World's Best Pumpkin Bread

This is a recipe which I jealously guard close to my heart, and which gained me lots of fame in high school as a baking magician. Only reluctantly am I sharing it now, but the fact that no one reads this blog at all makes it much easier.

If you are concerned about moderation or dieting or anything of the like, read no further. There is nothing healthy about this - but it is delicious beyond belief. TRUST.

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp ground all spice
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs lightly beaten
• 2 cups pumpkin (read: one can of pumpkin pie filling)
• 2/3 cup water

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F
• Combine all the dry ingredients in one large bowl, mix well
• Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl, mix well
• Combine wet and dry ingredients in the larger of the two bowls - I always pour wet into dry for whatever reason
• Mix by hand so there aren't any dry spots
• Pour into two greased loaf pans
• Bake for approximately 75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean - this always takes me longer than 75 minutes but I am always too scatterbrained to figure out precisely how long.

This is a favorite and never lasts long - enjoy. :)

Homemade Granola

Always on the hunt to make things myself so that they are exactly how I like them and not tainted with gross flavors of "artificialness," last night I tackled homemade granola a whim with the help of the blogosphere and only what I could find in my cabinets. That being said, this is easy and probably doable with no extra grocery trip. I was extremely pleased to find that it tastes exactly like Nature Valley Oats 'N Honey granola bars (or perhaps even better).

Ingredients:

• 2 cups oats (I believe you are supposed to use "old-fashioned" but all I had was quick - it came out just fine but next time I'll try the real deal)
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shaved almonds (or you can use any nuts you like! But I would make sure they are in small pieces so they have a chance of being clumped in with the oats)
• 5 tablespoons maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons flavorless oil (I used vegetable)
• 1 tablespoon water

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 275F.
• Measure oats, wheat germ, brown sugar, salt, and almonds into a large bowl - I used out 8 cup mixing bowl.
• Bring the maple syrup, water, and oil to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat.
• Drizzle the liquid mixture over your dry ingredients and then stir to coat evenly.
• Dump all the ingredients onto a greased 9x13 cookie sheet and then squeeze all the granola in small handfuls - this helps it to clump when it's cooking.
• When it's all spread out on the pan, bake it for 30 minutes at 275F.
• After 30 minutes, if you like raisins or other dried fruit in your granola, you could stir it in. Either way, give the granola a little stir and then bake for another 15 minutes.
• Once it is a beautiful crispy brown, take it out and let it cool. Then store it in an airtight container to keep the crunch.

Voilà! You can make homemade granola too! And then, it you're feeling really daring, scoop some greek yogurt into the bottom of a small bowl, layer it with some of your new granola, and slice some fresh strawberries on top.

Parfait! Mine was so good there was barely time to take pictures. :)