Wednesday, August 15, 2012

50th party blog guest - Heidi Rice

I’ve known Heidi Rice ever since she sold her very first Modern Heat back in 2006-7. Luckily we’d been chatting on email loops before I actually met her, or I would’ve been really intimidated, because our Heidi is seriously glamorous and stylish. She reminds me of a 1950s film star. (And I might point out that she’s even been photographed for a proper coffee table book. She's the only person I know who's ever been photographed like that!) When I go to London, I try to meet up with her for coffee. She cycles (across London – I mean, how brave is that?) to meet me, and she always looks cool and fresh and elegant, whereas if yours truly had been doing the cycling I would be red-faced and sweaty and looking as if I’d been dragged through a hedge backwards. I have no idea how she does it. I can’t even hate her for that, because she’s so nice!

Heidi makes me laugh for all the right reasons. She’s great fun and she’s also a total film buff – if I want to know whether it’s worth going to see a film, I’ll always go straight to Heidi, because she’ll know. She’ll also come up with an alternative suggestion if it isn’t the sort of thing I’d enjoy. And if you want to know about gorgeous men… Heidi is most definitely your woman!

Anyway. Over to Heidi.

Thanks so much Kate for inviting me to your blog party…. To celebrate your 50 books!!! So cool!

Now I was going to do a blog post on Hero Inspiration - basically as an excuse to post lots of pictures of uber-gorgeous men (not that I usually need an excuse!). But then I got to thinking about the lovely Kate and all the mouth-watering recipes she’s often telling us about on our loop. So in honour of Kate Hardy the Foodie Queen (instead of Kate Hardy the Uber-Hot Hero Writer!) I’d like to share one of my favourite recipes.

Basically, it’s for my home-made granola, which I have every morning to start my writing day off right (not that it can’t go wrong soon afterwards, you understand).

Heidi’s Dead Simple Home-Made Granola

Ingredients:

1 cup Cashew Nuts
1 cup Pecan Nuts
1 cup Desiccated Coconut
I cup Sunflower Seeds
½ cup Sesame Seeds
5 cups Rolled Oats
½ cup Honey (loosen for pouring by popping in the microwave)
½ cup Sunflower Oil

Instructions:

Put all the ingredients together in a large bowl, stir until all the dry ingredients are coated in oil and honey, then pop into a non-stick baking tray and bake in the oven on a medium-low heat (ie Gas Mark 4) for about 30-45 mins, turning every 10 minutes or so until the mixture is a lovely golden brown colour all over.

Cool in the tray and then put in a large sealed container to use when needed. It should last about two weeks, but to be honest it never lasts that long in our house.

Top Tips

• Cups are of course a US measurement, but I use a large mug. As long as you use the same cup to get the proportions right, that’s fine.

• I like just a sprinkle of granola with fresh berries and a dollop of plain low-fat yoghurt in the morning. My kids love a whole bowl with milk - but be warned they’re teenage boys so they can get away with it! This is quite calorific when eaten in large quantities. But great for giving you protein, fibre and nut oil nutrients when eaten in small ones.

• Feel free to mix up the nuts with ones you prefer. I just happen to be a real sucker for Pecans and Cashew Nuts.


So there you have it, Heidi’s Granola… Not quite as tasty as a picture of Antonio Banderas nekkid! But almost.






Also, to celebrate Kate’s 50 Brilliant Books, I’m giving away a copy of my new 2-in-1 PS I’m Pregnant to one lucky commentator. What's your favourite breakfast?

You can find out more about Heidi on her website http://heidi-rice.com, her blog http://heidi-rice.blogspot.co.uk, talk to her on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/heidi.rice.524 and follow her on Twitter @HeidiRomRice

19 comments:

Liz Fielding said...

Fabulous recipe, Heidi. Thank you. And what a gorgeous cover! Great title, too. :)

Heidi Rice said...

Cheers Liz... It's really delicious and such a nice change from breakfast cereals (which no matter what you do always seem to have tons of sugar in them!)...

And cheers about the cover, it is saucy isn't it!

bn100 said...

Sounds tasty.

Natalija said...

Wonderful post! Thank you for sharing, Kate & Heidi. I'm too afraid to cycle in my town. Italian drivers are not among the most careful ones. Regarding breakfast, I really like oatmeal with apples and cinnamon. But usually I have a slice of seed bread with soft cheese. I'm more into salty breakfast.

Desere said...

As always stunning post Heidi,thank you to Kate for bringing the fabulous HR to the party and thank you HR for joining in!

Favourite breakfast is without a doubt French toast with cheese and tomato over the top with good cup of tea,really gets my day going!

Thank you for the very lovely give away !

Unknown said...

Kate Hardy and Heidi Rice on one blog AND a nommy recipe too? good job there wasnt an Antonio Banderas or I would NOT be able to write this post for drooling. Recipe written down, and a confession. I cannot ride a bike! Id be terrified in case anyone laughs at me!

Abby Green said...

Where have you been hiding that sexy little picture Ms Rice?! I love it! Thanks for recipe too - will have to file that for the day my braces come off, unfortunately granola + braces don't mix well ;/
Happy 50 Books Kate Hardy! Loving the blog party
xx Abby

Fiona Marsden said...

I'm an old fashioned porridge girl. We only have it in winter. So summer time I don't know what to do.

Anonymous said...

Wow I never love granola before but yours looks fantastic Heidi. Will try to make it this weekend :). I love to eat salad for breakfast or just having coffee if I'm running late which seems almost everyday :), Aretha , arethazhenATrocketmailDOTCOM

Anonymous said...

Jane Linfoot said

Delicious recipe Heidi! And I so love the cover of PS I'm Pregnant. As for breakfast.... I kick start most mornings with lots of strong coffee and an orange, adding in wholemeal toast and home made marmalade for a weekend hangover cure! Looking forward to fresh croissants on holiday!

Aurelia B Rowl said...

Ah, it was going so well until I saw 'coconut' but it still sounds pretty good. I'm having a peanut butter on toast (seeded best of both for added brownie points LOL) fad at the moment. Except it's been going on for many months now, so maybe not so much of a fad.

The book looks fab, I love the cover too. Naughty naughty ;)

Caroline said...

Hi Heidi - love the new cover on the books! My favourite brecci' is scrambled eggs on toast, with eggs from the farm up the road! Lovely! Caroline x

Anonymous said...

Love the cover, Heidi! And the granola looks delicious, so I'll forgive you for leaving out Antonio ;)

Kate Hardy said...

Loving these breakfast suggestions :) My current fave is an asparagus and mushroom omelette, served with baby plum tomatoes and watercress. Or plain yoghurt with summer berries. Caroline, how lovely to have a farm up the road!

Glad everyone's enjoying the party so far :o) And yes, that's a wonderful pic of our Heidi.

CaribbeanAccent said...

That looks soo yummy Heidi :)

My face breakfast...hmm. Fresh juice with eggs, pancakes, whole wheat toast and a small salad of spinach.

In case I'm the lucky winner, u can reach me at u2beegees @yahoo.ca

Heidi Rice said...

Hey all, so glad you like the granola (and Aurelia you can leave out the coconut if you don't like it, just stick in more honey! for added sweetness)... Have just arrived in the Cote d'Azur after somewhat frantic journey!! gonna explore the beach tomorrow (and the croissants!) Love the sound of Kate's omelette, Jane's wholewheat toast and marmalade and the pancakes... Yummy, may have to have a break from granola!

Anonymous said...

My favorite breakfast has to be an Ulster Fry, but no matter how we try and make it it never tastes the same as it does in Ireland,

Great recipe Heidi xx

charlotte

charlottemcfall27@yahoo.co.uk

Heidi Rice said...

A bit like the Guinness then, Charlotte!

Kate Hardy said...

First name drawn from the hat for 'PS I'm Pregnant' - Charlotte. Please contact me kate(dot)hardy(at)btinternet(dot)com with your details, Charlotte, and I'll get everything sorted :o) Thanks for taking part!