Pour a cup of coffee and get ready for a cozy day with this Snowy Day Oatmeal!
Well, it’s another Topisaw snow day! This never happens.
When I was a child, we were told to expect one good snow every few years–maybe even one in our entire first 6 years! When it DID snow, if it didn’t melt right away (the norm), it was a huge deal. We had no school, of course, so we spent the entire day outside, building snowmen and attempting to find a hill to sled down. My mom taught my brother and me to make “snow ice cream” by pouring sweetened condensed milk onto a clean patch of snow, letting it harden, then scraping the snow/milk mixture into a bowl. (I remember it being delicious, but that could be a combination of ice cream obsession, sentimentality and missing my mom…)
Lately, though, we’ve had at least one major (“major” for us in the south is perhaps not major for New Englanders!) Topisaw snow each and every year. This year, we’ve had 2 ridiculous, 4-6 inch, stick to the ground snows in a 2 month period.
One of my major concerns is for our animals. While it’s fun to watch the cats tiptoe around in the snow, I do worry about our cows who excel at bawling and appearing miserable. Our one remaining aged Gulf Coast Native sheep is also a concern, but when I check on her she’s huddled down in the trees in her massive wooly jacket and seems quite content!
There’s something about palm trees holding snow that I find so lovely. The juxtaposition of the palm, symbol of warmth and summer, supporting snow, symbol of cold and winter makes me really happy. One of David’s specialties is cold-hardy palms, so I have plenty of opportunity to snap a few happy photos.
Even my son’s antique Plymouth looks beautiful with a dusting of Topisaw snow!
One of the pleasures of a Topisaw snow is coming IN from the cold!
(Yes, I wore my toasty slippers and my flannel pjs on my walk…)
On these rare snowy days there’s nothing like snuggling in with warm comfort foods. Hot chocolate or maybe a dash of Bailey’s in my coffee (hey, I gotta keep WARM!). For breakfast, there’s quick and easy, healthy and delicious oatmeal!
Oatmeal? Do I really need to get excited about oatmeal, and do I REALLY need a recipe? I despised any sort of porridge for years until a neighbor of mine told me to “cook it fast”. Now it’s my favorite way to start the day, especially when it’s cold and blustery outside.
Snowy Day Oatmeal Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
- about 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1-2 teaspoons brown sugar
- as many dried cherries as you like (I like a lot.)
here’s how to make snowy day oatmeal
On high, bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add oatmeal, and either stir or swirl it around in the pan.
When oatmeal starts to climb the sides of the pan, give it another swirl, and cut the heat down so that it simmers and doesn’t boil over. Cook for about 3 minutes. Don’t burn it.
Cut heat back up to high, and boil until water is mostly absorbed, evaporated, gone. It should look like this:
Okay, meanwhile, locate your very favorite bowl. I have a collection of old restaurant ware that I find on eBay and take turns using them. Into your bowl put the coconut oil, sugar and cherries. When the oatmeal is done, pour it over your goodies–that way it melts the oil and sugar and plumps the cherries and makes a super delicious mess.
You might also enjoy Banana Nut Oatmeal with Cinnamon and Pecans.
enjoy!
Yay, it’s time to pour another cup of coffee, prop up your now snow-free fuzzy slippers and enjoy your warm breakfast.
It’s a good thing I don’t live in a routinely snowy place as I’d never get any work done. I could get used to this!
How do you feel about snow? And more importantly, what’s your favorite warm and cozy breakfast? 