Apple cinnamon Granola

It's finally autumn/fall and I am so happy about it. A while back I made a homemade granola for Mother's day and it was a beautiful summer treat but granola is a year round so why not make this more spicy and autumnal?

This mound of golden deliciousness is full of all sorts of wonderful natural flavours that evoke those seasonal senses.

Ingredients

1 cup organic rolled oats
1 cup irish quick oats
3 tbsp flax seeds
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup almonds (activated by soaking overnight)
1/4 cup hazelnuts (activated by soaking)
1/2 cup dried apple rings
4 slices of candied lemon rind
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of all spice
pinch of nutmeg
generous pinch of salt


3 tbsp almond oil
3 tbsp honey
1 tbsp almond butter

1. Preheat the oven to 130'C. Chop the apple rings and lemon rinds into small pieces.

2. Cover the apple and lemon pieces in the spices and mix well.

3. Mix together the oats, seeds and apple/lemon pieces together

4. In a small saucepan mix together the almond oil, honey and almond butter and heat gently until boiling.

5. Pour 90% over the oats and mix thoroughly.

6. Line a baking sheet in tinfoil and spread out the mixture.

7. Bake on for 20 minutes, keeping a close eye on them.

8. Pour the nuts into the end of the almond oil/honey mixture and mix until all the nuts are covered.

9. Mix the nuts into the rest of the granola and bake for a final 10 minutes.

10. Serve with yoghurt and fruit of your choice (I choose fresh apple, sprinkled with more cinnamon)

This granola tastes amazing!! I am so pleased with how it turned out, the lemon rind gives a zingy freshness which compliments the spicy apple perfectly and all the delicious nuts and seeds provide even more texture and crunch. So if you are looking for a taste of autumn that doesn't involve pumkin I would definitely recommend this. Til next week, enjoy =)

American Horror Story Hotel Review

American Horror Story has been one of my favourite fall/autumn shows for a long time. However last year, I didn't even bother to finish watching the show. AHS: Freak show was at best annoying and at worst downright offensive. With disappointment I lost faith in the show but then came the amazing trailer for AHS:Hotel -

This definitely warranted a second look and so I watched the first episode and long story short, AHS has got it's mojo back!!

First and foremost - creepy kids!! If they had even attempted a haunted hotel without some creepy kids, reminiscent of 'The Shining,' then everything would have been for naught. Even lady Gaga and all her weirdness wouldn't have redeemed that error!! Thankfully this is a scenario that doesn't have to be considered because they do have creepy kids, and not just twins, lots and lots of creepy kids, and it's awesome!!!

So what else have we got going on? Well, what about lady gaga? She definitely brings a certain, je ne sais quoi! Not to mention a huge pre-existing audience! However to say that she fits the Ryan Murphy style would be a massive understatement! She adds all of the drama and flare that you would expect and even more. I wouldn't consider myself a fan of Lady Gaga but I became a fan of her acting in this first episode.

So this is only a quick review but suffice is to say- watch it for yourself and decide! I think you'll thank me for the encouragement!