Nantucket Granola

I didn't make the banana bread last night (and yes, I'm going to go with nuts), but will make it tonight, to be more fresh for my kids who are coming on Wednesday.
oh..no...that's right, they're not coming on Wednesday. Because of the Huge, snowstorm about ready to dump on the East Coast.
Southwest has cancelled their flight, and they can't get another one on Southwest until Monday.
Um....the wedding they are "in" is on Saturday.
So....they will try for Thursday with another air-line.

Everyone please cross your fingers for them.

I did make some granola last night. It made the whole house smell good.....
because it bakes for an hour, and it just smells all brown sugary and nutty and vanilla-ee. It was just good.

My friend Sally from Pennsylvania, sent me the recipe on Saturday. She said exactly the same thing.... that it made her whole house smell good.
Kind of a nice thing to have for a cold winter night.

Here is Sally, standing in front of the Yale Library Doors. We met up this summer when I was back in Connecticut when the twins came home from the hospital.

My daughter in law, gave us our own personal tour of Yale, and there we were in front of these cool doors....that gave entrance into the: LIBRARY. Which is one of my favorite places on earth.  ( I'm at work, and this is the only picture I have of Sally on this computer... it does not give her her due.  Perhaps she is saying,  "wow, this library holds the original maps of Lewis and Clark." or  "don't take a picture of me now".   I actually have a better picture of her here, but it includes me and 2 things:  the camera adds 10 pounds AND, I must have been all swollen or something on account of the humidity back east. They don't have that out here...humidity.  So I plumped up.  Yes...that's it. Normally, I'm not so plump. heh heh heh )

Sally leads a much healthier life-style than me, when it comes to cooking and what she eats and what she doesn't eat. I am hoping to take a cue from her.... but while this granola is good for you, it also tasted so good, that I ate way too much of it.


Nantucket Granola

4 cups oats (not quick cooking)
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut ( preferably unsweetened)
1 cup sunflower seeds (not salted)
1 cup sliced almonds
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup dried cherries
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup water
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

stir together in a large bowl....the oats, coconut, seeds, almonds and brown sugar.
in a small bowl, mix together the oil, water, and vanilla. Pour over the oat mixture and stir.
Pour into a large roaster pan and bake in the oven at 325 for 1 hour and 20 minutes* stirring every 10 minutes.
let cool and add the dried fruit.
enjoy!
*the first time I made this ---on Saturday night---I burned it...and I only cooked it for an hour.
We live at over 4000 ft above sea level and I'm sure this had something to do with it, as Nantucket is sea level, Winnemucca is not.
when I made it last night, I just cooked it for 45 minutes and it was perfect, so I suggest you just keep a close eye on it and stop cooking when you think it's done enough for you.

It was really good.