If you are looking for a super sweet, clumpy, "cookie-like" snacking kind of granola, this is not it. I have made it that way, and it is absolutely delicious - but, I think misses the point. If you want to make that kind of granola, double the oil, triple the honey, and add some brown sugar into the liquid mixture, ensuring it dissolves. Cinnamon is a nice addition with this kind of snack....

But, in my own lifetime, that kind of "prairie in a bowl" would have been absolutely unheard of prior to the past 20 years. Cereal in a box was standard for the children of my generation, and we were the first. However, in the winter, homemade porridge was a constant in any Alberta home: urban, or rural. Granola was a product of the "hippy generation" in the late 1960's and early1970's. Our parents never made it, but we did. It was a statement about getting back to the basics and about living and eating healthy. It was a movement away from commercialism and toward the ability to be an independent consumer, able to produce one's own food - or as much of it as humanly possible. And I still like the idea of that.

• 12 cups of slow cooking rolled oats
• 2 cups of sliced almonds, bark on
• 1/2 cup poppy seeds
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 2 cups raw pumpkin seeds
• 2 cups raw sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup freshly ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1/2 cup bran
• 1/2 to 1 cup hemp hearts
• 2 cups unsweetened, dried cranberries
• 2 cups unsweetened, dried blueberries
• 1 cup unsweetened, dried cherries
• 1 cup dried apricots, chopped
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2/3 cup canola oil

This is the fun part! Dumping everything in a bowl and mixing it all together.

1. Preheat the oven to 200, and use convection, if you have it
2. Heat the 1/2 cup honey, and combine thoroughly with the oil
3. Place the first 10 ingredients into a huge bowl, and toss with the warm liquid until all i coated
4. Use parchment or silpats on three large cookie sheets, and spread 1/3 of the mixture out evenly on each sheet
5. Place all three sheets into the oven and rotate every 20 to 30 minutes, turning in the oven, as well
6. After 2 hours, the oil and honey mixture should be dried, and the small seeds stuck to the bigger mosels
7. Place all ingredients back into a large bowl, and all all of the fruit
8. Combine to mix together, and let cook
9. Pack into containers that seal well

This will keep fresh for several months (at least three, if necesary). I eat 1/4 cup in the mornings with a healthy dollup of my homemade yogurt.

In the early 1970's, granola was introduced commercially in Alberta. I learned how to make this when I was a student at the University of Alberta and it has been an integral part of our family early mornings ever since. We never tire of it, though the hemp hearts are certainly a new addition... and certain parts of the recipe has changed over time as I have learned how to make it healthier (blueberries instead of raisons...no more coconut, etc.).

It is SO perfect with homemade yogurt. Yummers!

Homemade Yogurt, Yogurt Cheese, and Marinated Yogurt Cheese Balls: YUMMERS!

Do these not look DE-LUX-I-O-ISHES? I was inspired to create this recipe after tasting a cheese dip at one of the booths at the Old Strathcona Farmer's Market. I am pleased with this flavour combination, but this is the kind of dish that begs you to play with other flavour combinations. They are wonderful spread on a cracker or on toast - lucious, creamy, and bursting with flavour.

• 2 litres of whole milk (or 2 quarts)
• 60 grams of natural, plain yogurt* (or 1/4 cup)

• Place the milk in the TM bowl and cook at 80 degrees Celsius, or 176 degrees Fahrenheit  (15 minutes at level 2-3)
• Cool milk in the TM bowl to 37 degrees, or 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit  (about 30 - 40 minutes) in the fridge
• Add the yogurt culture to the warm milk and combine (5 seconds at level 1-7)
• Then cook the mixture at 37 degrees, or 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (15 minutes at level 2-3)
• Pour into a thermos, or heat retaining container, cover, and sit on the counter for 5 hours
• Place in the refrigerator overnight

In the morning, the cold yogurt will be much thicker than it was when you put it into the fridge.

Measure the milk into the Thermomix bowl, and turn it on: time temperature (in Celsius), and speed.

Cool the "cooked" milk in the fridge with the lid off until 37 C, and then add the yogurt culture (plain yogurt).

And, again: time, temperature, and speed. Done to foam perfection.

Pour the yogurt into a thermal bowl, cover, and leave on the counter for 5 hours. Then refrigerate.

You will find a creamy, glossy, thick white yogurt ready to mix into your homemade granola for a nutritious, delicious, and healthy breakfast!

Yogurt Cheese

Ingredients

• One batch of homemade yogurt, as described above

Procedure

I use a tea towel, but cheesecloth works well, too. I purchased a Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker, and found it far too small and also the strainer was too porous and let more than just the whey escape from the retaining basin. In the photo, I am using my Thermomix basket as it is convenient for me, but you could use a sieve, instead.

• Place the tea towel, or cloth into the straining basket
• Pour all of the refrigerated yogurt into the container, ensuring all goes inside of the cloth
• Set the container into a larger bowl for the straining basket to drip into

If the straining basket can rest on the lip of a large, spacious container that can catch all of the whey, or even sit on a grate over a sink, then

you will not need to worry about draining the bowl. Otherwise, you will need to drain the bowl as often as it takes to keep the straining basket above the whey.

• Leave this over night, or for 8-10 hours

I usually change the cloth a couple of times, and rotate the yogurt to enable a firmer, and creamier final product.

When the cheese peels or falls away from the cloth easily, it is done! The batch below is just ready to be taken out of the basket. I have removed it from the sink grate and am just admiring the texture of it. It is sitting in a dishcloth I used at the end of the process. There is far too much volume at the beginning, and a tea towel, or a larger piece of fabric is essential at the onset.

 

And here it is turned out onto a plate. I am absolutely thrilled every time I make this. It is time consuming, but so simple, and there is so much that can be made with it! It is so delicious and healthy and the satisfaction I feel when turning it onto the plate is as if I actually raised the cow, and milked her myself. Yes, the depth of my satisfaction is palpable, and a true testament to the intimate connection I have with preparing food with my hands for my family and those I love. As most of us are no longer in the position to produce our own food on the farm, there is so much more we can do, similar to this, to be an intregal part of the food production process.  

• 1/3 of a batch of yogurt cheese, as explained above
• 2-3 tablespoons of  fruity extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large clove of garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon of fennel seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon of caraway seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon of dried hot pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon of Maldon Sea Salt
• a good few turns of fresh ground black pepper

• Use a melon ball scoop, or a mini-ice cream scooper, as I did, to form the small balls, and place them into a small container
• Drizzle the first layer of balls with a small amount of fruity extra virgin olive oil (Remember my favourite kind?) to be sure they don't stick to one another
• Continue drizzling with the oil so they won't stick with each other as you add layers of the balls
• Once all of the balls are made, add all of the remaining ingredients into a small container
• Using another container of similar size, slowly "roll" the balls from one container to the other a few times to mix all of the ingredients around them
• Serve with crackers

These should keep at least a couple of weeks in a refridgerator. I find that my yogurt cheese keeps much longer than my homemade yogurt, so this should keep about three weeks, properly sealed.

See these delectable little cheesy balls? They seemingly quiet, and unassuming, yet, they can be absolutely dynamic and pack a huge punch with properly seasoned.  

I could not resist getting a close up of the texture of this yogurt cheese. Is it not absolutely gorgeous: dense and creamy? 

 And here we are again, back to the final product. Something to smile about in a quiet moment, in a quiet corner, savouring a bit spread on a small cracker... that little sideways grin starting to pull at the corner of my mouth. Does it get any better than this?