My grandpa, as I called him, (not pawpaw, or papaw, or grandfather) and I used to make and eat porridge together. The slow, constantly stir, stove-top version.
Then he'd take out a big mason jar of brown sugar from the cupboard. It had the weird, taped cotton on the lid. Or something to that effect. Does that even make sense? I think it was to keep the moisture content consistent. If I can remember correctly, brown sugar used to get really hard if it wasn't sealed carefully. He lived on the plains of Saskatchewan and had to be resourceful. I think this was a resourceful old fashioned things trick...
When the porridge was ready, we'd sprinkle on the brown sugar, add a small splash of milk, and eat silently. My feet would swing in the bright yellow, vinyl kitchen chairs.I don't remember anything that we talked about, but I know I had to do what he did. And he looked like he loved porridge.
I still do. I always have old fashioned oats in the cupboard to be ready for my hit of nostalgia.
However...
HOWEVER, when biking the Virginia Creeper trail a few years ago with my mom and her friend, Hettie, I finally had another excuse for oats!
Hettie had brought on our journey, the easy-to-travel with, energy bites made with oats. These were so good and did the trick for the long bike ride. (OK, the Virginia Creeper Trail is fairly easy since most of it is down hill, but having a few snacks is recommended on its 34 mile trek).
SIDE NOTE:
The bike ride was awesome! I would highly recommend it for most families, or folks new to the area, or just someone looking for a nice cruise through the mountains. It's a great way to be in nature, get some exercise, and simply a neat trail to be on a bike. We brought our own bikes but you can certainly rent them.
Oh. And it intersects with the Appalachian trail in Damascus. It is obvious who the serious hikers are with their well packed, backpacks and equipment. I was a bit envious when seeing them but was happy to get back on the bike after a stop at one of the AT hikers' coffee shop/general stores along the way.
But I digress.
Back to the oats.
A few experiments of our (me and D's) own and altering Hettie's recipe, I think we rested on this version. The great thing about this recipe is the fact that it can be made to your taste. I'm even thinking of trying this with dates, and possibly pressing this into a granola bar version. That's how flexible the ingredients are in making this a great, non-bake treat.
What would you add?
If you know any adventurous hiking-always-on-the-move folks like Hettie, then this card would be great for them. Any excuse to reach out to someone with an old fashioned note to say 'thinking of you' is a good one.
Not everyone is around anymore to do that.
I think it's time I made some porridge again.
This content is 100% human generated. All grammatical errors and opinions are my own.
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