It’s porridge day.

Well what do you know…we even have a day to talk about porridge. Kelly Higgins-Devine, on the afternoon show on the ABC had a very interesting session on the subject of porridge. It seems they have a competition in Britain to find the best porridge maker and this year it was a man from Scotland. (of course, the origin of porridge.)

It seems there are many ways of making this stuff. Actually I love porridge and during the winter I have it most mornings. Oats are supposed to be good at keeping cholesterol levels down and they are full of fibre, so a good food.

On the radio show, the talk turned to spurtles. Here is a picture.

 I have a spurtle. One of my daughters in law bought me one several years ago and I use it to make porridge. At the moment, as we are house sitting most of my kitchen gear is packed away, so I haven’t used if for some time, but it’s there for when we eventually get our own place and settle down again.

My main bugbear has been how to cook the porridge. I used to make it in the microwave, and that works, but somehow its just not the same as doing it on the stove top. But then you have the hassle of everything sticking to the pot. 

That has been solved by the little Chief brand pot Peter bought me last winter. It is one of the best little pots I have ever owned, absolutely non-stick the sticky porridge just wipes off when you rinse it. Terrific.

 My method is like this.  I put four heaped tablespoons of porridge into my little pot, and cover it with non-fat milk and enough to make the oats swim. I add about a good pinch of salt and put it on to cook, stirring often. I can add more milk if I need to to get it right. Then I pour that into a plate add full cream milk on top and some brown sugar. That keeps me going for the whole morning.

My mother also has porridge most mornings, and as she needs to watch her weight, that is, put it on, she has it made with cream and has finely chopped cranberries and apricots added with cream and sugar on top. It is fabulous stuff. She’s 93 years old, and a bit of cream is not going to do any harm at this point.

One final point. Making porridge is very much a ‘comfort’ thing and a very personal thing. I have had porridge made by many other people over the years, and seldom is it as good as mine. It seems that our tastes are very precise when it comes to porridge. So, unfortunately, although I have cooked my husband roughly 50,000 meals during our wedded life, I have  never been able to cook porridge as good as his mother used to make. I am a failure in this regard…..lol.