Rancho la Puerta Inspired Cinnamon Orange Granola with Almonds and Walnuts

Rancho la Puerta in Tecate Mexico - the place that launched my love for inland Baja California and ultimately lead me to Borrego Springs - is one of my favorite places in the whole world.  The Ranch serves wonderful healthy food.  No meat or chicken, but the Ranch has fish several times a week, plus eggs and low fat dairy. 

A favorite treat at Rancho La Puerta is it's flavorful, crunchy granola... sprinkled throughout with toasted almonds and scented with orange zest, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom. Slightly (but not too) sweet. It is so good that Rancho la Puerta guests sneak it from the dining room by the pound before they leave for home.

Tasty with Greek yogurt and fresh berries. 

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Cinnamon/Orange Granola with Almonds and Walnuts
This recipe is adapted from Rancho La Puerta's recipe.
  
4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup oat or wheat bran
1 cup corsely chopped or thick slices raw almonds
1/2 cup walnuts
1 Tbs ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup unsweetened, unfiltered apple juice (or regular apple juice)
1 Tbs vanilla extract
4 Tbs canola or vegetable oil
2 Tbs fresh orange juice
1 Tbs grated orange zest (zest from two large oranges)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Lightly coat a baking sheet with vegetable oil spray.

In a large mixing bowl, combine rolled oats, almonds, walnuts, wheat flour, bran, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom.

In another bowl, whisk together honey, apple juice, vanilla, and oil until the honey is thoroughly incorporated. Add the orange zest and orange juice.

Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and mix well. Spread the mixture evenly over the baking sheet and bake for 1 to 2 hours (depending on your own oven), checking every 15 minutes or so. When the granola begins to brown, stir and turn over gently with a spatula. Take care that the outside edges do not burn. Your home will be smelling wonderful at this point!

When golden and dry, scrape the granola onto another baking sheet and set aside  to cool. Your granola will crisp as it cools, so don't over-bake. Store in an airtight container.

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Rancho la Puerta's environment is not easily replicated.  I must admit to all of you Rancho la Puerta fans that a stay in Borrego Springs - hiking the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park trails and enjoying the quiet, peaceful surroundings, will remind you of the Ranch.  Warm, sunny days (perfect for tennis, swimming, or exploring the town's unique desert art) turn into cool nights perfect for a outdoor fire under star-filled skys. 


ANZA-BORREGO DESERT STATE PARK

 

ANZA-BORREGO BADLANDS



MILKY WAY OVER ANZA-BORREGO ST PARK

PALM CANYON

Beautiful homes are available to rent on VRBO.com at very reasonable prices.  I think you would enjoy renting something in the long-established deAnza neighborhood with a pool!  And don't forget to take your homemade Rancho la Puerta granola with you!

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, which Borrego Springs is carved out of the middle of, offers visitors activities such as biking, hiking, horseback riding, and trails for four-wheel-drive vehicles. The park has fantastic views of the desert, nature exhibits, and other interesting areas that can be accessed by short hikes.  If you explore far enough, you’ll find fan palms, elephant trees, and lots of quiet.

A favorite Borrego Springs hike is the Palm Canyon Trail.

Prefer to camp rather than rent a place?  There are a ton of campgrounds in the park too.  Check out Borrego Palm Canyon, Culp Valley, Tamarisk Grove, Sheep Canyon, Yaqui Pass, Fish Creek, Mountain Palm Springs, Lark Canyon, and Blair Valley.

Borrego Springs Remodeling Discovery... Tierra y Fuego Tile

My husband (The Very Happy Mr. W) and I remodeled our Borrego Springs Pueblo home partly from Seattle.  Although we were in Borrego Springs for a portion of the remodeling period, we had to make decisions over the phone and do alot of shopping on-line. 

Those who know me would agree I am a great "googler".   I discovered tons of wonderful resources for Mexican decor, pueblo building supplies, tiles, furniture, light fixtures, etc. on the web and by asking around.  I'll share one with you every once and a while.

Through the remodeling process, I was very pleasantly surprised by a few companies and also learned which ones should be avoided.  

A "Find" for Mexican Tile

For Mexican tile, you cannot beat the selection or quality at Tierra y Fuego.  The website is fantastic, almost everything is in stock at the San Diego warehouse, and your order will be shipped in one to two days.  If you live in the San Diego area and would prefer to visit the warehouse store, you will not be disappointed!  The store was filled with the most beautiful selection of Mexican, cement, saltillo, Santa Barbara, Mozaik, Terra Nova, etc. tiles I have ever seen.


Our Master Bathroom Border Tile

Staff at Tierra y Fuego are very helpful and once you've decided what you'd like, drive around to the loading dock and they will carefully wrap and load your tiles and supplies into your car.  Beautiful.


Turkeys in the desert? Borrego Springs is full of surprises!

One of our more recent surprises in Borrego Springs was a wild turkey hen roaming the neighborhood brush and walking down the 18th hole of the deAnza Golf Course in front of our house.  I've only seen this one wild turkey so far, which I believe locals have named Matilda. 

These are not photos of Matilda but I think she'd be happy with the pictures selected.  

Wild turkeys  (Meleagris gallopavo) live in various parts of North America, including the desert, and are the largest game birds found in this part of the world.  They spend their days foraging for food and spend their nights under bushes or in low branches of trees.  

Wild turkeys are omnivorous, foraging for nuts, seeds, berries, roots, grasses and insects. Turkeys also occasionally eat small reptiles, like snakes.

Wild turkeys (but not domestic turkeys) can fly for short distances at speeds of up to 55 miles per hour.  They can reach speeds of 25 miles per hour on the ground.

Throughout North America, wild turkeys are making a comeback.  In an effort to increase the wild turkey population, California has released several subspecies in the state - Rio Grande, Eastern, Merriam’s, and Eastern/Rio Hybrid.

Turkeys have great hearing, but no external ears.  They can see in color and have a wide field of vision (about 270 degrees), which makes it hard to sneak up on them.

Poults

Babies (called poults) flock with their mother all year (even through the winter).  The mother roosts on the ground with them for the first two weeks of their lives when they are unable to fly.  

Turkey Vocab 

Caruncle - brightly colored growths on the throat region.  The skin on the throat and head of a turkey can change color from gray to bright shades of red, white, and blue when the bird becomes distressed or excited.

Gizzard - a part of a bird's stomach that contains tiny stones.  It helps them grind up food for digestion.

Hen - a female turkey.

Poult - a baby turkey, turkey chick.

Snood - the flap of skin that hangs over the turkey's beak.  Turns bright red when the turkey is upset or during courtship.

Tom - a male turkey... also known as a gobbler.

Wattle - the flap of skin under the turkey's chin. (Also turns bright red when the turkey is upset or during courtship.)