I haven't been doing much making of late, but I'm still baking. That's mostly because the sourdough starter needs a regular workout, and also because it is so easy to make sourdough bread. I have to say that it's taken a couple of years to get to the point where sourdough has become easy to make, but at the moment my system appears to be working. This week I have made a couple of light rye loaves. For some reason I've been baking loaves separately when I've made double the amount but this morning I had a light bulb moment and squeezed both into the baking dome. I really don't know why this hasn't occurred to me before. Doh!

My other baking triumph has been an absolute mountain of granola. My current favourite breakfast is granola because you can have oats, seeds, nuts and fruit all in one health boosting (I hope) bowl. I add raw milk or yoghurt and an apple for extra, extra goodness. Well, anyway, it tastes nice whether it does any good or not. So, fortified with good intentions and porridge (no granola left in the jar...) I set forth with my trusty, if messy, oat roller gadget and squashed flat a load of oat groats, rye and barley grain. To this I added lots of seeds; pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, chia, linseed and then chunks of nuts; brazil, cashew and walnut. I throw in pretty much everything I've got. I then mixed a couple of table spoons of rapeseed oil with maple syrup and honey (enough to coat all the granola mix without being too runny or sticky) and then baked it in the oven at 150C for 15 mins. Then I added some mixed dried fruit; cranberries, raisins, sultanas, prunes, with some desiccated coconut and baked for a further 15 mins. After leaving it to cool, I filled nearly every empty jar I could lay my hands on and it will be distributed amongst the children later today. The granola is good for 1 month.