While “Mother’s” & “Father’s” Day are so widely celebrated, how many of you let your friends know how much they mean to you on ‘Friendship’s Day’?  Don’t worry, I didn’t either but apparently 7^th August was the day to do so.  Screw that, every day should be treated as Friendship Day.  While ‘friends’ come in all sorts with various personality traits, here’s one way to know if they’re a keeper:

He/she randomly whips you up a batch of homemade granola

Living in Mumbai, one of the staple foods which I buy from abroad is cereal.  Before you call me high maintenance, my reasons for doing so are because cereals in Mumbai:

• contain ingredient lists which are far too long and mysterious to eat on a regular basis

or

• come at a painfully high price….I’m talking $10 a box 😯

Since I got back from London, I have been rationing out the one box of Whole Earth Honey Oaty Pillows which I brought back (ah-mazing by the way).  You’d be appalled if you saw how stingy I am being with my portions- gotta stretch it out to the max.  But enough about me and back to the topic of ‘friends’.  Making granola is one thing but you know what makes her an even better friend?

When she shares her recipe for homemade “Apple Pie Granola”

I call it this because every bite reminded me of apple pie.

Apple Pie Granola

courtesy of my friend Maneka’s mother (who is clearly my new BFF :P)

Ingredients

• 3 cups oats
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup chopped slivered almonds
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• Cooking spray

Method

1. Preheat oven to 300°.
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl.
3. Combine orange juice, honey, and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat just until sugar dissolves, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
4. Pour honey mixture over oat mixture, stirring to coat. Spread mixture in a thin layer onto a pan coated with cooking spray.
5. Bake at 300° for 10 minutes; stir well. Bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Spoon granola into a bowl; Cool completely and store in an air-tight container.

And since I passed on the recipe to you, I guess that would make me a darn good ‘friend’ too 🙂