Granola

I equate making granola with love.
Something about all those lovely ingredients...just smells like love!
And all that stirring! Have you ever mixed eight cups of oats with one cup of honey? It's not easy, honey.
Next comes the sunflower and sesame seeds, wheat germ and coconut.
Mix, mix, mix, my arm hurts just telling you about it.
Chop two cups of almonds? Why, I would love to!
And it only gets better, slicing 2 cups of dried cherries in half, one by one.
Mass chopping with a french knife doesn't here, you would have a baseball of dried cherries.
And then! You get to bake it for two and one half hours stirring every so often. When it is hot out of the oven I toss in the toasted nuts and dried fruit (they are sure to burn in that two and a half hour thing, can you tell I learned that from experience?)
With my hands, I gently toss the warm granola, making sure the fruit and nuts are gently mixed throughout the oat mix. The love comes out of my hands and into the granola. All the while I am intoxicated by the scent of vanilla, cinnamon, oats and maple syrup. (I didn't mention a few of the ingredients at first).
It feels so good in my hands, scooping and tossing. To hurry the cooling along I spread it out all over my marble island.
A little bit later, I Zamboni it all off into a huge red tin, put the lid on and feel very satisfied.
Twenty-five years of that, defines love, to me.

O.M.G.!!!!! With the thought of linking Zamboni to this post I Googled the word. Did you know that Sarah Palin was hoping for, presumably a son, so that she could name him Zamboni? If that isn't a good reason to keep on try'in! We are so fortunate to have this inauguration to look forward to.