This is a favorite of the RITS staff and keeps us energized through the cold winter season. This wholesome, homemade treat is especially yummy with some hot chocolate around the campfire.
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
½ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup wheat germ
¼ cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup honey
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup of chopped dried fruit (we like apricots and blueberries or cherries)
Butter a 9” x9” glass baking dish, set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spread the oats, almonds, sunflower seeds and wheat germ onto a half-sheet pan and toast in oven for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Combine the honey brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla extract, and salt in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until the brown sugar has dissolved completely.
When oat mixture is done, remove from oven and reduce heat to 300 degrees. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture. Add the dried fruit and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the buttered baking dish and press down, evenly distributing it in the dish. Place in oven and bake for up to 25 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares. Store in an airtight container for up to a week, if they last that long!
In its fifth year, the Mountain Man Memorial March is a challenging 26.2 mile run beginning in Gatlinburg and continuing through the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains. The first MMMM was held in 2007 with 40 ROTC cadets marching in their boots with 35 lb. rucksacks and carrying a photo of 2LT Frank B. Walkup, IV, a 2005 University of Tennessee graduate and ROTC alumnus. Walkup was killed in action in Iraq in 2007. At the end of that first march, the cadets presented the photo and a Gold Star flag to his mother. The event has quickly expanded into a tribute that honors all our fallen American heroes and has become the largest Gold Star Mother recognition ceremony in the Southeast.
