Homemade Granola for Snacking & Gifting
Plus, 5 Dinners in Real Life
Hello and Happy December!
As I type this newsletter, it’s early morning and the light outside is slowly changing from the darkness of pre-dawn to the light blue of early morning. There is not a single cloud in the sky, because this is Southern California, where our holiday weather is relentlessly lovely.
The warm weather in LA makes it easy to pretend that the holiday season isn’t even happening. If you don’t particularly enjoy the holidays, this is a relief. For others, like myself, who would like nothing more than to be cozied up in a snowy cabin drinking hot cocoa and listening to Bing Crosby all month, it’s a bit of a bummer.
If you live in a miserably cold climate this time of year, you might be rolling your eyes at me right now. You’re probably thinking about how you’d be perfectly happy soaking up sunny 75° weather all month. And maybe you would. But when the weather is sunny almost every day through every season, a feeling of monotony sets in. December is like March and March is like June and June is like December. It’s easy to feel like time isn’t actually moving forward. Which is why you might find yourself on December 7th without any Christmas decorations up or lights strung or gifts bought. The Christmas season has sneaked up on me this year, and I’m not ready! Yesterday, I finally washed the table cloth that I used for Thanksgiving, if that gives you any indication of how slowly I’m moving through the holidays over here!
Recipe of the Week: Homemade Granola
I’ve shared this recipe before but I’m bringing it back this week because it’s both a simple pleasure AND a simple homemade gift that you can give this holiday season.
This granola recipe is an absolute favorite - I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t love it. It’s light and crunchy from both rolled oats & crispy rice cereal and has a caramelized brown sugar flavor with a hint of salt. I have two versions you can try: cinnamon granola on my blog and maple pecan granola for paid subscribers.
Find the free recipe for cinnamon granola → HERE
5 Dinners in Real Life
I’m always curious about what other families are eating. Aren’t you? I hope that my week of real life dinners will provide helpful recipes & cooking ideas for your family. Here’s what my crew’s been eating lately:
Monday: I loosely followed a recipe for 15-minute smoky brothy beans from Tried & True Recipes and served the creamy broth over linguine. It was really good! (I skipped the couscous and added only 1 cup of broth with the beans)
Tuesday: I tried an old recipe from my blog, and it’s still a keeper! Instant Pot soy sauce chicken thighs and rice is for anyone who likes the sweet, salty flavor of teriyaki chicken and rice. I served the chicken and rice with roasted broccoli and pot stickers on the side.
Wednesday: Wednesdays are really busy with work/school/sports and there is simply no time to cook dinner. It has officially become a “fend for yourself” night at my house. I’m trying to get better about cooking something on Tuesday that will provide leftovers for Wednesday. But on this particular night, I think the kids had grilled cheese sandwiches. I don’t even remember what I ate!
Thursday: We had broiled tofu, which is an easy and flavorful way to cook tofu. I served it with egg rolls, sautéed baby spinach and chow mein noodles that I flavored with a quick sauce made from 3 tablespoons lower sodium soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar and about a teaspoon of maple syrup.
Friday: Salmon baked with melted butter drizzled on top, sliced polenta heated in a skillet with olive oil, and sliced cucumbers for our veg. Easy, simple, fast!
Cookbooks
If you want to stick with simple desserts this holiday season, don’t forget about Snacking Cakes by Yossy Arefi. This baking cookbook was very popular when it came out in 2020 and I remembered it again last month when my daughter was asking for an apple cake on Thanksgiving.
Almost all of the simple cake recipes in this book can be mixed by hand in one bowl. There are celebration cakes and also cakes that would be perfect for breakfast when you have guests in town.
That’s it for this week! I need to get myself off the couch and out to some neighborhood shops to start Christmas shopping. Wish me luck!
xo
Jenny