Deborah Raney's Best Ever Granola

DEBORAH RANEY dreamed of writing a book since the summer she read Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books and discovered that a Kansas farm girl could, indeed, grow up to be a writer. After a happy twenty-year detour as a stay-at-home mom, Deb penned her first novel, A Vow to Cherish, which won a Silver Angel Award and inspired the acclaimed World Wide Pictures film of the same title. Since then, her books have won the RITA Award, HOLT Medallion, ACFW Carol Award, National Readers' Choice Award, as well as twice being finalists for the Christy Award. Deb teaches at writers' conferences across the country. She and her husband, Ken Raney, recently traded small-town life in Kansas ––the setting of many of Deb's novels––for life in the (relatively) big city of Wichita. They have four children and four precious grandchildren (plus one on the way!) who all live much too far away. Visit Deb on the Web at www.deborahraney.com.

Deborah's newest book release: Silver Bells

As Elvis croons from the radio and Christmas descends upon a small Kansas town, two people find the miracle of love.

Michelle Penn has dropped out of college to work as a reporter for a tiny weekly newspaper. The boss's son, Robert Merrick III, is quickly making her forget all about her former sweetheart, Kevin, who has shipped out to Vietnam. Rob loves the newspaper business but feels trapped working for his father. He dreams of having his own newspaper, but now that he's met Michelle, she is what he wants most of all. Rob is forbidden by office policy to date Michelle, but if he were to quit his job, he'd have nothing to offer her.

As snow blankets the town, it seems that the gifts Rob and Michelle most desire––each other––are out of reach. But then, they didn't count on a small Christmas miracle.

DEB'S BEST EVER GRANOLA

4 Cup Old Fashioned Oats

1 Cup Flaked Coconut

½ Cup Chopped Pecans or Walnuts

¼ Cup Sunflower Nuts

½ Cup Brown Sugar

½ Cup Olive Oil

½ Cup Honey

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

In a large cookie sheet with sides (jelly roll pan), bake dry oats at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix nuts, coconut, sunflower seeds and brown sugar in large mixing bowl; stir well.

In a small bowl, mix oil, honey, and vanilla. Remove oats from oven and add to nut mixture. Pour oil and honey mixture over all, stirring well. Return to cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes till dark golden brown, stirring every 5-8 minutes. Cool. (Stir again several times while cooling as it tends to clump.) Store in zip-lock bag or other air-tight container. (We use a gallon-size ice cream tub.)