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Grumpy Granola
Written By: Marlene Osteen | Issue: 2020/09 – September | Photograph By: Marjorie Christiansen Photography
Thomas Craig, who with his wife Kay opened the storied Ugly Dog Pub and The High Dive, is full of stories.
Like the one he tells about his relationship to culinary royalty, and former New York Times Food Editor Craig Claiborne, “Craig was my father’s first cousin. So technically, he’s my first cousin once removed. My paternal grandfather and grandmother were both related to each other and to Craig. It was a Delta thing.”
Or the one he tells on how he came to discover the inexplicably named recipe “Grumpy Granola.”
“In my prior life I was in the construction business and was doing an extensive remodel of a house I had built a few years before. The new owner had a housekeeper who would come by periodically to check the house and clean the guest house. The two of us did not have a great working relationship, given I was seen as making a mess and she was responsible for keeping things clean. We reached a peaceful détente, with each of us being unhappy with the other.
“One day she approached me and handed me a piece of paper and said ‘Here, I thought you would enjoy this.’ It was a printed recipe for granola.
“So I gave it a try, made a few changes and I’ve been making it ever since. Since I was through with the project before I made it, I didn’t see the housekeeper again. But I am thankful for the recipe.”
Grumpy Granola Recipe
Ingredients
3 cups Old-Fashioned Oats
¾ cups Wheat Germ
3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
½ Teaspoon Salt
½ cup Pumpkin Seeds
½ cup Sunflower Seeds
½ cup Sliced Almonds
3/8 cup Honey or Maple Syrup or Agave or whatever liquid sweetener
4 Tablespoons plus 1 Teaspoon Canola oil
1 ½ Tablespoon Water
Optional Ingredients
2 oz. or more Raisins
2 oz. or more Dried Cranberries
Instructions
Heat oven to 275 degrees
1. Mix dry ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl, breaking up brown sugar as need;
2. Mix and stir liquid ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat until it just boils and makes a white foam on the surface;
3. Slowly pour hot liquid ingredients over dry ingredients while mixing. Thoroughly mix and then spread onto a half-size sheet pan (18” x 13”);
4. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and mix in raisins and dried cranberries (or other dried fruit) using a spatula to scrape and turn;
5. Return to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container.
