Finding a Way Back Home

I haven't lived at home for a long time. Years. Somehow, while I was cooking today, putting creative energy and soul into making a pizza, it brought back so many memories. Memories of my Dad. 
Memories of him cooking.

If I had to pick a theme song for this pizza it you be Brandi Carlile’s song, “Wherever is Your Heart."

"I think it's time we found a way back home
You loose so many things you love as you grow"

Anyone who knows Chris Shiraki knows that he loves food. I have always said that I think his two favorite things in the world are food and people, and I've never been 100% sure which comes first. Or possibly he has one favorite thing, good food with good people. All growing up we watched him work in the kitchen, slicing, smelling, savoring.  He loves cooking. He loves eating. He loves inviting people over to feed them his incredible food. It's the Hawaiian culture in him. And his generous spirit. His great love for all people. They call it, "the aloha spirit," and my dad has it in his veins. It's in his fingers and you taste it when you eat his food. You feel it in his hug and in his laugh.
I remember my mom having to limit the number of times he could invite people over for dinner in a week. With eight children at home she tried to reel him in. She loves people too though, so it never really worked. We are all talkers in our family. One time my mother walked down the street holding onto the window of our car as we drove away so she could finish a story. 
It was a good way to grow up. We had doctors and bishops and presidents of companies over to dinner. We also had homeless people over, people at the end of their rope with nowhere to go. We learned to love people. And we learned to love food. 
My dad has the kind of innate sense of taste where he can eat something amazing at a restaurant and go home and recreate it. He knows flavors, he knows how they work together and how they contrast or heighten each other. And if you stop and stay awhile, he will tell you how it all relates to the way the universe moves.
Because 'Grandpa Chris,' as my kids say, is a philosopher at heart. Everything he sees relates to a bigger picture. His religion and his work ethic permeate his life like a well seasoned roast, where every bite is full, rich, and purposeful.

"Though your feet may take you far from me, I know
Wherever is your heart I call home." 

As Brandi says in the song, I was born to roam. I left first for a summer working in Alaska when I was 16. For so many years my feet took me far away, here and there, Italy, Taiwan. In truth though, I never leave them behind. I can't escape my practical, frugal mother's heart. Mom taught me how to apologize, how to be okay being wrong. Dad gave me the gift of that aloha spirit. I love tying the strings of the universe together to see how they make sense. I love talking to people. I love all their varying hues of character and personality. I love feeding them good food. 
Some people think it isn't healthy to associate food with love. I don't know any other way to live. There just isn't anything like the feeling of putting a bit of your heart into a recipe and watching someone's eyes light up when it's just that good. For me, there isn't anything else quite like incredible food with good people. It's when I feel the most at home.

The Staples: Granola

Making granola has become a weekly ritual for me. We eat it every day, and we all love it! There is something about making my own breakfast cereal that makes me ever so happy. The fact that my kids eat it is practically a miracle. It's easy to change up the recipe so we never get tired of it. I also love that it has eliminated SO MUCH waste, no cereal boxes and bags always going in the trash. I buy everything in bulk, make batch after batch for months and I just wash and reuse my dishes. My kids love helping to roll the oats, mix it all together, and spread the granola. They love eating it fresh out of the oven even more!

Ingredients:

8 to 9 cups rolled oats (I never measure, just enough to fill a large mixing bowl)

2/3 cup (80g) natural honey                                     

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp vanilla    

Pinch of salt    
3 egg whites, beaten until just frothy (if you want you can add a bit more egg white and a bit less honey)                                                   

Optional Ingredients: Peanuts, Almonds, cashews, chocolate chips or raw cacao nibs, raisins, craisins, goji berries, chia seeds, flax seeds, a teaspoon or two of cinnamon, applesauce, the sky is the limit!

Instructions:  
I start by rolling my oats fresh from whole oat groats using my Komo Flic Floc Flaker. I also throw in the flax seeds so they get rolled as well. This insures that you get all the health benefits of the flax seeds. (Eating them whole you get the fiber, but they don't digest; eating flaxseed oil you get the omega-3 and lignans, but not the fiber; rolled you get it all!!!) I love rolling our oats fresh, but if you use already rolled oats, this recipe is even easier and faster!       

Grease or oil 3 baking cookie sheets.
Preheat your oven to 300F.
Put your honey, oil, salt and vanilla in a medium saucepan and heat until combined and runny. If you decide to add applesauce and cinnamon just lessen the honey by half and add 1/2 a cup of applesauce and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. I do this periodically just to switch things up.

                                           
While that heats, combine your rolled oats with whatever optional ingredients you choose to put in.

Add your honey mixture into your oat mixture and then stir in your lightly beaten egg white. 

Stir until all of your oats are coated and pour onto your prepared baking sheets - spreading out into a thick layer about an inch thick.

I actually stir the honey and egg white (reserving just a little) into oats mixed with chia seeds and flax seeds, then pour half of it on a pan (the pan on the right, for the kids), then I add nuts, craisins, cacao nibs etc. along with the remaining honey and egg white and pour that onto a different pan (the pan on the left, for my husband and I). I have picky kids, what'ya'do? *sigh*

 Place your granola trays into the oven and bake for ~20-45 minutes (depending on your oven and how much granola you have) or until your granola is golden and crunchy and not very sticky. Rotate the pans during baking to ensure they are evenly cooked. I usually bake them for 15 minutes then rotate the pans around and do another 15 minutes. The smell is so heavenly, my boys stand by the oven waiting for it to be done.
Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight jar or bag. It will keep for a month or so in a sealed container at room temperature. Ours never lasts longer than a week because we eat it up over yogurt, as cereal with milk, on top of a smoothie bowl, or just plain as a snack.
Enjoy, and let me know if you make it or if you add anything to the recipe that you especially love!!