Autumn Harvest Oatmeal

Yesterday was the first snowfall of the season in Bismarck. Just a flurry, nothing that really stuck around too long, but enough to make you want to burrow your head in a turtleneck and invest in a Snuggie.

It’s a good thing I don’t own a Snuggie, because I’m pretty sure I’d wear it ALL THE TIME, considering how much time I spend wrapped up in blankets and quilts in the winter. Yes, I know robes serve a similar function, but old habits die hard. And if I wear a robe, Kent calls it a "house coat" and I feel like a 75-year-old. Although I think I'll make a great senior citizen some day, for the moment I'll stick with my blankets.


So on cold wintery mornings like today, wrapped up in a blanket with the fraying ends dragging behind me (look ma, no need to mop!), I rummage through the cereal cabinet for breakfast, looking for something…something…something more than raisin bran. Something warm, filling, hearty, earthy. That’s when I go to my old standby: oatmeal.

I love oatmeal. I grew up on oatmeal, eating it every morning as a teenager, huddled over the stove for the residual heat many a winter morning…yes, wrapped in a blanket. That ritual must be hard-coded in my bone marrow now since ten years later, I’m still doing the same thing - but my tastes have grown up a little bit. Oatmeal is a blank canvas for all sorts of wonderfulness. You can put nearly anything in it – Mark Bittman is a big fan of savory oatmeal. Plus, oatmeal fills you up, not out. The following recipe is my favorite way to make oatmeal. Trade your flaky Special K for a bowl full of this and I guarantee you’ll feel better, have more energy, better digestion, clear up your skin, suddenly know how to tap dance…well, you get the idea.

Autumn Harvest Oatmeal
Makes two hearty servings. Please use the old-fashioned oats, not quick-cooking. Quick-cooking oats remind me of what it must’ve been like eating gruel every morning at an English orphanage in the 1800s. Unfortunately, nearly every restaurant uses quick-cooking oats nowadays, a poor excuse for oatmeal that only contributes to its unearned reputation as dowdy and unappetizing. It’s a travesty, since old-fashioned really doesn’t take that much longer to cook and gives a much more appealing taste and texture.

3 c. water
1 and ½ c. old-fashioned oats
1 small apple, peeled and chopped
A handful of raisins
1 Tbls. flax seeds
A small handful chopped walnuts
Pure maple syrup or brown sugar
Milk

Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan. Add apples, raisins, and oats; reduce heat to medium and simmer until oats are thickened, about 5 mins. Divide oatmeal between two serving bowls. Top with flax seeds and walnuts. Serve with maple syrup and milk.