I spent the spring semester of my junior year in Maine, at a tiny school for environmental studies run by the Chewonki Foundation. Thirty students live in cabins on a peninsula jutting into the Sheepscot River. We studied, did farm chores, mucked about in salt flats, and adventured a lot. We also ate some of the best granola I ever tasted. I don’t know what it’s called, or where to by it. But I’ve tried to recreate it.

My mother makes two kinds of biscuits: cheese drop biscuits and flaky cut-out biscuits. Her technique is effortless -- she makes them without a recipe, by muscle memory. I never considered them to be intimidating, but rather the opposite. They come together in minutes and use only a few ingredients. When done well, the end result is light, airy, and buttery, but in order to achieve that perfect texture, you simply need to use a very gentle touch.

I've been making granola for a long time now,  ever since I realized that the exact combination I wanted didn't exist in a store-bought bag. Granola is a perfect example of all those great things about home cooking: no preservatives, much more economical, customizable to just what you love, and on and on.