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When I was in the hospital for a week keeping vigil over Mr. Food Musings, I ate a lot of granola bars. Some were leftover from an airplane trip, others were stashed away to use one day in Million Dollar pie, and still more were crumpled up and jammed in a dusty corner of the kitchen cabinet. I don't even know where they all came from, I just know that when R. showed up at the hospital with a care package to get me through the first day and night, it was full of 'em.

Turns out you can have a culinary epiphany even while your beloved is lying in a hospital gown with all the color drained from his face, alternately moaning in pain and dry heaving. Mine came in the form of the Chocolate Cherry Cranberry granola bar from Divinely D'lish.

Mr. Food Musings is really the granola freak in the house, and when I heard about Divinely D'lish through a friend I was eager for him to try it. Little did I know that the nearly entirely organic, local ingredient-driven goods would worm their healthy way into my heart. Although I love the Veritas granola with toasted walnuts and whole hazelnuts (score!) it was the Bing cherries and Scharffen Berger chocolate cacao nibs in the 'nola bar that did me in. And it wasn't the crunchy kind of granola bar that breaks your teeth, either; it was soft and chewy and really, really fresh -- a testament to its handmade nature.

Founder Alison Bailey Vercruysse drew inspiration from her family when crafting the recipes. From grandmother Mama Kitty's famous coconut cream cakes to her Texan Nana's divine pralines to her mother's homemade granola, Alison has a wealth of culinary weapons in her arsenal. She supports local businesses and her own devout "buy organic" philosophy by using artisanal products like Marshall Farm's honey and Straus Family Creamery butter. The darn stuff is healthy as can be -- no trans fats, no wheat and lots of fiber.

If you don't live down the street from Alison like I do, she sells stuff at local Whole Foods and other markets, and she's got a new kiosk at the Ferry Building near Peet's where she sells two flavors of granola and three types of granola bars. I need to stock up again, so you might see me down there with Mr. FM and his cane, buying up box after box of granola bars. This time I won't wait for the next unexpected hospital visit to chow down.

 

Comments

[clare eats]

They do sound really really good, nothing like the *shite* that uncle toby's calls a museli bar here.

[muzghan]

I found this D'lish product at Pebble Beach Market and would love to buy? Does anyone know where I can get this item in Monterey Peninsula?