Homemade Granola

 

Over the holiday season, I made a batch of homemade granola for my co-workers. When asked for the recipe, I couldn't provide more than an ingredient list because it was made up as I went along. Though, I must admit that it was largely based on this Olive Oil Granola With Dried Apricots and Pistachios published in the New York Times. I never would have thought to use olive oil!

About a month ago, I finally decided to recreate it (after Glara's constant reminder that her granola went missing) and made more than I needed. Half of it went into the freezer because I read that it freezes well. This past weekend, it was finally put to the test when I brought it with me on a backpacking trip. I feared that it would get soggy or taste of freezer burn. Surprisingly, it still tasted fresh. And, it tasted better slightly frozen! 

Find my recipe after the jump.

Mocha Chocolate Cheesecake

 

A former colleague was kind enough to share this mocha chocolate cheesecake recipe after she brought in some minis to work. To explain how much I loved the cheesecake, I grabbed two more to bring home—one for myself and one for K. I can't recall where she said the recipe originated, but here is the recipe with a few modifications.

Cheesecake with Strawberries

Continuing with desserts that complement strawberries, I found the perfect cheesecake recipe, also from Epicurious. It's the Three Cities of Spain Cheesecake, which is light and creamy, unlike the dense New York-style cheesecake. In order to make this dessert portable, I made minis by baking them off in muffin tins with cupcake liners. Read on to learn how to make this version.

Milk Pudding with Strawberry Sauce

Since strawberry season is approaching, you'll want to make strawberry sauce (same as the raspberry sauce, except with strawberries), especially if you buy them from a farm. A few years ago, we went strawberry picking and had way too many for the two of us. So, I made a milk pudding with strawberry sauce. The milk pudding wasn't worth preparing again—we prefer the buttermilk panna cotta. Still, I may attempt another milk pudding recipe in the future.

Buttermilk Panna Cotta

Another way to use up the raspberry sauce is to top it on panna cotta. Adding a few fresh raspberries adds some depth. You can also make it simpler, by adding fresh fruit, such as peaches.

For the panna cotta, I used the Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Tropical Fruit recipe from Epicurious. Note what I did differently after the jump.

Raspberry Pop

What to do with leftover raspberry sauce? Make raspberry pops! Just dilute the sauce with about one tablespoon of water or more, pour into popsicle molds, and freeze.