A Family Recipe

Most of my recipes have come from a variety of places- ones my mom used, friends, the internet, cook books from our wedding. I'm sure there are others but here is one that I consider a "family recipe". It is something I remember my mother's mom making, my mom made it and now I love to make it. Especially on a cold, snowy day when the oven can warm up our house.

I didn't grow up living around either of my grandparents. Some of my favorite memories are of walking home from school. As we would round the corner I would catch of glimpse of my grandparents car. Excitement would course through by body as I dashed home, knowing the next few days were going to be filled with fun with these two people.

My grandparents always brought us some things. For my grandpa it was usually a quarter, which of course was given to us with some flair of teasing or magic. You know, the old pull it behind the ear trick.  They always brought milk bought from the store. Growing up we used powdered milk.

I HATE powdered milk! For most of my teenager years I quit drinking milk because of this.  For me, the milk my grandparents brought was a big deal.

My grandmother also brought cookies or cinnamon rolls and of course granola.

Yes, granola is my family recipe. 

I knew my kids loved it but didn't really realize how much until one morning my four year old slid the Cookie Crisp over to get to the container of granola behind it. So here's my families recipe for granola.

(The first key ingredient though is some time
and two very cute helpers.)

My Grandmother's Granola

Combine in a very large bowl:

3/4 cup oil

3/4 cup water

1cup brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

Stir in: 7 cups oats

Combine in a separate bowl:

1/2 cup wheat flour

1/2 cup corn meal

1/2 cup soy flour (I often will use white flour)

1 cup coconut

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/2 Tablespoon salt

After stirring, add to the oat mixture. Mix well. Add 1/2 cup raisins. Put in a 9X13 pan. Bake @ 250 for 2 hours. Mashing and stirring mixture every 30 minutes. Let cool and then break apart. Store in an air tight container.