First of all, happy birthday to Donny!!!! He is 33 years old today so if you see him around then wish him a happy birthday too.
We had a fantastic time in Seattle over the weekend to celebrate his birthday. It was one of our most fun trips. We were there less than 48 hours, but I’m telling you, we made it count! We left late on Friday night and got back last night around 12:30pm. Yikes. Not my thing to be out that late on a Sunday, but I’m trying to be more open to the idea (under certain circumstances) and this trip was absolutely worth it. Coffee. I’ll just drink coffee.
We went to 6 different restaurants on Saturday and then 5-6 on Sunday as well. Go big or go home, right? We had to be strategic with what we chose from the menus though so we didn’t get too full. So we’d have an appetizer one place, then share a plate at the next with cocktails all in between. It was so fun. We were calling it the Tom Douglas Tour 2015 for the Edson’s because we went to 4 or 5 Tom Douglas restaurants in Seattle. I’ll write a whole post later this week about it… warning: food porn included!!!
We also fit in the Seattle Underground Tour, which was awesome. Yesterday morning we also went to the Starbuck’s Roastery, which my aunt Sue refers to as “Disneyland for Coffee Lovers”. It is intense and yet amazing. I’m not even a coffee-connoisseur and I was in love. Again, more on both of those later.
At breakfast yesterday Donny & I shared a beer because, well, we were on vacation and it was on their “Brunch” menu. The tagline for the beer was “the best decision you’ll have made today”. It was too. I am 99% sure it was one of the beers that I fell in love with on our Cleveland trip at Brewzilla. It is called Schofferhofer Grapefruit and it is amazing! It is seriously the perfect breakfast/brunch beer and super easy drinking. I’d put it on the list as a great hangover beer for when you are trying to go for Day #2.
I looked up where you can buy it and there are a few places listed in Denver, but I might have to see if Eby’s will bring it in for me! I am in love with it. It is grapefruity, but not a tart grapefruit taste. Just deliciousness in a glass, or “the best decision I’ll have made that day”.
I’ll talk more about the trip later. Now, on to granola. I love granola. I like how crunchy it is and how customizable it can be. You can get really creative with granola if you want or you can make the most basic recipe with just a few ingredients.
I decided to mix a bunch of different grains in this Maple Pecan Granola to see how it would go. I loved it! I love adding raw buckwheat groats because it makes it super crunchy! In addition to the buckwheat groats, I added millet, oats, and hemp hearts as well.
In my opinion, pecans and maple syrup go together like peanut butter and jelly (or for me PB & chocolate). Plus, they are a great fall flavor combination. Add in some cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg….boom, delicious.
I like sprinkling a little on my yogurt or I can eat granola like cereal… in a bowl with some milk! I’m also guilty of straight up eating it by the handful out of the jar. I’m a crunchy-food type of gal, plus the salty-sweet thing gets me every time!
I made a similar granola while back using some dried fruit I got in my NatureBox. It was a “Tart & Tangy” dried fruit mix so I made a “Tart & Tangy Granola“. They are very similar recipes and feel free to substitute certain items from the recipe if you don’t have any on hand. Keep the wet-to-dry ration the same however….that part is pretty important!
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup buckwheat groats
- 3/4 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup millet
- 1/2 cup pecans
- 2 Tbsp chia
- 2 Tbsp hemp hearts
- 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/ tsp vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine the first 11 ingredients (through the salt) in a medium mixing bowl.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Allow to heat for about 2 minutes.
- Immediately pour wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir until the coconut oil-syrup mixture is evenly distributed.
- Spread mixture evenly on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring once.
- Allow to completely cool on a wire rack before transferring to an airtight container.
Have you made your own granola before?
