breakfast – Ink, Yarn & Beer

Burnt Breakfast and Random Thoughts

Yes, my oatmeal is scorched.

I got distracted by my monkey mind. Luckily, no fires, and enough saved to have breakfast. Oatmeal is perfect on cold mornings, with raisins, walnuts, and yogurt. I’d go for brown sugar, too, but as I am addicted to sugar and could happily main line it, I try to keep it toned down in my daily life with a square or two of Valrhona 72% dark . . .

I got the first of my two Covid vaccines yesterday, the Pfizer version. I can return in the next 3-6 weeks, per the County, for the second. I don’t understand how people cannot take this virus seriously, but as my husband pointed out, many people in the generation after me (like from 1812 on) have not seen or had the diseases I enjoyed in my childhood – chicken pox, measles, polio, diphtheria, etc. That may well be the case. However, I wonder about their failure to realize or understand science and so on. Certainly I don’t get people who follow conspiracy theories, such as those proposed by QAnon – and I know some who think such things are true.

Having worked with people who are schizophrenic, I do understand that there are different versions of reality for different people. And, in novels, I love a good conspiracy theory! However, there are some that are just too weird to think of as real.

What is reality? What is belief? What is a potential not yet seen? Think about TV – it wasn’t “real” until the last century. Airplanes in 1903. There are things we imagine that may not come about for a long, long time, such as travel and colonization of other planets. These make for great stories – but what about germs and virus and other things on those planets to which humans are not immune?

Belief is defined as an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists. But is that belief grounded in fact? Some religious people say that in order to pray, you have to believe. Others say in order to believe, you must pray. That is a dichotomy. Also, what we now know to exist was often a myth or a thought or a potential reality at one time.

Well, enough rambling. Time to get the day moving along with the excitement of doing dishes and other mundane tasks before wandering about in my own planned fun activities!

Porridge in the Morning

In the US porridge is known as oat meal. Depending on your word preference, call it as you will. I know one mother who calls it porridge so her kids will eat it – they won’t eat meal. As a child, I had no idea what Goldilocks and the three bears were eating and I wondered about it for years.

Today, my breakfast with a bit of yogurt and raisins – a daily dish for the most part!

Fritatta for One

I’ve been reading Daniel Silva’s books this past month, and in one, Chiara makes a zucchini and potato fritatta. Out of potatoes, but do have a zucchini. This is what I did – for only me! (Josh was still in bed, and I was hungry!)

Zucchini Fritatta
3 small eggs
1 T. milk
2 cloves garlic
1 small zucchini, sliced fine using mandolin or grater
3-4 T. pecorino romano cheese, grated
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

Preheat oven broiler. In oven-safe saute pan, over medium heat, pour in 2-3 T. olive oil, coating sides if necessary. Heat. Saute chopped garlic and grated / sliced zucchini until lightly cooked.

While garlic and zucchini are sauteeing, vigorously whip together the milk and eggs. Grate the cheese.

Once the vegetables are slightly cooked, pour the egg-milk mixture into pan. Let cook for a minute or so. Sprinkle cheese on top of egg mixture. Remove pan from stove, place under broiler for 1-2 minutes (watch it closely!). Remove from broiler. Set aside to allow eggs to continue cooking through, about 3-5 minutes.

Gently pull edges of fritatta away from pan, invert over plate. Salt and pepper to taste.

Granola Girl!

As we all know, “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” Some will disagree, but I won’t. No breakfast, no fun, not nice.

I’ve been craving more “summery” kinds of food for mornings, and fruit with granola, or yogurt-fruit-granola are some of the best. Light, but sustaining, and not a lot of work, either. So, yesterday, after having it on the back of my mind for the past week, I finally rummaged through the pantry to see what I had. I had oatmeal, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, golden and black raisins, dried montmorency cherries, walnuts. I eyed the candied ginger and dried white peaches and hazelnuts, and decided that those should be saved for other things and times. I also looked at the spices, and decided on mace. I like its difference. Here is the recipe. Amounts can vary as desired. If you do a bigger recipe, increase cooking time.

Granola Girl Granola

Preheat oven to 400 F, and then drop to 300 when you bake it.

In large dutch oven, melt together 1/2 stick butter (about 4T), some maple syrup (real stuff, please), and a couple T of lightweight oil. Stir it up a bit to blend. Then add:

5 c. rolled oats

1/2 c. pinhead oats or ground flaxseed

1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans

handful pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries and raisins and cherries, as desired

ground mace – or other spices if you want (I like cinnamon, nutmeg, and Chinese 5-spice)

Coat all ingredients with oil-syrup-butter mixture. Then put into oven, dropping temperature to 300 F. Set timer for 15 minutes, and then stir thoroughly. Repeat 2 more times, for a total of 45 minutes or so. As it cools, it becomes crispier. Store in plastic container.