Bus-riding granola eaters

Back in the seventies, my mom discovered granola.

Once a month, she went to her favorite group meeting, "Homemakers."  Homemakers were a group of women that as far as I can determine, were grown-up 4-H.  They met once a month at someone's home and there was always a lesson taught by either the Agriculture extension office agent or by one of the group members.  It was a very crafty group devoted to improving the lives of their families.  I remember one lesson must have focused on sewing "knitwear" and my mom got really excited about stretch fabric and was going to sew some swimsuits for me.  There was a really great neon green fabric we picked out and the pattern she was going to sew was a one-piece with cute draw strings up the sides.  I'm still excited about that suit and I can't wait to wear it!! I wonder if she's going to finish it anytime soon.

In the health food category, they must have learned about the nutritional value of granola one month. In California, they were probably eating granola in the sixties.  But not in Kentucky, we didn't get granola until the seventies so learning about the hip foods people ate on the west coast was really exciting!   The day after the meeting, Mom had a nice box of Nature Valley granola for us. Always eager to try something new, I poured myself a big bowl. It was good!  I think those Californians knew where it was at. 

There was a downside to granola though which was that I was a bus rider.   Not only were the Williamson kids bus riders but our bus stop back in the Delong Road days was at the end of our half-mile long driveway.  If we missed the bus we had to walk back up the half-mile hill to the house and our mom charged us a dollar to drive us to school.  Naturally, when your allowance for the week was about 50 cents missing the bus was a bad thing.

So, no one mentioned to my mother at the Homemaker's granola lesson about how long it takes to chew granola or that a little bit of granola goes a long way.  If one lives in a house with a clean plate rule at every meal AND rides the school bus, a big bowl of granola is not, I repeat, NOT, a good choice.  Let's just say, that my first experience with granola did not have a happy ending and actually cost me two week's worth of allowance.

In spite of that bad first experience, I still liked granola.  I use it more as a topping for yogurt though or as a quick snack than eating large bowls of it.  Mary Rollins is hooked on it too.  I've also discovered recently that making your own granola is easy, delicious and possibly cheaper than buying it in the box.   I created my own recipe which follows and it achieves high ratings from Mary Rollins and Marc.  It must be pretty good because it's disappearing in the kind of quantity that might make one miss the bus!  Wouldn't those Homemakers be proud of me?

Granola recipe
6 cups oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 sweetened coconut
1/2 sunflower seeds
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 cup of dried fruit (I use craisins and golden raisins)


2/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup amber maple syrup
1/4 honey
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1.5 teaspoon vanilla
1 tab water

Preheat oven to 275

Heat oil, syrup, honey, brown sugar, vanilla and water over medium heat until melted together and a bit bubbly.

Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl and pour liquid mixture over it and stir until well mixed.  Divide the mixture between two baking sheets covered with parchment paper.  Bake for 30 minutes,  stir about and bake another 20 minutes and stir in dried fruit of choice (or perhaps chocolate chips???).  Let cool out of the oven for about an hour and store in an airtight container.