Have you bought any granola lately? Or any breakfast cereal for that matter? The price of cereal is through the roof and granola is way at the top of the range. And, honestly, I don’t know why. Our typical weekday breakfast around here includes a bowl of cereal of some kind and that really puts a dent in my weekly food shopping budget. Also, most granola has a pretty high fat content and it’s usually a hydrogenated fat – the kind you really want to avoid if possible.
So, I was really excited to find a great recipe for homemade granola in one of Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food cookbooks. By the way, those cookbooks have some of the most beautiful food photography I’ve seen. I only dream about taking a photo a gorgeous as the ones in those cookbooks. Just incredible.
But I digress. Back to the granola. This recipe is simple to make and you can use whatever nuts and fruits your family likes. I chose pecans and a berry-raisin-cherry mix. Walnuts or almonds would be good, too. So would dried cranberries and apples. The combinations are up to you! The apple juice concentrate lets the granola get crisp without using so much oil. The entire recipe contains only 2 tablespoons of oil and it makes at least six generous servings.
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You might not think that growing up as I did in a tiny, rural south Georgia town in the 50’s and 60’s would provide a person with many social opportunities. That assumption would be so wrong! I believe we probably had more social events back then than people have these days. And the most important social occasions in my small hometown were showers. Wedding showers and baby showers. Showers were big events back then. Huge events, really. It was not unusual for several hundred people to be invited to a wedding shower. Putting on a shower of that size required some detailed planning. Invitations were printed, hand addressed and mailed sufficiently ahead so that everyone could place the event on her calendar. Hostesses were assigned specific responsibilities and the gift shops in town prepared for the multitude of purchases which were delivered and set up on display tables before the honoree arrived. Many gifts were accompanied by the engraved calling card of the giver.
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I still remember the first time I ever had Carne Asada Tacos. It was in Albany, Georgia, at the El Maya II mexican restaurant. I ordered them because I wanted something different from my usual soft beef tacos with a side of frijoles. And what a perfect choice it was! I remember the burst of flavor packed into the Carne Asada and the perfect compliment of the Tomatilla Sauce that came with them. We moved away from Albany some time back and I’ve been on the hunt for a perfect Carne Asada Taco ever since. I’ve found one that comes really, really close at El Sombrero in Flowery Branch. Pretty good, but not quite El Maya.
I would have never thought I could make a good Carne Asada Taco at home. I’ve searched for recipes online and in Mexican cookbooks, but they all seemed too complicated. So, when the nice folks at Foodbuzz recently sent me a bottle of Kikkoman’s new Lime Ponzu Sauce to try and it included a recipe for Carne Asada Tacos, I was thrilled! I mixed up the marinade, let the steak sit for a while, cranked up the grill and, let me tell you, the result was fantastic. If you see the new Kikkoman Lime Ponzu in your grocery store, grab a bottle and give this easy recipe a try.
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