The morning light is magical and a bowl of granola and hot cuppa while looking out the window into the bursting garden (and neighbors mornings!) is perfect for making plans and dreaming...
Hello!!! I am back! Home and here again....
Home.. A four letter word that fills you with so much feeling and for me gets me particularly excited because it means getting back to familiar smells and sounds. What really makes a home? So many things I suppose. The place itself, what's inside the place, the memories that the place holds, the feelings that create the energy within, the security of the relationships that built it and hold it togethers, the sounds of laughter, TV, frustrated shouts, joyful yelps that the walls remember.
Home is often the place where you grew up and associate happy memories with. But, as life grows up and we move on and often sometimes, how do we hold on to home? Do you make each place the next home or do you wait for the place you own, ignoring all that you rent in between? Or, do you always consider your family home, THE home and all else just an attempt to measure up?
For me, it is definitely making each place I am staying in for the relative long term (even 3 months) a home. I have moved a lot and rarely have I stayed in a place that was owned for long. So, I don't hold much weight for own versus rent. I make each place homely - safe and happy. Memories are easy to make and things easy to fill. But, when I close my eyes and picture home, there is one thing that defines the it for me.
Imagine a bright kitchen with a table or counter on which is a chopping block, knife set and a glass container filled with homemade granola. That's it! Something as simple as walking into the kitchen in the mornings, opening the bottle of granola, inhaling it's rich aromas from the honey, nuts and toasted oats, to the ritualistic pouring of it into a bowl, adding a lot of milk and swirling it softly while waiting for the kettle to whistle, makes my place... Home!
Over the years, the circumstances of this scene has changed. The setting, where the light comes from, where I sit, the bowl, the mugs, even the granola jar. But, one thing that has never changed that this 30 minutes or so, has always been unhurried and time to myself. Time when I catch up, either with news or a magazine story or just my thoughts. Sometimes I try to make it device free but there are no rules. It is fluid, it is relaxed, it is mine.
So, unsurprisedly, after I came back from the latest trip wretched and tired last evening, all I wanted was to feel at home. The first thing I did, even before unpacking, this morning, is turn on the oven, toss a big bowl of oats with nuts and honey and let her bake while I pottered about cleaning and setting things in the right place. In 20 minutes, I had my world to myself as I sat happy on the kitchen table with the latest New Yorker, my bowl of fresh, warm granola, drenched in fresh almond milk that I also made ten minutes prior and a short espresso.
Ah! I am Home.....
Homemade Granola + Fresh Squeezed Almond Milk + Black Coffee = Perfect Mornings....!
Baked granola with roasted oats, raw honey, cashews, pecans, walnuts and coconut flakes.
I am back on the road in three days, but until then, I will enjoy this feeling of being just where I am, safe and happy :)
Coconut and Mixed Nuts Granola
3 cup thick oats
1 cup assorted raw nuts {I used cashews, pecans and walnuts}
2 T raw honey
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 T olive oil
2 tsp water
1/4 cup coconut flakes
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Toss together all the ingredients except the coconut flakes in a large mixing bowl.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper and evenly spread the oat and nut mix on to it.
Place in oven and let them toast for 10-12 minutes until top layer is lightly browned. Remove from oven and remix the oats to bring up the the untoasted oats to the top.
Return to oven and toast for another 10 minutes. Spread the coconut flakes on top and bake for 3 more minutes.
Remove and cool to room temperature. Store in an airtight container for several days.
Serve with almond milk or any milk of your choice.
