Hurray, winter breakfasts loom.

 I love porridge. Winter is on the way and I have started having my porridge for breakfast.  I used to loathe it as a child, cold thick muck, but now that I make my own, it’s the best in the world.

I am an average cook. Peter rarely turns his nose up at what I put in front of him, he eats pretty much anything and usually there is a ‘thankyou that was lovely’ at the end of the meal. 

But in this one regard, I have not been able to live up to his mother’s standards. ‘It’s not like mum used to make’ was the comment the first time I gave him porridge, and he has not attempted it since. That’s okay. I don’t mind.

But the problem with porridge is cooking the stuff. It sticks to the saucepan like glue. It takes a few minutes to make, two minutes to eat and then five minutes to scrub the residue off the sticky pan. Of course, Teflon non-stick pans have come in and that helps. But not all‘non-stick’ is very non-stick.

Porridge ready to eat. Yum.

Porridge in the plate, and pot washed as clean as a whistle in a few seconds. Thats my kind of pot!

 For some years I have made my porridge the microwave. That works, but unless you have a massive jug it boils over and leaves a mess on the microwave plate. You can’t cook it in a bowl, you need a handle because the bowls get so hot with the boiling porridge in. But I don’t like it microwaved so much. I really like it when it has been cooked on the stove. (You are going to say I am very fussy, and very hard to please!). Well in this area maybe I am.

We had a house sit a while ago on the Sunshine coast. And she had the most wonderful ‘Jamie Oliver’ non-stick saucepan. I mean, it was non-stick. It was solid, nice to cook with, and the residue just washed off. I have looked out for these for quite a while, but being in house sit situations I am loathe to buy too much other kitchen stuff. I have my kitchen gear all boxed and stored for the time we finish house sitting, so it seems silly to buy more.

Anyway, the other day, we went to the Robina shops for an outing. And out of Big W wanders my man with a bag containing a non-stick pot. It’s just the right size. I have used it twice for porridge. It is terrific. I just need to wash it around and all the excess washes off and its clean as a whistle again.

Chief brand....its a bit hard to read this. Their website has lots of products available.

It is a ‘Chief’ brand. Never heard of it before but they have a good looking website. But it works a treat. Now I can do scrambled eggs again without fearing the endless pot scrubbing. Ah for a decent little saucepan!