whole wheat flour (approx.)
agave syrup to sweeten to your taste

The measurements are pretty much guesstimates, because like I said, I was just trying to save a disaster. But the results were pretty amazing, if I do say so myself.


I'd never had cornmeal pancakes before, but now I wonder, why the hell not? I love cornbread and I love pancakes, and I definitely love having a hearty breakfast to keep me going through the morning. These were perfect. Heavier (and more filling) than a regular pancake definitely, but still moist and fluffy.


Two small cornmeal pancakes, half a sliced banana, and a cup of greek yogurt = a little piece of heaven in the morning.

sunshine in the morning

Ever get tired of the same breakfast over and over? Sometimes just the slightest change and it feels brand new. And it doesn't have to be anything fancy or time-consuming, just breakfast reformatted. This was breakfast a few days ago and it really just made my day, and I'm sure it took no more than 5 minutes to make.


A few slices of that dense brick-like rye bread (is it German? Swiss? You know the kind I'm talking about.), spread with Laughing Cow cheese (or cream cheese if you like), with a bed of fresh spinach and over easy eggs on top. Add an iced latte on the side, and you've got energy for hours.

sunday joy

About a month ago, my husband and I started Sunday Brunch. We're calling it a family tradition, even though it's just been a few times and it's just the two of us, but we figure, that's how things get started, right? I try not to make the same thing every time, which in reality means adding different things to my pancakes. I can't not make them, because they are never not amazing. What can I say. I'm kind of a pancake genius. But I have to give credit where credit is due, and point you to this recipe, which I use almost exactly, except for the vanilla (and only because I can't find any in this city), and I find I have to add a wee bit more agave syrup. But otherwise, this is my holy base. Here's how I do it:

1 c whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
a few generous squirts of agave syrup
1 Tbs olive oil
1/2 c skim milk
1/2 c non fat plain yogurt (or sweetened if your husband buys it by accident)
2 eggs

Mix the wet stuff. Add the dry stuff. Ta-daaa! So simple. I also find that the batter keeps nicely in the fridge for a few days, which is pretty awesome when you get up at 8 monday morning too sleepy to think about breakfast and find you can just drop some of this in a pan and you have a delicious wholesome pancake breakfast before class. The batter sort of changes color, turns blueish, but I think I read somewhere that that's some kind of chemical reaction having something to do with baking soda. I do my research, but that does mean I retain the results. In any case, I still use it even if it's darker, just give it a stir and don't show it to anyone who might be paranoid about things going bad (ahem, husband).


I've made them with blueberries, fresh from the Mercado de San Miguel which is thoughtfully open on sundays. I've made them plain for people to throw nutella and whipped cream on top. I've also made them plain accompanied by a banana/strawberry/walnut salad/sauce which I will have to post about another day. But this past week, I made Cinnamon Banana Walnut Pancakes. And yes, they were damn good.


You would like to try? Make the batter as usual, and then in a separate bowl, combine sliced up bananas, crumbled walnuts, and cinnamon. I like to keep the extras separate so that when I use the leftover batter in the following days I can make whatever kind I want and am not tied to Sunday's Flavors.


When you scoop a bunch of batter with your ladle, drop a large spoonful of the nutty mix in it and give it a swirl to better disperse the cinnamon. Drop it in the pan (a little oil for the first one, which always turns out a little sad anyway) and cook it like you cook all pancakes. You know, wait for the bubbles, wait for some of the bubbles to pop and leave holes, wait for the edges to dry up a little, flip it and then let the second side sit much less. The whole wheat does seem to take longer than regular hotcakes, but it's worth it.


More Sunday Brunch posts to come, I promise. And a special thanks to my sweet hubby who took these awesome photos.