Cooking Up A Storm

Isabella and Zoe cooked dinner for the family a couple of Sundays ago. Zoe wanted to reopen their restaurant, Loukieniez. They first did this restaurant a couple of years ago. Noah made up the name when he was about 4 or 5. Brent and I had a lovely meal in the art room all by ourselves, and the service was excellent! On the menu was peperoni pizza frittata, fruit, hash browns and strawberry lemonade. Delicious!

We also did another cooking class with Isabella and her friends (I've been rotating the monthly class with the other girl's moms, this was my last class). This time around they learned to make a tasty orange julius and homemade granola.

I thought I'd post the granola recipe since it was so good, especially with milk. I'd maybe double the cinnamon next time though.

Homemade Granola

Makes 6 1/2 cups

• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
• 1 cup coarsely chopped almonds
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup honey
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup raisins
• ½ c chocolate chips

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment, and spread shredded coconut on top. Bake until toasted. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
2. Decrease oven temperature to 300 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment; set aside. In a large bowl, toss together oats, wheat germ, almonds, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, stir together honey and butter; pour over oat mixture. Stir well. Spread onto sheets. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Break up granola; sprinkle with raisins, chocolate chips and toasted coconut. Store in airtight container.