In The Centre #8 | Coconut Granola
With honey and vanilla baked plums
It’s granola, poached fruits and overnight oats season. Read on for the recipe.
Does a new kitchen = a new you?
Last October we undertook a kitchen renovation: stripping out and freecycling a grey and really quite knackered IKEA bodge-job; and swapping in a meticulously planned, brightly fronted and birch plywood carcassed solution that should last decades.
I had spent at least a year agonising over what I wanted, what we could afford, and how to fit everything into an occasionally awkward space.
Ten or eleven months on from completion, I remain really pleased with pretty much every decision, and the colour draws a smile every morning. Which is not an easy thing to achieve.
(In case you’re wondering: Sustainable Kitchens. Couldn’t recommend them, their range (this is a ‘Cotham’), or the finished kitchen more highly).
One thing I’ve always wanted was a larder cupboard, behind which I could hide away jars and bottles, plus things like toasters and bread boards (and bread).
In the end I managed to sneak two of these into the kitchen: a double-width one for the aforementioned dry goods; and slightly narrower one to house a kettle, coffee grinder, glasses and other drink related bits. Both have wide and deep drawers below them, which is absolutely the best way to store all the bits and pieces that typically get lost in the rear of a shelved cupboard.
The organisational aspect is one benefit of this type of cabinet. They’re also excellent for being able to hide things away, so the room feels tidier than it otherwise would (helpful in an open plan space).
Indeed, my assumption was that, once installed and in use, these two things would help me to finally become a real grown-up: on top of my admin, totally in control, and the kind of person who regularly makes their own granola.
Weirdly … despite now having enjoyed the kitchen for a good length of time, the reality is that I still rarely feel on top of my admin, am definitely not in control of the various plates that I have spinning, and those Kilner jars only occasionally house homemade granola. Who’d have thought?!
That said, when we returned home after a long summer away, and the school term began, I felt compelled to organise the drawers, use up various open and soon to go-to-waste packets, and actually get baking and pimping some rolled oats.
It is easy to do, and the results trump shop-bought options in flavour and cost (and have a fraction of the sugar content).
In fact from now on I’m going to keep the jar replenished at all times. I am. Definitely. No doubt.
Maybe you’ve also decided to get your s••t together this autumn. If so, perhaps you’d like my granola quantities, method and timings? They’re here! Keep scrolling.
I tend to use it as a textural addition to overnight oats or porridge, alongside a dollop of Greek-style yoghurt and some poached or baked seasonal fruits. So recipes for those are included below too. You might want to take a peak at this video, which I include as a final temptation (sound on).
This is an In The Centre column. As with On The Side, the recipes within these posts are for paid subscribers only.
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