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.