Back To School With Crunchy Granola

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Time For Back To School

The dog days of summer are slipping behind us, but the cooler days of autumn have yet to return. Hot summer days linger in every corner, air conditioners hum at full force. 

We tumble down the slippery slopes of summer into fall as we prepare for back to school. We're anxious to wear our new fall clothes, but it's still too hot for wool plaid skirts and saddle shoes.

Time to organize our books, bags and school lunches.

The office supply store beckons. The thrill of the search for pencils, pens and notebooks calls to us.

Surely we need  another notebook. Especially a pretty one like this. Maybe this one over here is more functional. Oooh, look at this pretty paper.

La Rentrée

In France, it's called la Rentrée, (the return, beginning of the school year). The French return home from their August month of vacation and re-enter their work-a-day lives. Children head back to school.

Paris is notoriously empty during August as everyone skedaddles to their favorite vacation spot. I like the expression, la Rentrée, because it embraces everyone getting back into the saddle of work, school, and daily life.

Back to school in the U.S. specifically targets students starting school again, but in truth, we're all caught up in it as we buckle down to another work year.

Getting to work takes longer as traffic increases with children shuttled to school. Waiting behind the school bus, we dream of the summer vacations that are behind us.

Organizing Meals For Back To School

Wholesome, homemade food sustains us in our busy endeavors. King Arthur Flour offers a wonderful recipe for Crunchy Granola. Sweetened with maple syrup, it makes a tasty, healthy breakfast with yogurt and fruit. It's also a mid-day treat, just as it is, for snacking. Pack some in a small container to add to a lunch box.

I'd been meaning to make my own granola for awhile. I can report without hesitation that this recipe is delicious.

Here's a photo of granola on a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper, ready for the oven. If you're making the full recipe, you'll need two half sheet pans. A full recipe makes approximately 18 cups.

Oven temperature is set for 250º F (120º C). The low heat and slow cook seal in the flavors and help protect it from burning. I cooked mine a bit longer than the 90 minutes to ensure the granola was crunchy.

Homemade Granola For Back To School

The freshness of the granola was delightful. Made at home, you can't get any fresher than that. It's easy to gather all the ingredients and what's left over can be saved in the refrigerator or freezer (such as nuts, wheat germ) for future batches.

I added currants to this batch of granola. The tiny bites of sweetness tuck in nicely with the crunchy nuts. I also chopped up some white raisins to help them blend in. The real maple syrup is a splurge that's well worth it. 

I stuck with the sliced almonds, as suggested, because larger almonds could be too crunchy. Since I had walnuts on hand, they were also chopped up with the pecans.

“Chaque rentrée, c’est la même chose. On a, à la fois, trop peur et trop hâte de se retrouver.”
— from the movie, LOL
 
“For each return back to school, it’s the same thing. We are, simultaneously, too scared and too eager to see each other again.”
— translation
 

Enjoy your homemade granola. Here's to a new cycle of learning as we head back to school.

Davis Farmers Market

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Job Transfer To California

One of the advantages of the new job was that I would not have to dig my car out of winter snow and ice in the cold, black hour of 6:30 a.m.

Six-thirty a.m. in the dead of winter is an hour no civilized person should step out of their bed, much less their house. 

I dreaded those early mornings when I opened my front door and waded into the treacherous black night that had yet to turn into day. You'd tell yourself to watch out for an ice patch, but that slick ice grabbed your ankle and smashed you to the ground faster than you could take a breath. I would be left with a thigh-consuming bruise from hip to knee.

Hobbling into work, I'd only get cold stares from co-workers conveying their annoyance that I wasn't there earlier.

Those icicle days were over. No more bags of salt for icy stairs. No more winter woes of shoveling snow to get to work.

California, here we come.

Davis Farmers Market

California – the land of nuts and fruits. This is an old, tired joke but, truth be known, California really does have an abundance of fruits and nuts that grow here.

I discovered this was another job advantage. I would be living near The Central Valley, one of the world's most productive agricultural regions. More than 230 crops are grown there.

Just 20 miles from home, the Davis farmers market throws its arms open wide to welcome a multitude of food sellers. It's an outdoor market with a covering. It's situated next to a large park if you fancy bringing a blanket for an outdoor picnic. 

The farmers market has existed for over 35 years. The market grew from just three farmers with boxes of produce on the ground, some eggs and loaves of bread to a thriving marketplace that now has a growing number of vendors and fruit and vegetable cultivars. 

 
“The market operates under a pavilion built especially for it with public funds, one of the few of its kind in the state, and it draws 7,000 - 10,000 people each week.”
 

The Davis farmers market is open rain or shine twice a week:
Saturdays from 8 am – 1 pm and Wednesday evenings. 

Fresh And Organic

Nothing beats the taste of fruits and vegetables that were picked only a day or two before you eat them. Flavors burst in your mouth and a long-forgotten sweetness romances the cells of your body. The produce is fresh and vibrant – alive.

I am particularly fond of the organic peaches. Just look at this photo of a ripe peach. 

Organic food decays faster, so you have to plan for it, buying just what you need or tucking it in the refrigerator sooner than you'd expect. In the supermarket, chemicals are used to make the fruit firmer and to make it last longer, but it also contributes to a decrease in taste. 

Seasons Of The Earth

Going to the farmers market put me in touch with how our produce reflects the seasons. In our modern grocery stores, foods are flown in from around the world, creating the illusion that nothing ever goes out of season. It's always spring somewhere.

As a steady market-goer, I learned to sense the pulse of our earth. I watched the produce change and respond as the days darken and then lengthen again. Peaches are simply not available in December. 

At the farmers market, I celebrate the arrival of cherries and peaches and wistfully bid them goodbye when they must go.

The sweetest cherry tomatoes are bright orange and red. They sing their song, then leave. I anticipate their arrival a few weeks before they're ready. When are the cherry tomatoes coming? Wait for it, wait for it, ahhhh, here they are.

Grapes have a late summer timing and their sweet nectar is unlike anything purchased in a grocery store.

In winter, we welcome the citrus crops. I rejoice when asparagus arrives on the scene.

"How much longer will the cherries last?" I ask one of the vendors. 

"Only two more weeks!" he calls out to me.

When we come to the end of a season, I try to plan accordingly and stock up. I can't buy enough to last for the rest of the year, but I can extend the season just a little. For example, I'll cut up fruit and freeze it for future smoothies.

Sometimes I won't be able to get to the market for a week or two and when I return, I've already missed it. A certain fruit or vegetable is gone for the year.

If you visit this part of California, it's well worth a stop at the Davis farmers market.

 

 

Food For The Fourth Of July

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America Celebrates Its Birthday

The Fourth of July is just around the corner. Holiday displays in the supermarkets are set up to tantalize shoppers with outdoor foods and drinks.

Isn't this a gorgeous American Flag Pie created by King Arthur Flour? I dream of creating it one day. It may remain a forever dream, but in the meantime, it's nice to see.

If you're willing to tackle this pie adventure, here is the recipe for the American Flag Pie, made with strawberries/rhubarb and blueberries.

Time To Start Your Grills

Fourth of July in America.

Start your grills. Friends and family gather 'round for picnics and barbecues.

Grilled corn on-the-cob (with barbecue or herb butter), sizzling hamburgers and hot dogs are all de rigueur. Dedicated meat-eaters splurge on tri-tip beef. Vegetarians don't have to feel left out. Tofu burgers make a fine alternative.

Everything can go on the grill, not just meat. Vegetables and fruits also grill up pretty. A fun television show from The Food Network features recipes by Bobby Flay, the acclaimed grill master.

How about grilled peaches with cinnamon sugar butter? Sounds delicious, doesn't it? Click on the link for the recipe.

Summer picnic food on the menu:

Baked beans
Juicy watermelon
Chips and dip
Finger sandwiches
Fruit salads, and
Everyone's version of their famous potato salad

The Great Mayonnaise Debate

Family feuds have started over potato salad. Dill or sweet pickles? What brand of mayonnaise do you use?

People stand firmly entrenched in their mayonnaise camps:

1) Best Foods (west of the Rockies) or Hellmann's (east of the Rockies) – same company, same mayo, different name per regional distribution. 

2) Duke's mayonnaise has Southern roots and is also found in some states further north.

3) Kraft mayonnaise has a nationwide distribution.

4) Dare I mention Miracle Whip? Some argue that it's not even mayonnaise, but Miracle Whip has a strong, if not beleaguered, following. Take a look at this Tumblr account that proclaims in a joking manner, Miracle Whip and Proud Of It. Miracle Whip was created in 1933 by Kraft as a less expensive alternative to mayonnaise.

Rest assured, never the twain shall meet. Each brand has a dedicated cult following.

 

Here's a fun tongue-in-cheek story for your amusement.

The Family Mayonnaise Incident

We are a Best Foods mayonnaise family. In our corner of Washington state, that's our mayo. For decades we remained true blue to Best Foods.

Recently, my sister returned home from an 18-month job assignment in Tennessee. She was living south of the Mason-Dixon Line and Duke's is the mayo of the South. She divulged that she had tried, and liked, Duke's mayonnaise.

To make matters worse, she had the audacity to bring jars of Duke's mayo home with her. Even her husband was perplexed when he saw the alien mayo jars in her bags.

Oh, the shock. This was akin to heresy. My own sister, cheating on Best Foods. She admitted feeling a little guilty about it. 

After her heartfelt confession, we welcomed her back into the fold. She was home again in familiar territory and surrounded by Best Foods. Let bygones be bygones.

And then, our nephew ordered a big jar of Duke's mayonnaise from Amazon and sent it to my sister as a birthday present.

The saga continues...

 

Summer Activities For The Fourth

The Fourth of July is dedicated to picnics and summer fun, such as swimming, boating, hiking, and, not to be forgotten, naps in a hammock. It's a holiday, so some healthy relaxation is included on the menu. Reading a book in a hammock rates high on my list.

 

patriotic cookies recipe

 

Happy Birthday – USA

Does all this food talk make you hungry?

I know I'm ready to treat myself to potato salad and other picnic delights.

Let's raise a fork and a patriotic spiral cookie in honor of the United States of America.

I'll see you at the picnic.

Almond Milk Is Not Vegan

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Almond Milk Gains Popularity

We're munching on almonds and beating them into milk and cheese. Almond growers couldn't be happier. Some people also feel happy that they're not using cow's milk. They consider almond milk to be vegan.

However, the definition of vegan is not eating any animal product or using any by-product. This includes wearing silk made by silkworms and honey made by honey bees.

“To me, saying I’m vegan is synonymous with saying,
I have decided to live a lifestyle that does not support animal exploitation.”
— Jack Norris, Co-Founder of Vegan Outreach
 

Spoiler Alert: Almonds Are Not Vegan

Without honey bees, we wouldn't have almond milk. The only way our vast almond groves exist and the millions of pollinated flowers become crunchy tidbits is because we enlist the massive workforce of our honey bees.

LOTS of honey bees. 

California Almond Groves

You've probably seen the ads for California Almonds. All that advertising by California almond growers is paying off.

The majority of almonds are grown in California. They provide more than 80% of the world's almond harvest.

 

California almond groves cover more than 900,000 acres. Plans are being made to expand even further. 

Almond trees are not self-pollinating; honey bees provide the missing link.

We don't have enough honey bees in California to pollinate all of these almond orchards. Every year, nearly 85% of ALL beehives in the United States are trucked to California to pollinate the state's almond crop.

More than one million beehives (not bees, beehives) travel to California every year from as far away as Maine. Honey bees provide pollination for the almond crop in February and early March.

Honey Bees On The Road

Shipping honey bees around the country is not particularly beneficial to them. Traveling the entire length of the United States on trucks with hives wrapped in saran wrap is stressful. It can weaken their immune systems.

When honey bees gather together from around the country, they bring their local viruses and pathogens. Not all the little bees make it back to their own hives, and thus, germs and diseases are shared.

“The migration continually boomerangs honeybees between times of plenty and borderline starvation. Once a particular bloom is over, the bees have nothing to eat, because there is only that one pollen-depleted crop as far as the eye can see.

When on the road, bees cannot forage or defecate. And the sugar syrup and pollen patties beekeepers offer as compensation are not nearly as nutritious as pollen and nectar from wild plants.

Scientists have a good understanding of the macronutrients in pollen such as protein, fat and carbohydrate, but know very little about its many micronutrients such as vitamins, metals and minerals — so replicating pollen is difficult.”
— Scientific American
 

Bees Face Danger When Traveling

The road trip itself is not necessarily a safe one. A semi-truck loaded with beehives crashed on I-5 in Washington State. Clean-up crews killed nearly all the bees.

Out of 448 beehives only 128 were rescued. This doesn't help our declining bee population. Perhaps if they had not been on the road in the first place. From this article: Almonds Require A Ton of Bees:

Mono-crop Risks

Large mono-crops provide an ideal habitat for pests like fungi and insects and thus, the almond growers have a strong incentive to use pesticides and chemicals. There was an uproar from beekeepers when a massive die-out of the honey bees took place in 2014 – beekeepers thought almond growers had used too many pesticides.

More Beehives?

Some have asked why we don't just add more beehives into California. 

“California is already home to 500,000 of the nation’s 2.7 million hives. The almond bloom is great for a few weeks, but not in terms of year-round foraging,

California is already at or near its carrying capacity for honey bees. The areas with the best-quality forage are already well stocked with bees.

So, satisfying the world’s ever-growing appetite for almonds will continue to require an annual armada of beehive-laden trucks.”
— Eric Mussen, UC Davis

Everyone Wants Honey And Almonds

No one is saying that we do away with almonds. Who doesn't enjoy a toasted, salted almond? Who can resist the lure of a delicate macaron?

No one is suggesting that we do away with honey bees or honey. 

We need to raise awareness that literally millions upon millions of honey bees give us all these almonds. We must find ways to support them.

 

Helping Our Honey Bees

There are ways that we can help the situation and our honey bees. We simply have to choose to do so.

At the personal level: buy local. Support small businesses of beekeepers and buy local, organic honey. Not only are you getting fresh, unadulterated honey, you also benefit from the local pollens.

Amongst the thousands of crop acres, we could restore portions of acreage with natural, bee-friendly habitat. This would favor native pollinators as well as honey bees.

The idea is to plant varied types of wildflowers in different areas for bees to have more places to forage and nest. With a robust population of native bees and pollinators, the amount of honey bees required could potentially be cut in half. 

Although, bear in mind, beekeepers currently make more profit from pollination services than they do from honey sales. This idea could be met with resistance from the beekeepers themselves.

irrigation ditch, california. ap photo/jae c. hong

Almonds And Water

Given California's recurring drought situation, it is worth noting that almond crops are one of the highest water consumers. It takes about a gallon of water for one almond. 

“There is little dispute that almonds are among the thirstiest crops in California. Almond trees require about 4 acre-feet of water a year for every acre planted.
Tomatoes and grapes take about half as much water...”
— David Goldhamer, UC Cooperative Extension

Furthermore, almond orchards are continual crops and must be watered throughout the year. Almond trees don't have the option to lie fallow during the off-season.

Everything We Do Touches Everything

There is nothing we do that doesn't touch everything. We are all connected together. The idea of separation is a simple delusion. It's not our greater truth.

With each breath we take, we touch a vibration that connects us all, all the time, wherever we are, whether we are conscious of it or not. 

This article Why California Almonds Need North Dakota Flowers (And A Few Billion Bees) describes the interconnection of our bees, orchards and wild flowers.

Support Honey Bees

It’s important to support local beekeepers. We need to continue to bring awareness about the almond groves and the growers as well as making sure that policy-makers make decisions and policies that are responsible and caring.

We can have both almonds and honey, but let's do so with awareness and responsible caretaking.

We may, however, want to rethink the idea that almond milk is vegan.

Summer Solstice Abundance

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Summer Solstice Is Here

Summer kicks off with the summer solstice, the longest day and shortest night of the year.

During this time of expanding light in the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun pours out its energy. As we move deeper into summer, the Earth responds with greater abundance.

Abundance Of The Farmers Market

One of the joys of summer is the farmers market in Davis, California. In this part of the state, we benefit from the wide variety of produce from the Central Valley basin as well as its long growing season.

Now that I've started canning and preserving, it's a blessing to have organic produce. Turning a delectable bounty into delicious jams means we'll have a bit of summer sunshine during the winter.

Canning Cherries

The organic cherries have just finished at the market. I was able to find time to make cherry-chocolate jam, cherry-port wine jam, and cherry-lemon marmalade. The cherry-chocolate jam is spoon-worthy. It's so good, you can eat it by itself, right out of the jar.

If someone ever gives you their own home-canned cherries, know that they hold you in high esteem. Canning cherries is a labor of love when you pit each and every one of them by hand.

Happily, even with all the detailed work involved, the Radiant Touch® that is within the hands-on of The Radiance Technique® (TRT®) was there with me while I held each cherry to extract the pit. The radiant energy accessed by TRT® went right into the jams I made.

What a loving gift to bring to our food.

Summer Time And The Living Is Easy

How do you experience the summer season?

More time for vacations? Spending more time outside? Gardening?

How about a summer solstice at Stonehenge?

The Abundance Of Summer

An abundance of sunlight translates into long, warm days. Summer stone fruits and berries fill our markets. We luxuriate as we swim in pools and lakes and read books while we swing in hammocks. We take extra time for rest and relaxation. 

Our hearts respond to the abundance of the season.

In The New Expanded Reference Manual of The Radiance Technique®, Authentic Reiki®, Third Edition by Dr. Barbara Ray, Ph.D. — the entry on Abundance is found on page 27:

“ABUNDANCE – Means great plenty and overflowing quantity. In higher consciousness, “abundance” is a quality of universal energy. With this technique you are accessing an energy which is limitless.
You can use this technique any time, any place as frequently as you choose and there is always universal, Radiant energy abundantly available to support you on all planes of your Being!”
— Dr. Barbara Ray, Ph.D.

As students of The Radiance Technique®, we can set aside a bit of vacation time for some dedicated TRT® hands-on to expand the energy of abundance in all areas of our lives. 

Enjoy the abundance of summer.