Oatmeal with Milk

Technically, it's not cooking, but we're not that picky, right?

Oatmeal, covered with milk (and a sprinkle of sugar, if you like).  Let it stand for 5 minutes and voila: a snack.

It's just like those parfaits at the airport or fast-food places, minus all the ick.  Turns out there's more to oatmeal than we thought. 

Snow Days and Oatmeal

Snow days.  If you grew up in the midwest, or anywhere with snow for that matter, those two words have the power to evoke a smile, don't they?  Frosty days, piles of snow, tons of wet clothing, frozen extremities and the bliss of unexpected freedom, no matter the chilly cost.

Ahhhh.

That's how my kids were feeling this week, with an early dismissal and two snow days.  I, on the other hand, was frazzled.

It's different here, where a skim of snow is the norm and the "wintery mix" that accompanies it results in slippery roads, cancelled school but work goes on.

I came home the first afternoon to two very happy children enjoying a snack.

"It's my famous oatmeal!"  my son proudly declared.

"Let me guess - there's pepper in it!?"

"Yup.  And apples and bananas.  No raisins becuase she doesn't like them and crasins are optional.  Except you ran out."

"Is it good?"  I asked my daughter, who never hesitates to provide an honest opinion.

"Yes."

My son chattered on, "They said they're going to cancel school tomorrow too!  Can I make lunch?"

Well, well.  How could I say no?

I came home the next day, just after lunch and looked in the kitchen sink. Orange and purple swirls were floating in the bowls, it didn't look like food, exactly. I wish I'd taken a picture. Instead, my sanitary-self went into immediate hyper-drive and I started doing dishes.


"What exactly did you make for lunch?"

"Macaroni and cheese with tomatoes and jelly." No big deal, mom.

"It was good," my daughter volunteered.  "Want to try my hot chocolate?" She walked into the kitchen and offered me a spoonful from her santa mug. I sipped. It was chocolate, with something else...

"Hum. What did you put in there? Pepper?"

"Yes. And the juice from two cherry tomatoes."

Right. That was the something else.

Whoever said education stops when they cancel school?

Snow days. Gotta love 'em.

Kiddo's Famous Oatmeal
(serves two)

Prepare two packets of instant oatmeal according to the directions.
Peel and chop one apple.
Slice one banana.
Add half of each fruit to each bowl.
Rasins and dried cranberries are optional.
Add ground pepper to taste.
Enjoy!

Oatmeal

Oatmeal has been with us for a long time.

When my son was about 2, he'd wake up in the morning and stand in his crib calling over and over "oat-oat da-da." 

It was the first breakfast I taught him to make by himself.  Thirty seconds at a time in the microwave.

One morning when I'd slept in until nearly seven (!) I heard the microwave going.  And going.  I dragged myself out of bed.   In the kitchen, the table was set with a random assortment of bowls, plastic spoons, some with animal faces, and oatmeal.

"I made breakfast for everyone!" 

This time of year, it seems natural to switch from granola back to oatmeal.

I often make it with milk, not water, but I was running low on milk the other morning so we did half milk, half water.  The difference was pretty interesting.  The oatmeal was creamy, but not as rich as before.  More surprisingly, the flavor of the oats was much more pronounced.  I gather that the milk has been overwhelming the oats until now. 

We like ours with brown sugar, rasins optional.

It's a pretty simple thing for kids to make too:

Classic oatmeal, two large portions, three small portions.

Bring to a boil: 1 cup water + 3/4 cup milk
Add 1 cup old-fashioned oats (not quick oats!)
and a pinch of salt.

Turn down the heat and cook at medium-low for 5 minutes, stir frequently.

Serve with rasins, brown sugar, salt, milk, chopped nuts, cinnamon, maple syrup or whatever else strikes your fancy.

Sunday Evening Blues

This blog is primarily about cooking with children, but sometimes it's about cooking for children.  Like tonight.

Sunday evenings can be hard.  We've all been there.  You've had a good weekend, but somehow there are still a bunch of things you didn't get to, and there it is: Monday.  Lurking just around the corner with that pushy look in his eyes that says "I've got a whole list of things here you have to get done, let's go, let's go, let's GO!". 

No matter how much you love your job, I think it's pretty common to wish for "just one more day" to finish catching up or to keep relaxing. 

We're not the only ones who feel that way.  Having children nudges those memories back out of the dusty corners.  When one of the kids says sadly "I don't like Sunday night!"  I remember feeling the same way.  Excited to see my friends, but not so excited about a long week of ... school.

This evening, I figured I'd stave off the mood and make some cookies.  The kids were playing and I let them be.  It was satisfying to put together the recipe for cherry-oatmeal cookies from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking.  We'd made them a few weeks ago and they were great. 

If your library doesn't have this book, ask one of those friendly people at the front desk who is in charge of doing the ordering for your library, ask to speak with them, and ask them if they would "please, pretty please" consider getting it for their collection.  It's a great book, with luscious photos and, even better, good recipes! 

So I mixed the recipe up and shared the beaters.

That helped with our Sunday blues.

What I'd forgotten was that the batter was supposed to chill in the fridge for 6 hours before baking.  That did not help. 

So I made a batch of warm-dough-cookies, slid them into the oven and put the rest of the dough in to cool while the first round baked.  Now, I knew better.  I knew that batter was made with soft butter and that those cookies were going to spread.  And they did.  And you know what?  They tasted great.  Most of them had to be peeled apart and cut into something resembling a cookie, but they were yummy just the same.  The second batch, which had been chilling for about 20 minutes, didn't spread nearly as much.   They were actually round! 

I don't recommend forgetting to chill this dough, but it was interesting to see what a difference a little cool air did make. 

It was also a little bit of a confidence check.  You know how sometimes you read a recipe and you think "really?  6 hours?  you've got to be kidding me - no way does this dough actually need 6 hours to chill!"  Well, they probably didn't want to wait 6 hours either.  It's probably there for a reason.  Next time I'll try to plan ahead and let them chill, because they were better that way - more cookie like, less cruchy.

But the other thing I learned tonight was, sometimes it's not the perfect cookie that matters, it's just doing something nice to make the end of the weekend a little special.  They won't remember the spread-out cookies.  They'll just remember that sometimes you made them cookies.

Happy Sunday Night.

 

Oatmeal

Thursday was a late-start for the elementary schools around here. I woke up to the sound of the microwave going. Oatmeal.

Since they were old enough to eat cereals, oatmeal had been the breakfast of choice for both kids. I got frustrated with the expense and sugar of the instant packets of oatmeal and we devised an “instant” oatmeal mix to keep on hand – quick oats, powdered milk, brown sugar, spices and raisins. They know to cover it with milk and how long to microwave it. It was our first foray into kid-cooking.

I still tend to do a half-awake countdown when I hear the microwave start (has it been more than one minute? Is the oatmeal about to explode?) but I love that they’re learning to feed themselves.

Not yet fully awake Thursday, I remembered the morning my son woke me up announcing he’d made breakfast for everyone. There was a bowl of oatmeal and a plastic spoon at each seat.

“I didn’t know how to make the coffee,” he said seriously.

One of the best breakfasts yet.