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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Hurt So Good?

Yesterday morning I woke up almost not able to move.  My forearms hurt, my lats hurt, and my back was killing me.  Evidently sanding those damned pieces of furniture was harder work than I had originally assumed and I was paying for it with muscle pain!

On Sunday I sanded the headboard for the guest room.  I didnt sand it enough to remove all the varnish, just enough to give the new paint something to stick to.  Still it created a fair amount of dust and took considerable time.  I then wiped it down with TSP and used an old paint brush to remove all the residual dust.  It got a nice coat of primer after that and is currently sitting in the garage waiting for a day that isnt rainy so it can get a coat of shiny white paint.

I am doctoring myself today with a fresh batch of homemade granola.  Its pretty good if I say so myself!  I made this batch with walnuts and figs but I have made others with apricots, blueberries, and almonds.  I started making granola when I noticed how much the cereal we were buying was.  In addition, my Mom had sent me about 4 metric tons of California walnuts and they were taking up valuable real estate in my freezer.  I happen to think my recipe is pretty good.  Its not too sweet and its not too clumpy - sometimes I have a problem chewing some of the granola with super clusters.

3 cups old fashioned oats
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
1/3 cup oil (I use olive oil because thats what I have on hand, but I am looking for coconut oil in the future)
1/3 cup honey
3/4 cup chopped dried fruit
1 1/4 cup nuts

Combine the wet ingredients.  Add the nuts and toss to coat.  Add the oats and stir to combine.  Spread on a cookie sheet and roast at 350 for about 15 minutes.  Stir and roast until everything is a golden color.  Remove from the oven and add the dried fruit.  If you add the dried fruit before roasting it will get tooth-breakingly hard in the oven and make you not want to eat the granola.

Cool the granola on parchment paper and store it in an airtight container to keep it crispy.  Serve with milk or over yogurt.