You can't accuse Andrea and Brian Strom of Ely, Minn., of pulling their punches.
A casual joke about naming a cranberry apple granola Crapola not only survived the initial chuckle, but a dozen rounds of experimentation to get just the right balance of whole grain oats, rye and barley, along with honey, maple syrup, almonds, pecans, apples, sesame seeds and cranberries. A half-cup serving of Crapola! provides 20 percent of a day's recommended fiber. So does their second variety of granola, a cranberry-orange version called Number Two, marketed with a hippie vibe that promises it "won't just help you start your day, it'll help you start a movement."
Prices vary at the co-ops and upscale groceries that carry the cereal, but the Stroms say their online price reflects high-quality ingredients and small-batch production. If you can get that far: Our computer filter blocked their website as "offensive material." Apparently, the risk of a missed sale is worth a good joke.
$4.95 for 12 ounces; available at Lunds, Byerly's, Kowalski's, and others; and the web site, crapola.us.
KIM ODE
