Good Old Porridge/ Oatmeal

After the feasting that comes with the Holidays it feels good to get back to basics.

Oatmeal- why yes- I actually like it.

Of her children and oatmeal Elizabeth Zimmermann wrote…

“Poor things, they certainly were stuffed on it as children, but I was convinced then, and still am, that it is the very best form of food for children, and one should get as much as possible into them before they get wise to it. They had it in bread, soup, cookies, and even pudding., for which I would sweeten it up, and let it set. At breakfast it was, “Now eat up your nice porridge, and if you are good, you may have sugar on your second plateful.”

“Knitting Around” P. 124

My first project of the New Year- EZ’s Baby Surprise Jacket- is off to a great start.  I worked it in an oatmeal colored Paton’s Classic Wool. (All yarn was on sale at Joann’s this week!)

Looking like nothing but a wobbly rectangle-I pressed on through decreases and increases and pick-ups. Before I knew it - it was time to bind off- then a couple of deft folds- and Voila! – the cutest baby sweater ever appears.

Over the weekend I’ll stitch up the shoulders and try my hand at adding an i-cord edging. Brown or cream for the edging- what do you think?... I also need to rustle up some buttons…

The BSJ pattern is found in “The Opinionated Knitter”. Pretty bare bones as far as instructions go. Folks will tell you not to try to read too much into the pattern- and not to try to figure out how the thing will end up as a sweater. Well -thank goodness for Ravelry groups and WIKIs. There is help out there for any question that might arise. In fact I had to stop myself from trying to read all the notes and just get to the knitting.

Garter Stich and some honest wool- Like Oatmeal- 
It’s good for the soul.

I’m sharing a favorite bread recipe. Unfortunately I have no idea where it came from. I’ve been making it for a while and I copied it out on a card- never noting the source. It makes a good transition from all the cookies and coffee cakes we’ve been eating to something a little more sensible- but still yummy.
Hope you enjoy it!

Oatmeal Bread

6 ups flour

2 ½ teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons butter

½ cup orange marmalade

¼ cup honey

1 cup rolled oats

2 cups boiling water

2 packages yeast

1/3 cup lukewarm water

Pour boiling water over oats and let sit ½ hour

Proof yeast in a small bowl with the lukewarm water

Add salt, marmalade, and honey to oats and stir

Stir in yeast

Stir in 2 cups of the flour

Incorporate in the rest of the flour

Kneed and put in a greased bowl to rise – about 2 hours

Punch down and shape. I use 3 small bread tins, which I grease.

Let rise again for about an hour – then bake at 350 for about an hour.