Chelsy and Allison in the Kitchen

Hello!

Wow! November flew by so quickly! Its hard to believe the holidays are already here! Christmas is my favorite holiday of all! I love all the special baking and cooking we do in preparation for Christmas. We usually don�t do a lot of cookies, but instead do things like party-mix, chocolate-peanut clusters, peppermint-white chocolate candy, and the all-time family favorite, when everyone gets to help dip pretzels in melted chocolate. It is so much more fun to bake when it�s snowing!

 

These days I�ve been busy w/ giving piano lessons, cooking, cleaning, school, reading, music, and taking care of my new baby brother, who was born 2 days after I wrote my last article. Hudson Reed is such a sweetie!!�� I love babies, and it�s so much fun to have a �real� baby again!!! Allison and I were at his birth, and I got to give him his 1st hug!!

We have given up on catching up in numbers to the boys though. We were hoping for a girl, but now I wouldn�t trade him for a dozen girls! We now have 3 and a � dozen children!! (3 girls, and a � doz.(6) boys)

 

This month my younger sis Allison (11), is going to share the recipe for our family�s favorite granola cereal. She is the �Granola Queen� at our house, and loves to add new little ingredients of her own. Since we live on a dairy farm, we have plenty of milk whenever we need it. I was just thinking the other day how much milk we go through a day, and how frequent our store trips would be if we didn�t have it right here!

 

Well, we just got our 1st snow for the year last night, and the boys have been begging me to come outside w/ them to enjoy it! How can I resist??

Hope you all enjoy the holidays and have a very Merry Christmas!!

Chelsy

 

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�Hello! I�m Allison, Chelsy�s younger sister. I am eleven years old, and the 3rd oldest of 9 children.

This delicious granola recipe is a favorite, and one that I make frequently for our large family (I usually double the recipe when I make it for us).

 

��������������������� GRANOLA

�This is a great recipe for siblings to help with! Dumping in ingredients, stirring, and tasting are all things my little siblings love to do.

 

Wet ingredients

1 cup honey

�� cup coconut oil*

� cup butter

2 Tbs. Maple syrup

4 tsp. Vanilla

� tsp. Salt

������� -boil wet ingredients in large kettle (mix dry ingredients while wet boils)

 

Dry ingredients

�8 cups rolled oats

3 cups rye flakes (optional; if rye flakes are not used, add 3 cups oats)

2 cups unsweetened, shredded coconut*

� cup raw sunflower seeds

� cup sliced almonds

������������������ -mix dry ingredients and wet in a large mixing bowl.

� Bake at- 275, stirring every 15 min. for 1 and � hours OR until crispy and brown. Put in 9x13 cake pans and/or jelly-roll pans.

 

��� Clean-up: stack mixing bowl, kettle, and other kitchen utensils used, and wash or put in the dishwasher while the granola bakes.

 

���� When done, let granola cool, then store in containers.

 

Note:� *can be bought from Large Family Logistics and is what we use for our coconut oil and coconut products.

 

������� With Christmas coming up, this would make wonderful gifts!

���������������������� ENJOY!!!��������������������������

������������������������ Allison

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Homemade Granola

Date: 12/05