There’s nothing better than a bowl of granola with soy milk on a foggy Bay Area morning. Especially if it’s homemade. This recipe was taken from Rose Bakery, one of the all-time great cookbooks. It also makes a great gift packaged in a tall cellophane bag, tied with a ribbon, and attached to a card. Which is why I always make two batches. One for me, one for everyone else.

Raw honey from my dad’s bee hives

Honey Granola

5 1/3 cups rolled oats

1 ¼ c whole almonds

2/3 c sunflower seeds

¾ c pumpkin seeds

1/3 c sesame seeds

½ c sunflower oil

1 c honey

¼ brown sugar

a few drops of vanilla la extract

pinch of ground cinnamon

½ t salt

1 handful dried fruit

Preheat oven to 275 F

In a bowl, mix together the oats, almonds, and seeds.

Put the sunflower oil, honey, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a saucepan with ½ c water.

Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then pour over the dry ingredients in the bowl and mix well.

If the mixture is too wet add more oats- there should be no excess liquid at the bottom of the pan, and the mixture should be sticky.

Spread out evenly on a baking tray and bake slowly for about 1 hour or until the granola is golden. Switch off the oven and leave to dry out for a further hour- or even overnight.

When all is cool and ready to eat, add the dried fruit and serve with milk or soy milk.