A Brief Ode to Making Granola

How satisfying is making your own granola? Let me count the ways:

1. Homemade granola is SO much cheaper than store bought.
2. You can put whatever you want in it.
3. If you find the right recipe (I love this one, because it's simple and quick -- the trick is to bake it for a shorter time at a higher temperature and stir often, although I found 375 too high and lowered it to 350), you will never buy granola again.
4. You just feel great with a big container of homemade granola on the shelf.
5. Did I mention how much cheaper it is than store bought?

For some reason, making granola makes me feel self-sufficient, like I'm ready to abandon supermarkets and raise chickens for eggs (K has forbidden this until I'm old enough to be truly eccentric, probably at least 60). Also, using the recipe linked above, the whole thing takes about 45 minutes, including washing the bowl and the baking sheet. It feels like picking cucumbers and eggplant from a garden, but it uses up a lot less space. And for two bucks worth of oats and some other stuff I had in the larder, I made probably $10 worth of granola at least, especially that new Bear Naked stuff that costs a fortune.

Ah, granola!