Sunday, May 4, 2014

Weekend Update!

Yesterday, my friend Diana and I went to a house concert.  It featured Lunenburg County's own Cynthia Myers and Steve Normandin, a French accordionist, pianist.  They played and sang in English and French and the songs were centred around Paris and love.  The sun was shining, the windows and patio doors were open and quite often the birds joined in the singing.  If I'd had a glass of wine and closed my eyes, I could easily imagine I was actually in Paris at a roadside cafe.  It was delightful.  And afterwards, we were served a delicious brunch.  

I came home from church on Sunday in the sunshine.  So, I had wonderful plans for the afternoon:  I'd rake the rest of last autumn's leaves off the remaining two flower beds, then go for a long leisurely walk with Nagisa.  I planned on the 5 km walk as the weather was so fine and I had the whole afternoon.  By the time I finished lunch, clouds had settled over me.  As I raked, the drizzle came down.  

So, I headed for the kitchen, and I made granola.




















It's a wonderful mixture:  Combine & heat 1/2 cup canola oil, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup honey, 1/3 cup water, 1.5 tsp salt and 1.5 tsp vanilla.  Pour this over a mixture of 6 cups old fashioned oatmeal, 1 cup coconut, 1/2 cup bran and 1 cup mixed nuts and stir to coat.  Pour this onto a large baking sheets with sides and slowly bake at 300 deg F for about 30 min, stirring every 5 min so that the granola is evenly toasted.

Once this is baked and has cooled, toss in dried fruit of your choice. Today I added some chopped apricots and raisins and dried blueberries -- probably about a cup in all.  My yogurt and my tummy will be happy tomorrow.


I then made 2 recipes of Turmeric tea.  Just in case you've been hiding under a rock for the past year or so, turmeric is the next miracle healer.  It's supposed to be great for reducing inflammation for us osteo-arthritis suffers as well as great for many, many other ailments.  The yellow paste in the little bowl is just that -- a turmeric paste.  A tsp of this in hot water 1-2 times a day is all that's needed apparently; adding milk and sweetener is up to you.  The 2nd recipe in the mason jars was a mixture of water, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger and cloves simmered and strained:  this is to be added to hot milk and served as you would a chai tea.  So, I tried it with foamy milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
It was very yummy!  But the spices do tend to settle to the bottom.  (Swirl that around and drink quickly; a little grainy but much better than having to take a pill.)  Fingers crossed that this will help.

All of this deserved a wee nap on the sofa (must have been that warm milk!), the rain gently falling and the TV for background noise.   Gotta love a rainy Sunday afternoon. 

And now as I'm off to watch "Call the Midwife", I'll leave you with a little taste of Steve Normandin and Paris.  Hope your weekend was enjoyable.






9 comments:

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

I love Call of the Midwife! Glad you had a great weekend!

Miss Dishywoo said...

What a lovely weekend. The concert sounds like it was just wonderful. Isn't it great to get stocked up on your recipes? I love granola but have never tried the turmeric tea. Just finished watching Call the Midwife. Gotta love PBS.

TARYTERRE said...

The concert sounds lovely. I have never heard of using turmeric for tea. If it helps with reducing inflammation, that is a wonderful thing, indeed.

Pamela Gordon said...

I took a listen to Steve's video. It does sound very Parisian. :) Have a great week! Hopefully we'll see the sun shine a bit more.

renae said...

My gracious, thank you! Today I finally feel normal {pre-chemo normal}. My hair is to vanish on Sunday. odd. Mother's Day. Guess it is better to lose your hair that respect of the title of Mother on that day, huh? Thanks for all of your compliments/ support / friendship and loyalty. ♥, Renae

Kay said...

Looks to me like you've had a fabulous weekend! I'm wishing you an equally happy week.

Kathleen's Blog said...

Yummmm--that granola looks so good, I think I have to make some. We have a blustery winter evening here, so that's a perfect setting to make crunchy homemade granola!!

By the way, I love 'Call the Midwife' too!!!

Linda H said...

I too love Call the Midwife, but I miss Jenny Lee, I hope she comes back... Question abut your Granola recipe- when you say bran, you mean just the bran like you would put in muffins, right? Not All Bran or Bran Flakes?

Goody said...

The turmeric concentrate has me intrigued.I have RA, and anything that can help with inflammation is worth trying (I'm going through a rough patch right now, but for ten years it has been mostly controlled, so I don't want to whine too much).

Your granola recipe is so completely different from mine (I just toss everything in a bowl, stir to coat, and plop it on the pan)but I need to make granola today (we have a fridge full of blackberries to go with it)and I'm going to try yours.

Thank you for posting both of these-I sense a couple of life-improving recipes.

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