Mom's granola and more

For work today I decided to make and share some of Mom's granola. I don't know how many of my family enjoyed it growing up but I have always, and still do, LOVE cereal and milk. I enjoyed warm granola out of the oven last night and will enjoy granola and peaches for a treat this evening. (And thanks to Drew for telling me how yummy it is. Love you!)

The "and more" part of this blog relates to candy. I have always, and still do, LOVE chocolate. With Spring around the corner and candy on sale I bought a few varieties to put in Grandma's candy dish on my desk. I chose Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for Drew, Hershey's miniatures for the co-workers, and Kisses with Almonds for me. (Not to say that I'm going to eat a whole bag of candy myself but that I prefer to have the Kisses in the mix.)

So my friend Julie was saying how delicious the Kisses with Almonds are and I started to tell her that they remind me of St. Patrick's Day. When we were younger my mom would celebrate the holidays and for St. Patrick's Day the "leprechauns" would bring us candy in gold wrappers or dye our sugar green, etc. Well, most recently I remember waking up to the leprechauns gift of Kisses with Almonds. No matter what time of the year it is the with almonds version is wrapped in gold and easily attainable by the mom leprechauns.

Recipe for Granola:

4 Cups rolled grain (this includes any mixture of oats, barley, wheat and rye)

1 Cup coconut (I don't add this because of my family but it is delicious if you like coconut)

1 Cup toasted wheat germ

¼ C butter or margarine

¾ C honey (you can also use molasses or karo syrup)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Thoroughly mix together; spread on a rimmed cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally while baking. After cooking add any or all of the following:

· Sunflower seeds

· Almonds or pecans

· Sesame seeds

· Raisins or dried currants or other dried fruit of your choice