For Heather.

Before I post about camping last weekend,

A recipe.

The kids favorite granola.

We tried making some for Monica,

But Monica wasn't home,

so we ate it.

Then had to make more to share with Monica.

3 cups dry oats (not instant)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/2 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup ground flax (flax meal)

In a small sauce pan,

melt butter and honey together

Mix remaining ingredients into the butter/honey

Bake 375 for 15 minutes,

Optional: stir occasionally throughout baking process.

For granola shapes:

before granola has cooled,

Form into desired shapes with hands or cookie cutter.

I wanted to wait to post this recipe until I had incorporated peanut butter,

But Heather asked before I could experiment.

Try it and enjoy.

4th of July

Our Independence Day celebration.

Barbeque at the river wirth friends and family.

Lauren became especially interested in my little brother Nick.



Kid poppers.


Fire from our pile of used fireworks.



The most exciting part of my celebration.

home made gram crackers.

Turned out so well, I won't be eating the packaged stuff anymore!

Mix in first 6 ingredients in a bowl. set aside.

in separate bowl (or Kitchen Aid mixer!), mix butter, brown sugar, and honey

on medium speed for 2-3 min.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
pour dough out onto parchment cookie sheet and press together (pushing dough out to sides).
Cut squares.

poke holes with a fork to get the gram cracker look

sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar

Put in freezer for about 20 minutes to get a hard dough.

bake at 350 for 10-15 min.

bake until the grams are puffy and puff back up after pressure is applied.

Does that make sense?
I have to give credit to 8Muddyboots for the recipe idea.

I like them thick.

This week, my gut still holds remnants of the obscene amount of gram crackers (and dough)

I consumed.
The nice thing is that theyre pretty healthy (minus all the sugar they have in them).

Home fireworks were great fun
Check out Mr. Cool- about to get burnedBand of brothers.

Screwing off, watching the big works.

She was antsy- even with huge explosives overhead.

All the ducks in a row.

Please let me know about your fourth, and if you get a chance to make the grams (Its worth it)!