Oatmeal

It's not like anyone REALLY needs a recipe for oatmeal -- you can pretty much read it off the box. But maybe what you DO need is a little nudge to get out there and go make some. I took the suggestion in Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution to cook my oats in milk, and I haven't been able to look back since.

The basic proportions for a single adult serving are 1 cup of milk and 2/3 cups of oats -- you can scale up from there.  This doesn't work so hot with the steel cut ones, so go for rolled oats here (I like large flakes ... and big flat oats, too). Just put the oats and milk in a pan and heat on medium and stir now and then until it reaches the thickness you like (about 20 minutes for me). In one of nature's great cosmic congruences, this is also how long it takes to gently fry up some thick slices of bacon -- I am humbled at the harmony of the natural order: pi has nothing on this cosmic constant.

The little stick the photo is called a spurtle (or spirtle, depending on which 16th century spelling you go for, I presume). Lee Valley says it's a traditional Scottish stir stick for porridge -- there was no way I could resist such a specialised and lovely implement, so 5 bucks later, here I am. (It does a fine job on oatmeal, by the way, getting into the corners of the pot to keep it from getting goopy down there.)

Towards the end of cooking time, you can add a splash of Scotch (just for flavour, of course) -- it goes with the spurtle. You can also grate a little nutmeg in there and it's nice to add some raisins or blueberries or currants. You don't want it too dolled-up though -- these are oats after all: they have an awesomeness all there own.

Serve up with a tablespoon of honey and you're off to the races!

May it stick to your ribs...