What I Did with the Whole Candied Orange

The Creation:

Homemade granola with candied orange, coconut, almonds and sunflower seeds

So here it is! My first good batch of homemade granola! I've had two other failed attempts in my dark past, one where I crisped dried apricots into positive rocks that may have cracked my tooth, and another where the oven started smoking...

But today was a rousing success! I began with the candied orange. Today was Spring Cleaning Day, and I had to start getting rid of some of the random food bits I had lying around, waiting for their heyday. An entire candied orange! There it was. I pulled off its sticky Saran wrap jacket and sniffed it. Just like candied orange should smell. Then I took a knife to it. Goooooooooo!!! Man oh man, goo all over the place. Sticky, syrupy candied orange goo oozing out of its crevices. Gorgeous, and such a fat mess all at the same time. 

As soon as I tasted the little sticky bits, though, I knew it would be perfect in granola. I didn't have any dried fruit on hand, and this would be the perfect substitution. Plus, the honey-goo went into the granola in lieu of honey or syrup, and it infused the whole shebang with a delightful candied orange aura. I also added olive oil to keep it moist and some salt to complement the sweetness, then I dumped in all my remaining coconut flakes, a ton of sunflower seeds that I don't know what else to do with, and a handful of almonds.

About 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven with a quick mix-around every five minutes yielded the above lovely results. I haven't been able to stop snacking on this stuff all day.