Crunchy and “brown” tasting from the sorghum, this is my favorite granola.

Here is an adaptation of a granola recipe from Relish stylist and recipe tester Teresa Blackburn. I set out to make hers and when I found myself short of a few ingredients, improvised with what I had on hand. It has 2 kinds of nuts, oatmeal, coconut and raisins, all bound together with sorghum (which we always have in the south). You can substitute molasses or maple syrup.  It’s baked until really caramelized and browned. As it cools, the sorghum hardens producing clumps of yummy sweetened oats and nuts. Genius. You can find Teresa’s recipe here.

The unbaked granola is pretty tasty too.

Jill’s Granola

2 cups slivered toasted almonds
1/2 cup pecan halves
1/2 cup pumpkin seed kernels (pepitas)
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup sorghum or molasses
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. Combine the first 6 ingredients (almonds through coconut). Combine molasses, butter and salt in a microwave bowl. Microwave 1 minute or until hot. Pour over oat mixture and mix until well combined. Spread onto baking sheet lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 40 minutes or until very browned. Let cool and place in air-tight container.

OK all, we’re running a contest at Relish, my sistership, where you can win $250 cash, no strings attached. (Well not from us, but if you’re like me, you probably have to pay the electric bill.) All you have to do is create a “Relish Mom Board” on your Pinterest page. I mean what mom doesn’t love to brag about her little darlings and dream of a get-away?

Not on Pinterest yet? Click here to sign up–it’s ridiculously simple. Create a new board on your Pinterest page called “The Relish Mom” and pin anything that reflects your family, life and/or loves as a mom. The boards that have been done so far are super fun to look at. Need an example?  Check these entries out, here and here. The only rule is you must have at least 5 pins from relish, which of course is super easy, with all the yummy, mouth-watering photos. Our fabulous Relish stylist, Teresa Blackburn will judge the boards and pick a winner. For the rules click here. Here’s a glimpse of my board. You can see all of it here.

And when you’re done with your board, email us the link to contest@relish.com, so we can…um…see it.

My life story via Pinterest. And of course photos of Sam and Nora.

Tomato Basil Pizza with Burrata and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses.

To most pizza aficianoados, pizza is about the crust. Without homemade crust, what’s the point? And even though making a simple dough is easy, it still takes some time. So when the new book Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day, by Jeff Hertzberg, MD and Zoe Francois landed on my desk, I was intrigued. Theirs is a no-knead, no-fuss dough quickly mixed up and plopped in the fridge ready to use at a moment’s notice. So I went to work.  As directed, I used an old plastic bucket I found under the sink (the plastic bucket, not the location). I combined water, salt, flour and yeast and mixed quickly with a spoon. I covered the bucket with a plastic plate and set it on the kitchen counter.  After 2 hours, as directed, I placed the bucket in the fridge. Later that day I pinched off a knot of dough, shaped it and topped with tomato sauce, burrata cheese and fresh basil. In a word, amazing. The toppings were great, yes, but the crust was even better. And possibly the best thing? There’s an entire bucket of dough waiting to be used again and again–in a pinch. Now, on to flatbreads, made in my panini maker. Stay tuned.

The lowdown on the dough:

Mixing up this no-fuss, no-knead dough felt a bit like mixing up grout or cement for a home improvement project. Not the most romantic, but hey...

After 2 hours the dough had risen to the top of the bucket. At this point I gingerly placed it in the fridge--although it didn't seem to be delicate and didn't fall, as dough sometimes does.

Italian Burrata cheese is a super creamy, super buttery-tasting soft cheese that is great on pizza. It comes in tubs immersed in liquid. I found it at Trader Joe's.

The pizza was some of the best I've ever made.

Tomato Basil Pizza

This is the recipe for the dough. They give great, detailed instructions for rolling out and placing on a peel and then hot stone, all of which you can find in their book. I, however,  used my perforated pizza pan.

Crust
3 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
11/2 tablespoons kosher salt
7 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a plastic bucket or large (5 quart) bowl. Mix loosely with a spoon or whisk. Cover loosely and place on counter for 2 hours. Don’t punch dough down. Place bucket in fridge.  Pull off a piece of dough and roll out on pizza pan. Let stand 30 minutes. Top with tomato sauce, burrata cheese, slivered fresh basil and Parmigiano cheese and bake in lower third of oven preheated to 500F.