Morning

Mornings are fairly quiet in our house until the toddler wakes up. Toddler then wakes up older brother and sister by jumping up and down in his crib and pelting them with pacifiers. Because today is Monday, the breakfast menu likely will be granola with sliced fruit for the children, and for the grown-ups scrambled eggs with tomatoes, onions, goat cheese, and whatever greens I have hanging around. Oh, and Four Barrel ristretto shots for Spouse and me.

Menu: Granola
Music: Misc. traffic noises
Drinking: Coffee

This is my friend Ann's mother's recipe. I trust Ann because, well, she is trustworthy and she has three boys under seven. Ann knows non-fussy recipes. So, next time you are shopping at your friendly local food collective (bonus points to the collective that closes for Pride Day and Cesar Chavez Day), buy any type of grains, seeds, and/or nuts that you like. My children are pickers (what's this, mama? (tiny speck of partially masticated something held up for inspection)), so I keep it simple.

1-2 lb. rolled oats (not the quick-cooking kind)
1 cup golden flax seed
half cup raw pumpkin seeds
raisins (to be added later)
1 cup or so dark brown sugar
half cup maple syrup (you want grade B)
half cup canola oil
pinch salt

Throw your oats and seeds into a large bowl. Add the brown sugar and mix, adding a little kosher salt. Pour the maple syrup and canola oil into a glass measuring cup and blitz for 30 seconds or so -- depending on what level of hellfire your microwave can bring. You really just want to gently warm the two so that you can mix them together. Pour over mixture and stir gently. Spread out on a pan, and place in a 300 degree oven, stirring occasionally. Bake until crunchy and the house smells so good you just can't stand it. Add raisins or other dried fruit after you've taken it out of the oven. At our last dinner party, nobody remembered dessert, so we dragged out the granola bin and munched while sipping Blue Bottle Firelit liqueur. Hypothetically, many bottles of wine had been consumed by this point. That is a recipe for another day, however.

Note: I'm fairly imprecise about measurements because I tend to cook by eye or by hand. Most of the time, this works just fine for me, and I can live with any small imperfections. My mother, however, is a measurement person, and my imprecision drives her crazy. Feel free to play around the margins, and adjust any seasonings to taste.