Granola Goddess ? And Thoughts on Kitchen Creativity

I woke up this morning with the urge to get in the kitchen. The sun had just come up ? my shining hours. I love the mornings and always feel the most creative and alive when the day is young. I knew I wanted to spend this morning making something yummy before time slipped away and I got all caught up in my day.

Cooking is like therapy – I always get lost in stirring and mixing, feeling soothed by the smells and sounds of a tasty work in progress. I like to think of recipes more like methods, kind of like a math problem or a series of steps or ideas. This + that = delicious.

My roommate and I were just talking yesterday about this, actually. She loves to bake, and quite frankly? I can?t stand it. Perhaps it?s the mental scars of a day spent baking banana bread, only to spill the entire pan of batter on the floor and run fleeing to my room, sobbing uncontrollably. Perhaps this sob session wasn?t about the banana bread?

Anyway, I digress. She likes it because it?s so exact ? there?s measurements and rules to follow that create a final product. But that?s exactly why I can?t stand it. I actually don?t have any measuring cups in my apartment here ? and I?m finding it quite liberating. No measuring oats, or quinoa, or this or that.

I just like to throw stuff in and see what happens. It?s much more fun like that, yes?

So this morning, I donned my apron (okay, really I donned my polka dot pajamas, but apron sounded much more 1950?s-housewife-home-made-granola-esque), grabbed my red pan and wooden spoon and made another batch of stove top granola, only this time?.better.

This time I toasted the almonds and walnuts with the oats making them nice and crunchy, used a little bit more butter (because, well, why not?), agave as a sweetener, and the magic ingredient ? grey salt.

I picked up this very large bag of Gros sel Guérande at the agricultural fair this past weekend (look for a post soon!) for 2 euro and have been using it in everything since. It?s an all natural and unrefined salt from Guérande, France and is quite famous in the culinary world?or so I hear. I do know for certain that it tastes delicious and that it made all the difference in my stove-top granola this morning.

After getting lost in the scents of cinnamon and melting butter, I made some breakfast with my fresh batch of granola.

I mixed some plain yogurt with about 1 tablespoon of chia seeds, and topped it with the crispy granola that was sweet and salty to perfection, as well as a little dollop of somethin? special?

Vanilla Chestnut Cream. So delicious. So dangerous, but so delicious. It?s all about balance?right?

Question: Baking or cooking?which do you prefer and why? Do you use measuring cups when you cook? Do you follow recipes or do you do your own thing?

I used to be clueless in the kitchen ? like didn?t know how to put anything together. I started to experiment a bit and gave myself permission to get creative and try things when I cook. After a while of following recipes I had a general idea of what might taste good together and also drew from experiences dining out and trying new combinations in restaurants. Sometimes my creations are are flops, but sometimes, like this morning, it works.

Have a good day, my friends.