Oatmeal at the Arches. An opinion.

Thanks to TP and KL for sending the link to this great Oatmeal opinion piece in the NY Times.

Oatmeal Haiku

My oatmeal, with marm
So simple yet so complex
Warming heart and soul

-Emily T.

It's a brown sugar kind of day

The warning came early.  An email received on my commute to work.
The subject line: No Marmalade
The body, to the point: My oatmeal is gross today

KN, thanks for the early heads-up. 

With marm expectations spread thin, I opted for the stalwart standby -- brown sugar. Today, a good day for a standby--nothing risky... no jelly, raisins or almonds.  Just brown sugar.

Maybe, I thought oatmeal is a metaphor for life.  I even checked my horoscope to see if it said take no risks.  

It didn't.  I guess, at least for today, oatmeal with no marm is just oatmeal with no marm. Yuck.

Report from the field (Ok, the kitchen)

"The oats are goopy enough to repair grout work, so yummmmmm.  Added some Smuckers Reduced Sugar (No Artificial Sweetener) Orange Marma, and sliced almonds – extra yummmmmm."

-What a perfect description!  Thanks ET.

How Much?

Among two of the first decisions I need to make each day are are what size oatmeal bowl and how much mix-in.  Clearly, how much is a personal decision.. like how much sugar, if any, to put in coffee.  But, unlike coffee where someone often adheres to none, one or two teaspoons.. I find that how much oatmeal mix-in varies with the day.  A little sweeter yesterday.. less sweet today. It's an on-the-spot decision that's important to get my day off to the right start.

Marmalade

What's growing faster than Just Oats?... adherents to the marmalade mix-in.  Already on this sunny Tuesday morning, one Just Oats follower has admitted conversion and actual addiction to the MarmMix.

oh, today's oatmeal.. "especially thick and gooey, in a good way".

Superb oatmeal mix-in ideas offered during that lame Super Bowl halftime show:

• Slivered almonds
• Black walnuts and dates
• Canned pumpkin and maple syrup -- which initially sounded gross, but actually sounds tasty.
• Peanut butter-- I don't know, gloppy oatmeal with stick peanut butter, I'm not convinced.  Anyone tried this?

Your favorite mix-in?

Friday Oats

Today's oatmeal report... gloppy with lots of marmalade mixed in. Excellent