Again today?

Yes indeed! The kids are at camp, and I'm thrilled to be at the starting line of another six heures of solo time. To be done immediately is a continuation of pantry cleaning as most of it is scattered across my kitchen counters and floor. I take great pleasure in this however because in scrubbing each shelf for the first time since 2008 I realized just how much a thorough clean was needed. The strawberry muffins were a hit with the boys as after-camp snacks yesterday, and once I got them in bed, I made another batch of that amazing granola. Truly, this is the best granola ever. I ran out of maple syrup so instead of the 3/4 cup called for used a scant 1/2 cup of maple + 2-3 tablespoons of honey. I might actually like this version better. The salt is the pièce de résistance so don't skip it unless you have to for dietary reasons. As I may have mentioned previously, I don't like coconut in my granola so omitted and replaced it with dried cherries. Sultanas work well too!

By 7:30p last night, I realized I was both hungry and done with any large-scale cooking. So, I made a griddled sandwich and boy was it fantastic. Country bread from Bonaparte, mozzarella, avocado, steamed kale, tomatoes, country Dijon mustard and some insanely yummy truffle-and-artichoke spread my sister brought me from Italy. Mon dieu! We opened a surprisingly good bottle of new wine, the Petite Petit from Michael David in Lodi (which is south and east of Napa, for reference). It's 85% Petite Syrah and 15% Petit Verdot. Really, really good!