Granola is so much more than its hippie/crunchy/earth mama associations. When homemade, it’s a simple, hearty, and healthy dish with a myriad of applications. Forget the chewy store-bought bars and $8 per pound “granola cereals” – this is the real deal.

So, what can you do with granola? Serve it cereal-style in a bowl with milk, microwave it with a little water and butter for a hot dish, or eat it straight out of the bag as a snack. The image above is my breakfast from this morning: granola with almonds, cranberries, and milk, hot out of the oven.

Granola

Ingredients:

• 5 cups rolled oats
• 2/3 cup agave nectar*
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup powdered milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
• Your choice of add-ins, in any quantity and combination: nuts, seeds, wheat germ, dried fruit, etc.

Preheat oven to 375° F and lightly grease two 13×9″ pans. Whisk together the agave and oil; set aside. Combine oats, powdered milk, salt, spices, and all non-fruit add-ins in a large bowl and toss until thoroughly combined. Add agave/oil syrup and toss until all ingredients are coated and slightly moist. Pour into prepared pans and bake for 5-10 minutes, or until lightly toasted (do not overbake, especially if using nuts!). Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Move to bowl and toss with fruit add-ins. Store in an air-tight container.

*Your favorite sticky sweetener (honey, corn syrup, molasses, maple syrup) can be substituted for the agave.

I enjoy collecting old cookbooks, and pick them up at yard sales and flea markets whenever I can. Each Saturday, I post excerpts from my collection. Today’s post comes from Kate Smith’s Favorite Recipes.

Kate Smith, voluptuous songstress and radio star, appears to have had quite a few opinions on this recipe, or at least her publisher did. At the bottom of the page is Ms. Smith’s disembodied head with a note about urgent requests (see below). That may be my favorite part of the book.

I like this recipe because it’s not a normal (chocolate/vanilla) marble cake; instead, the darker batter is flavored with molasses and spice. Try adding ground walnuts to the “plain” batter for a little extra kick.

Marble Spice Picnic Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sifted Swans Down Cake Flour
• 2 teaspoons Calumet Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter or other shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons molasses

Sift flour once, measure, add baking powder and salt, and sift together three times. Cream butter thoroughly, add sugar gradually, and cream together until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add flour, alternately with milk, a small amount at a time, beating after each addition until smooth. Divide batter into two parts. To one part, add spices and molasses. Put by tablespoons into greased loaf pan, 8x4x3 inches, alternating light and dark mixtures. Bake in moderate oven (350° F.) 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until done. Spread Clever Judy Frosting (page 40) on top and sides of cake.

Or bake in greased pan, 8x8x2 inches, in moderate oven (350° F.) 50 minutes. Spread Seven Minute Frosting (page 40) on top and sides of cake. Decorate top of cake with chopped pecan meats and raisin clusters.

I’ve been making this dish for years, for parties and catering jobs. The strudel filling is creamy and luscious, and the syrup topping tastes like candy. The original recipe is from Epicurious, but the version below is my own adaptation. There’s a lot of work involved, and it’s quite time-consuming, but the end product is well worth the effort; for this reason, I will often make a double-batch and freeze the extra before baking.

Goat Cheese and Mushroom Strudel with Balsamic Reduction

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted, plus 4 tablespoons unmelted
• 1/4 cup shallots, finely diced
• 1/4 cup garlic, finely minced
• 10 ounces baby portobello mushrooms, stems removed, chopped
• 10 ounces button mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 cup sherry (do not use “cooking sherry”)
• 2 tablespoons apple cider or white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dried chopped parsley
• 4 sheets phyllo dough
• 6 ounces creamy goat cheese (pref. Montrachet)
• 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
• 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large pan set over medium heat, sautee shallots and garlic in 2 tablespoons butter, for 3 minutes or until softened. Add an additional 2 tablespoons butter plus the mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid given off by the mushrooms has evaporated and the mushrooms begin to color, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and add sherry and cider or wine vinegar. Increase heat to medium-high, and return pan to burner. Cook, uncovered and stirring often, until the pan is almost dry, about 5 minutes. Stir in salt, pepper, and parsley, and set mixture aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, combine goat cheese and cream cheese. Do not whip — hands or a wooden spoon work well for this. Filling should be dense but mixed thoroughly. Set aside.

Lay one sheet of parchment on a cold surface. Brush entire sheet with melted butter, and top with second sheet of phyllo. Repeat until all sheets of phyllo are used, ending with a layer of melted butter. Spoon cheese filling onto long side of phyllo, one inch from long edge and 1/2 inch from short edges. Smooth cheese out evenly, and top with cooled mushroom mixture. Roll tightly, starting at long end closest to filling. Place seam side down on greased or lined baking sheet. Brush top with melted butter and score top with a serrated knife. Bake for approximately 1 hour.

While strudel is baking, whisk together balsamic vinegar and molasses. Place in a heavy-bottomed shallow pan over medium-low heat and cook until mixture has thickened significantly and volume has reduced by more than 2/3. Finished syrup should be thicker than caramel and be almost as thick as melted road tar on a hot summer day. Cool to room temperature but do not refrigerate.

Allow strudel to cool slightly before slicing into rounds. Serve warm with a drizzle of syrup on top.

Serves 8 as an appetizer or 3-4 as a main course.

I enjoy collecting old cookbooks, and pick them up at yard sales and flea markets whenever I can. Each Saturday, I post excerpts from my collection. Today’s recipe comes from the Sergeantsville Methodist Episcopal Church 1922 Cook Book. I would love to try this recipe, but I have not yet been lucky enough to come across graham flour.

Graham Bread

2 1/2 cups boiling water, 2 tablespoons shortening, 1/2 cake yeast, 1 tablespoon salt, about 4 1/2 cups white flour, 1/2 cup luke warm water.

Make a sponge of this over night. In the morning add 1 cup molasses and enough graham flour to make a stiff batter, about 1 1/2 cups. (If very coarse, the flour should be sifted.)

Put in greased pans and let it rise until double in bulk. Bake one hour. This will make two loaves.

If very dark molasses is used, add 1/2 cups sugar to the shortening and salt, and use only 1/2 cup molasses in morning.

Most of the recipes in this book are attributed to women (presumably church members); however, this recipe is attributed to “Domestic Science.” It is unclear if this was the name of a source book, or perhaps considered daily knowledge.