A Fragrant Oatmeal with Cinnamon Apples to Enjoy During the Quiet Moments

"Well, we're in the midst of it." You hear yourself say to yourself with a sigh. Winter Break. Christmas Vacation. The "Holidays". And, you want to be that Mom. Really you do. You know, the one who is fun all the time. But you see, you have a "noise aversion". And with each day that draws Christmas nearer your children become that much more excitable. Louder. And you become that much more irritable. Cranky. But, you can't really be angry with them. No. Because they are truly just giddy with glee. And you want to feel their glee but all you feel is the pounding.

The pounding brought on by your sweet 13-year old daughter, who for no real apparent reason other than sheer joy, starts running through the house. And, at almost 5 feet 8 inches tall....bless her heart....well, those are loud footsteps. And of course, her brothers who adore her every move (especially the 11-year old) start following her, swinging over the furniture like chimpanzees. And then the 5-year old, who isn't quite as adept at the "swinging" as his older brother, gets stuck atop a chair and almost knocks over a snow globe as he tries to swing his leg around...a gigantic snow globe. (Never mind the fact that they are not even supposed to be "climbing on the furniture".) It's at that instant that you feel the stress level in your body move up a notch.

But somehow you keep moving forward. Stress and all. Checking things off your list. And you manage to get everyone into bed after which you collapse into yours and fall sound asleep. Only to wake up at 5:30am thinking about what you need to get done that day.

So, you quietly slip out from under the covers and head downstairs. You flick on the lights of the Christmas tree which sparkle against the windows and a still dark sky. You sit down at your worn kitchen table...the one that has stoically held up after years and years of "art" projects....with your cup of tea. In the background, your current favorite rendition of Silent Night is playing. Silent Night. Your favorite Christmas carol. The one you sing to your 5-year old every time you tuck him in. The one you used to sing to your older children until it was too awkward to tuck them in with a lullaby. And you enjoy the stillness of the moment.

It's not long before you hear a door open and then, the sound of lego pieces "clicking" against each other. The 5-year old is up. You rise from your seat and head into the kitchen. As you stand at the counter slicing apples and pears, you notice that the sky is starting to brighten. Your slices quietly saute in butter, brown sugar and cinnamon and your oatmeal gently gurgles next to them. Your two eldest slip down the stairs...awoken by the warm smells. They both have those sleepy eyes. You know the ones. Those eyes, no matter how old they get, are the same ones that looked at you when they were sleepy babies.

You call them over to the table and set down bowls of oatmeal topped with the cinnamon apples in front of them. Your husband kisses you on the cheek as he heads off to work and for just a moment, everyone is awake and everyone is calm.

And then, the sugar from the apples hits their systems and its back to swinging over the furniture but you tell yourself you can persevere through the chaos because you know tomorrow morning, a little slice of calm will be waiting for you.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas...Happy Holidays...Season's Greetings! Wherever you are and whatever you may celebrate, I hope a little bit of silence finds you amidst the bustle of the holiday season.


I'll "see" you after we ring in 2011. Happy New Year!

Fragrant Oatmeal Topped with Spiced Apples

I love oatmeal. It's probably my favorite breakfast dish. I'm always trying to find ways to entice the kids to eat the homemade version as opposed to the kind that comes in a little packet. They LOVED this. If you don't like your oatmeal too "milky", you can always substitute water for the milk. I prefer that my oatmeal isn't too sugary but you can add more honey if you like yours fairly sweet. Also, you can substitute the apples with a good baking pear such as Bosc if you'd like.

Ingredients:
1 c milk
1/2 to 1 c water (less water equals a thicker oatmeal)
1 c rolled oats
A pinch of kosher salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 baking apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (Braeburn, Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp, etc.)
2 tbsp light brown sugar (I didn't pack mine down too tightly.)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves

Optional: toasted walnut pieces

Directions:
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring your milk, water and salt to a boil. Stir in your oats and vanilla. Reduce heat and let simmer on very low heat 5-15 minutes depending on the consistency that you like your cereal. Stirring occasionally. Once it's done cooking, stir in your honey, remove from heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large non-stick pan, melt your butter. Add your apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice and cloves. Saute, stirring occasionally, until your apples are tender, about 5 minutes.

Spoon your oatmeal evenly into four bowls. Top with your cinnamon apples and sprinkle with walnuts, if desired. Enjoy....

Yield: 4 small bowls of oatmeal or two large ones







All original text and photographs copyright: Carrie Minns 2009-2010

Blueberry Crumble....To Share

It all started about 8 years ago with a seemingly unassuming jar of pesto. Not a ziploc bag of pesto. Or a tiny little 1/2 pint jar of pesto. But one of those generously sized Ball jars with the wire hook flip lid filled right up to the brim with homemade pesto and topped off with a thin layer of olive oil. She handed it to me without any pomp and circumstance and non-chalantly said to me, "I was making some pesto and thought you might like some." I was so moved by my neighbor's generosity, especially considering that we barely knew each other having recently moved in, that I found myself speechless. A rarity for me. I still have that jar.

Some people have the gift of giving. They just know how to choose the right thing or the perfect moment to bestow a "special something" upon another person. I, on the other hand, was not blessed with that "gift." The holidays are always fraught with anxiety for me. I never know what to get people. How much to spend. I over-think what they would like. (Remember that Batik shorts outfit I gave you one year, sister?) I do have family members, friends, neighbors who are natural "gift givers" so I can see how it's done. And I know how it feels to be the recipient of their generosity but.....while I want to be a "pesto-giver" myself, I never can seem to stop talking myself out of all the reasons why someone wouldn't like what I have to give.

To my absolute thrill over the years, my sweet neighbor did not stop with the pesto. "You have to try this chocolate cake." "A chocolate truffle." "We brought you back some halibut from Alaska." "Thought you might like a 'homemade' vanilla latte." "I brought over these smoked Kokane for you to try along with this rosemary cheddar." Even her kind daughter started bringing "gifts" over....cookies, fancifully decorated cupcakes. And each time, I was as genuinely grateful as the first time and simply enjoyed basking in the glow of "gift receivers" delight. That is...until my daughter happened to non-chalantly toss out the comment, "Mom, we never give them anything."....and broke the spell.

I have to admit that after she said that declarative statement to me, I pondered long and hard on it. First, I considered the basic truth that I'm not much of a baker. To say, "Here's a few strips of our flank steak leftover from dinner." just doesn't have the same ring as, "I brought you a slice of my cranberry chocolate tart with homemade caramel sauce drizzled on top." But, secondly, if I'm completely honest I believe the over-thinking always seems to win out. "They wouldn't want this. Why would they want this? I don't want to bother them. I'm sure I'll be bothering them. They probably don't even like this kind of food. Maybe they have food allergies. I could've made these better. As a matter-of-fact, these aren't even that good." And on and on I go until I hear myself say to myself, "Gads...enough already. No one wants to hear it especially me."

The other day I happened to pop by my dear neighbor's house for a quick chat and as I turned to go she said to me, "Oh, I almost forgot..." and disappeared around the corner. A second later she was back, "We brought you a bag of blueberries from Hood River." Walking home, cradling my bag of berries, I remembered a blueberry recipe that I had recently flagged and I knew what I was going to do.

Later, I watched as my daughter headed out the front door with the still warm blueberry crumble. I heard myself say to myself, "Oh, I wish the crumble had more oats. Next time I'm putting more oats in the crumble. Wait a minute....crumble....didn't they say a few years ago they didn't like crumble." But as my daughter passed by the kitchen window, I heard my wiser, kinder-self say, "Enough. Why must you always be so hard on yourself? Let it be what it will be."

That afternoon, my neighbor's daughter was over "hanging out" as teenagers often do and she said to me, "Oh, Carrie, I had some of your blueberry dish. It was really good. My Mom only let me have a little bit though. She's making cinnamon gelato right now and she said we're going to have that with the crumble tonight for dessert." My single solitary thought after she said all of this was simply, "Where's my share of the cinnamon gelato?" Still waiting...


Blueberry Crumble
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated 2010

Our Oregon blueberries are amazing right now. If you can get your hands on some, you simply must bring them home by the "flat-full" and either just pop them in your mouth, sprinkle them over yogurt and granola or freeze them later for smoothies or as a topper over vanilla ice cream (the latter being my sweetie's favorite way to consume blueberries.) Or...make this scrumptious blueberry crumble.

Ingredients:
1/2 c granulated sugar
4 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt (divided)
5 c fresh blueberries
2/3 c unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/3 c old-fashioned oats
1/3 c packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces and chilled

Directions:
With your rack on the lower-middle position, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Mix your granulated sugar, cornstarch and 1/8 tsp salt in a large bowl. Add your blueberries and gently toss them to coat evenly with the mixture. Pour out into an 8-inch square baking dish and set aside.

Put your flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and remaining salt in the bowl of a food processor and process until dime sized clumps form. Now, I never really reached the "dime sized" clumps status and ended up using my fingers to clump the crumble into dime-sized clumps. Speaking of fingers, you can also make the crumble without a food processor and instead, use a pastry blender or two knives. Make sure to pinch together all of the powdery parts and then, sprinkle crumble evenly over the berries.

Pop your dish in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the filling is bubbling around the edges and the topping is golden brown. Cool on wire rack for at least 30 minutes. My personal preference was eating this at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream....for breakfast. Enjoy.

Yield: 6 servings.....




All original text and photographs copyright: Carrie Minns 2009-2010

A Humble Yet Decadent Homemade Granola

The older kids are off to school and the house holds just the 4-year old and myself. I look at my To-Do list...at least 143 items long. Where do I even begin? I hadn't taken the time on Monday to organize the list into more manageable bits and now here it is mid-week..."sigh." My mind wanders to a recipe, darling Shannalee recently posted on her poignant blog, Food Loves Writing. Olive Oil Granola. Ever since my daughter made homemade granola last summer, I have been intrigued with making my own "cereal"...so to speak. Hers was so delicious and easy to make, it now seems silly to buy it. When I saw Shannalee's recipe, I knew I had to try it out as well.

When I feel overwhelmed by the tasks of life, I simply check out from them. I procrastinate. And, usually when I'm procrastinating, you'll find me cooking. So, instead of checking anything off my list, I hauled out the humble ingredients for the granola. I mixed them together and popped it all in the oven. Then, I called over to my littlest one who was quietly drawing at the kitchen table. "Let's go outside and check out the birds." Ever since my daughter studied birds in 6th grade and we hung some feeders to attract the winged-critters for her observation, I have become a bird watcher. I get a thrill out of watching the flocks of chickadees land in our branches. The red-crested woodpecker poke-poke-poking his beak into the suet. What exactly does that say about me...my bird watching that is...and should I be admitting it?"

So, there we sat, side-by-side, on the front porch gazing across the way at the birds. Enjoying the cherry blossoms and the wave of daffodils the deer have fortunately left alone. (Yes, the daffodils resulting from my crazy bulb planting last fall.) He in his Star Wars jammies and me in my jammies exercise clothes. The rich smells of cinnamon and cardamom wafting out through the door left ajar. I glance at his profile. No longer the toddler he once was. Those plump round cheeks are giving way to a more defined look. He says to me, "Do I get to go to school today?" "No, sweetie, not today." "I like school." "I know." We can feel it. The time is coming. Time for him to start elementary school. And, after 13 straight year of having a little buddy by my side, it's time for me to move onto the next stage. But, it's okay to want to hold onto this one a little longer, isn't it? I kiss the top of his head and go in to stir the granola. He follows behind me.

A wise friend of mind once said that life is but a series of stages. She always seems so at peace with the passing of each stage and the introduction into each new one. I know that it's time. Time for what life brings me next but when you've been in one stage for so long it can be a bit daunting...wondering what's next. We carry little bowls of the sinfully delicious granola back outside. Fragrant and chewy but with a hint of crunch from the nuts. We sit down on the front steps just in time to see a squirrel making away with an entire suet block almost twice his size. "So, that's who's been clipping the rope to the feeder and making away with the food." And, I thought it had been the crows. We continue to sit there. Side-by-side. He and I. My littlest one and me. Watching the squirrel's progress. And, I try to be in the moment. Enjoying my procrastination, my little buddy...and every bit of my homemade granola.

Olive Oil Granola

Inspired by Shannalee and originally published in the New York Times

I love this granola. So, did all of my kids....well, except for the one allergic to nuts for obvious reasons. We mixed it with plain yogurt, drizzled with honey and topped with sliced bananas. I used the yogurt/granola mix as a dip for sliced apples for snack one day. We ate it straight out of hand. But probably the best way that my daughter and I enjoyed this granola was sprinkled over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The bits of salt and spice mixed with the smooth, creamy vanilla...unbelievable. I think you need to go make this right now. Go ahead. Get going. And, let me know if you agree...about the granola and ice cream that is.

Ingredients:

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chopped, slivered almonds

1 cup coconut flakes

3/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

3/4 cup chopped, dried apricots (I would use raisins next time. Just my personal preference.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except apricots. (If using raisins, I would add them to the bowl at this point.) Mix to combine. Spread mixture on a rimmed baking sheet in an even layer. You can spread the mixture on top of parchment paper or a Silpat to make clean-up easier. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes of so, until golden brown and well toasted.

Transfer granola to a large bowl and add apricots, tossing to combine. Enjoy.

Yield: About 9 cups.

All original text and photographs copyright: Carrie Minns 2009-2010

Cookin' Up Some Aussie Bites

The day had started out with fog and heavy, dark clouds and continued on that way until late in the afternoon which is why I was surprised when a bright beam of sunlight burst through our living room windows. While I'm always thrilled to see the sun, any sun, at this time of year...this particular kind of sun..bright, white, blinding and late afternoon...is the kind of sunlight that illuminates every speck of dirt on my windows and countertops. As I turned around to face the sun and looked across the room through the haze of dust and dander, I could see something shiny glinting in the sunlight. Curious as to what it was, I made my way over to the couch only to find...the foil remnants of a granola bar wrapper. And, on the table beside it, was a collection of sticky, empty fruit leather wrappers. It was as if I'd stumbled upon Templeton the Rat's paradise.

While I pride myself on making sure my family is well fed at breakfast, lunch and dinner, it's the 4th meal of the day...the ole "afternoon snack"...that I just can't wrap my arms around. I just don't want to make another meal and yet, I find, that as my kids are entering the "adolescent years", they're starving...constantly. You should see my 10-year old take out an entire box of granola bars in one sitting...leaving only the box on the shelf...literally.

As I was speeding the baby to preschool the other day, he alerted me, with a piercing scream, that his "special lego guy" had just fallen into an unidentified crack. Once we arrived at his school, instead of just turning around to look in the back, I actually got in the back in an attempt to locate the missing "guy." There, under the seat, was the precious lego guy nestled amongst a handful of empty snack wrappers. "What is going on here?"

Other countries have formalized this...hour of the day. Halfway between lunch and dinner. The longest stretch without food. Afternoon tea in England. Goûter in France. When I had the good fortune to be an exchange student in Portugal, my host family would sit us down to "lanche" at 4 o'clock in the afternoon for a full meal. Only to be followed at 8 o' clock by a full dinner. I developed a special fondness for "lanche". Looked forward to it every day because, while there was always meat, cheese and bread laid out, this "meal" was especially heavy with the delectable Portuguese cakes.

On Sunday, I spent 5 hours in the great outdoors weeding and whining bitterly to myself joyfully communing with nature. Our yard had been attacked by weeds and the irony was that neither neighbor on either side had a single one while we had a sea of green swaying in the wind across our entire back side. Having already filled one yard debris bin, I threw down my gloves and stomped off to get the back-up bin. As I was walking, begrudgingly to the front yard, and was just about to launch into this tirade again, my daughter skips down the stairs and says, "Hey, Mom...want some help?" I wanted to kiss her feet. Sending her off to continue weeding, I grabbed the bin from the garage and started rolling it back in her direction when a little flash of light caught my eye from the depths of the bin. I kid you not...another granola bar wrapper. "Gads." It was then that I knew some changes needed to be made.

I believe it was last summer, I was watching an interview with Jamie Oliver in regards to his "food revolution". He emphasized to the interviewer that "...at some point, someone has to get in the kitchen and cook food if we're going to save ourselves from this food crises we've managed to get ourselves into...and it doesn't always have to be the woman." (I like to tack that last part onto the quote.) I guess the time has come to actually make something for snack instead of relying on little foil wrapped bits of...oats. This will be a new venture for me and, while I still don't want to be standing over a stove at 2:30 in the afternoon, perhaps I can find a happy medium. I'll share my discoveries with you as I go along but first up was the challenge to recreate the "Aussie Bites" I've picked up from time to time at Costco. The beauty of these little golden bites is that the homemade version can't even be compared to the store-bought they are so incredible and, bonus....no foil or plastic wrappers to be found.

Golden Aussie Bites...Carrie Style

Inspired by this eHow recipe 

After searching the internet for the infamous Aussie Bites recipe, I came across what appeared to be the original "butter baked" recipe and an updated version with a nod toward healthy eating which called for coconut oil instead of butter. Now, I love butter just as much as the next person, but I happened to have some coconut oil leftover from a recipe I'll post sometime in the near future. Because I like to torture myself and research even the most seemingly-insignificant items of my kitchen, the people in the know lead me to this coconut oil as the best...hands down. Once you're done using it in the kitchen, you can even rub it all over your body when you get out of the shower...a repurposing kind of thing. After pulling the first batch of bites from the oven, I stood at my kitchen counter and sunk my teeth into one..."Hmmmm....a bit birdish." I just didn't care for the sunflower seeds. Could be that at the exact moment I was taking my first bite, I was also staring out at my new "Squirrel Buster" bird feeder filled with black oil sunflower seeds and flocked by little song birds. So I did a bake-off, just for you, dear friend, and because I am a glutton for punishment I simply love to bake. With seeds, without. With nuts, without. One with butter, one with coconut oil and after all of the batches were made and laid across the counter for my dear children to sample...the version below came out on top. I did, however, include the "butter" version, which was tasty as well, in case you find mine to be a bit too crazy...you know, with the coconut oil and all.

1 1/2 cups oats

1/2 cup golden, flax seeds

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut (I use this kind.)

3/4 cup slivered almonds

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup finely chopped dried fruit - I used apricots, raisins and cranberries

1/4 cup honey

1 cup virgin, cold-pressed coconut oil (I use this kind.) (See note below.)

(Or, instead of coconut oil, 2 sticks unsalted, butter.)

1 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp hot water

3 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix first 8 ingredients together (oats-vanilla)

Melt honey and coconut oil together

Mix baking soda with hot water and add to coconut oil mixture. (Yes, this does have the appearance of a mad scientist experiment.)

Pour coconut oil mixture into dry ingredients, add eggs and mix well.

Plop a tablespoon of the mixture into each little mini-muffin well and flatten slightly. (I use non-stick muffin tins and did not grease them but if you are at all concerned you may want to lightly grease yours. Oh, and I didn't flatten mine. Didn't seem to matter.) Bake for 10 minutes or until golden. (For regular muffins, bake for 15 minutes.) Let cool in tins for a minute or so then, remove from tins and let cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container or freeze some for later. Enjoy.

Yield: About 4 dozen mini-muffins.

Aussie Bites - Take 2
Delicious recipe by Min of The Bad Girl's Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 cups oats

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 3 1/2 oz can of unsweetened coconut or 1 1/4 cup flaked

1/2 cup sunflower kernels

1 cup finely chopped dried fruit (apricot, raisins, dates, figs, cranberries, etc.)

1/4 cup honey

2 sticks unsalted butter

1 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp hot water

3 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix first 6 ingredients in a bowl.

Melt honey and butter together in microwave.

Mix baking soda with hot water and add to butter mixture.

Pour butter mixture into dry ingredients, add eggs and mix well.

Place a tablespoons of mixture into each non-stick mini muffin well (lightly greased) and flatten mixture slightly. Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden. Cool on wire racks.

Yield: About 4 dozen

NOTE: While I am by no means an expert on the subject, here is my take on coconut oil. There is the unhealthy, hydrogenated coconut oil, which, for years, was being used extensively in "industrial food" and especially gained a bad name for itself when it was being used on movie theater popcorn. Then, there is the healthier, coconut oil that this recipe calls for - virgin, non-hydrogenated, cold-pressed coconut oil. While many of the experts are still undecided on coconut oil, in my own humble, so very humble opinion, I believe that it will go much the same way as avocados, walnuts & such - once feared for their fat content and now, the "powers that be" are recognizing their nutritional value. I could be wrong but I'd keep your eye on this little guy. You can find cold-pressed, virgin coconut oil at most health food stores, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, New Seasons - here in Portland, and on-line.

NOTE: By no means should you feel any obligation to comment; however, I know some of you, dear friends, have tried to leave me your enlightening words and it has been brought to my attention that my "commenter" is rawther, temperamental. I am in the process of getting it fixed, but until that happens, should you like to leave a comment, try this: after you type your comment, hit publish, the computer will say it can't process it so hit "preview" and then, try to publish it after that. That's what I have to do to leave a comment on my own blog......gads.

All original text and photographs copyright: Carrie Minns 2009-2010

"Do-It-Yourself" Granola

You have appeared to my life,

Feel like I'll never be the same.

Like a Star by Corinne Bailey Rae

With a great whoosh of air, I watch as the navy and white striped sheet flutters to the ground. For a brief moment, I am transported back to its glory days. Back to the first apartment I shared with my sweetie where this simple sheet rested prominently on our bed. The same apartment where our cat, Bruce, a mere kitten at the time decided to skydive off our third floor balcony without a parachute, quickly using up one of his lives. The same apartment where I decided to can salsa for Christmas gifts, using a recipe I'd never tried nor had I bothered to really taste during the creating. The salsa did not become a tradition. Perhaps it was the Worcestershire sauce.

Another gust of air and this time it's a Florentine marbled design in peaches, soft blues and pale pink. I can see the bed in my college room where this sheet started out, fresh and new. I can see it in its final place of honor. A guest bed. Twin. Of the Bedknobs and Broomstick variety. The guest room in that little walk-up in Noe Valley. The very place where I threw a 30th Birthday party for my sweetie while simultaneously suffering from the flu. The same party that included a particularly distinguished guest, that being the chef and owner of our San Francisco neighborhood's very own Italian restaurant. When a metallic smell started emanating from the oven, it was he who discovered that I had failed to remove the plastic protector from underneath my brand new pizza stones before using them. He quickly pulled the noxious pizzas from the oven as a trail of hot plastic oozed behind him like pulled taffy.

A flash of pink and white check and it's my daughter's first bedroom. Ballet pink. Baby dolls and handmade cradles. Dress-up clothes and a kitchen. Fish sticks, peas and applesauce. The swath of material softly falls to the ground and takes up its place next to the others. Together they make up my painting quilt, of sorts, protecting the floor as I rhythmically cover up the ballet pink with each stroke of the brush.

I know that at some point in your 30s, there is a bridge that is crossed. The one where you leave your painting days behind and instead, hire out that sort of job but let me say a few words in favor of "do-it-yourself" painting. For starters, it's cathartic. Relaxing. The mesmerizing sound of the brush against the wall. And, painting is very deliberate. It can't be rushed. You have to slow down. Be careful. Don't splatter. You find yourself left alone with your thoughts. Painting gives you a moment to pause. To consider that the daughter who once wrapped herself in every shade of pink imaginable is no longer that little girl. No, she is somewhere between the woman she will become and the adolescent that she is. And with each stroke of the brush you recognize that she is growing up. Her walls are becoming a creamy white. And while there is some tug at your heart, knowing that the little girl will never be again, you can't help but be excited for what lay ahead. With each passing day, you are able to shed little bits of your role as parent. Knowing that one day, should you do your job well, you will shed enough of the parent role, to be her friend. And so, you say good-bye to the ballet pink and the subtle chain of daisies you stenciled round the room all those years ago.

I pick-up my cup of hot, chamomile/mint tea. I gaze outside at the gray skies and 64-degree weather. Not an uncommon summer day in Portland but one that my "Phoenix-habitating" brother would consider to be straight out of mid-winter. I reach down to the ramekin of granola I've been munching on all morning. I can't think of a more delightful painting snack. Oats, bits of almonds & walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, a pinch of salt and a dollop of maple syrup all roasted to perfection. And, I pause to consider that while I had been taping off the trim in the early morning hours, my almost teenage daughter had been roasting up this delectable concoction. The very one that I munch on now. And there's another reason to be in favor of "do-it-yourself" painting. When you tell the kids that you will be unavailable for the day due to the painting project. That they will be in charge of their own snacks. Their own meals. And that they will make sure the baby gets fed. They take you seriously. And you become the happy benefactor of their independent ways.

The sky has grown dark. The granola's long since gone. I gaze around at my work. The pink has disappeared. "Not bad." The creamy white my daughter picked out looks fresh. New. I turn out the light, wrap my hands around my cup of tea and head down the hallway.

"Do-It-Yourself" Granola

(Adapted from Elle's Nutty Granola, Foodnetwork.com)

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (I prefer Bob's Red Mill)

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup almonds

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup real maple syrup

1/2 cup raisins

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Mix all of the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray or as my daughter did, just rub a little butter over it. Pour the granola mixture onto the sheet and spread it out evenly. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Smell, taste, enjoy.

Originally written: August 7, 2009

All original text and photographs copyright: Carrie Minns 2009