FFF - chocolate vs granola

The annual deluge of chocolate has started to arrive, from parts far and near. Way too much chocolate. That's probably why my favorite holiday food has become granola. Tika makes the most amazing granola. I have the recipe but mine never turns out as well. She always sends a bag for Christmas and another for my birthday, about a month later. The rest of the year I have to make it myself or buy it, though neither option quite measures up.

I suppose I could add a little chocolate and call it trail mix, but that would just lead to my eating it at times of the day other than breakfast. It would be gone even faster, though my efforts to make the December shipment last until January never work anyway.

Tika's Granola

5 cups rolled oats
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup chopped almonds or cashews
1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup honey
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup dried fruit

• Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
• Warm the oil and the honey together.
• Pour the oil, honey, and vanilla into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
• Put the mixture in a large, shallow roasting pan. [Two cookie sheets with edges work well. The larger the pan, the crisper the granola.]
• Bake at 250 for 1 hour, stirring every 10 minutes.
• Add dried fruit after the granola cools.