I was driving behind a huge yellow school bus yesterday, and noticed some strange sign in the back window that read (I can’t remember exactly) “All Clear”. There were no kids on the bus, so I assumed that the sign meant that the bus driver had inspected the bus for stray children, and found it to be empty. This made me remember a terrifying experience that I had as a kid.
When I was 7 years old I moved across the country to a poe-dunk town in the middle of the winter. My grandmother came with my mom and I to help us get settled in, and to help me in the adjusting process. My grandma, Mama, would drop me off and pick me up every day at the the school bus stop. However, one day it snowed and I got so disoriented that I wasn’t able to differentiate my neighborhood from the others. The bus driver thought that all of the kids were gone, and almost left me on the bus alone. I’ll never forget him walking down the aisle, picking up gum and trash…never expecting to find me huddled in my seat. I must have scared the shit out of him, I can only imagine. We had to go searching for my stop, but every single one looked unfamiliar. I suddenly began imagining that I would be lost forever…humiliated and alone. I thought that maybe I had been abandoned, and since I was going through a rough time in my life (I wasn’t being very nice), could it have been on purpose? We finally found my stop, where my Mama was completely losing it. Ya, know.. she was freaked that her punk-ass grandkid had been snatched or something.
Blah blah blah, I know. When I recalled this memory…what can I say….I remembered Mama’s love for me. I remembered how mean I was to her during that period of my life. She could have easily turned around and smacked me to high heaven…I would have dearly deserved it…but she never did. Unconditional love from your Mama is kinda like a great bowl of homemade granola: sweet and yummy, comforting, and a good way to start your day.
ok...that is watermelon...not salmon
Slightly Sweet Maple Nut Granola
This can be gluten-free if you have the $ for pricey GF oats!
6 cups rolled oats
1 cup whole raw almonds (or whatever nuts you like, really)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil (I really want to try it with coconut oil next!)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt (kosher sea salt is best)
Mix all of your dry ingredients together by hand. Now roll up your sleeves, poor all of the goopy wet ingredients into the dry one…and mix everything up until everything is fully and equally incorporated.
Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. Spread half of the mixture out onto each sheet pan…spread it all out as much as possible. Bake @ 355 degrees for 25 minutes. Half way through, using a spatula, pull the granola from the edges into the middle, and push the stuff from the middle to the outside. Granola on the edges cooks quicker than the rest, so you want to do some rotating and moving around of stuff to insure even baking. Bake until golden, but not too much!
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