sprinklefingers

i’ve told you about her before, but i have this super incredible friend. she owns a fantastic shop here in portland filled with things every last one of you would want to own. we go way back, this adorable shopkeeper and i…she’s a true feature in this post - to make things easy let’s refer to her as grammar girl.

…she lived across the street (literally) from our high school. this was incredibly awesome when it came time for senior pranks.
[note: i’m calling on the supreme powers of the statute of limitations here. that was a long, long time ago…seriously.
so what if we dipped our bottoms in poster paint and impressed them upon the windows of the school?
and, yeah, we hung up a sign that said “class of 1993, no butts about it!” but that was just to go along with all the painted butt-prints.
oh, and maybe we adorned the school yard with posters asking our peers to practice safe sex on prom night…but that was just for the good of our classmates.]
oh, wait. what was i talking about?
forget everything you just read. and please don’t tell my grandma.

anyways, back to little grammar girl…

we were both cheerleaders. then our senior year she continued as a cheerleader and i became the school mascot. yeah, you read it right: i was the mascot. an eagle. being the serious athletes we were, we often stayed after school for various practices and/or rides to jazzercise - and because her house was right across the street from the school we could easily run over for an afterschool snack before extracurriculars began. [and now i’m finally getting to the food…]

my favorite snack at grammar girl’s house? she’d crumble chips ahoy cookies into a bowl, pour milk over top of them and eat them like cereal.

my favorite dinner at grammar girl’s house? her mom’s macaroni & cheese made with velveeta.

my favorite dessert at grammar girl’s house? something that contained ladyfingers and was stored in the refrigerator. grammar girl’s dad made it.

a few weeks ago i took my kid to visit my homeland of ohio. grammar girl was with us and we visited her parents who live in the same old house across from the school. only now the city has built a new high school down the street and has decided to demolish the old school (single tear currently dripping down my cheek)  - including the windows that were home to our butt-prints so long ago. sigh.

just like the old days, we stopped by grammar girl’s house for a few meals while we were in town. my new favorite thing to eat there? baked oatmeal.

apparently grammar girl’s mom had it at a bed & breakfast somewhere and was given the recipe. and thankfully she whipped up a batch while we were visiting…i ate it for dessert one night and my kid had it for breakfast the next morning. versatile is one thing this baked oatmeal definitely can be called…and that is not a prank.

baked oatmeal
based on a recipe from a bed & breakfast somewhere east of the mississippi with my changes.

notes:
this oatmeal can be baked in a 2 quart dish.
it can also be baked in individual oven-safe ramekins. just be sure to bake the ramekins in a waterbath so that they don’t lose too much moisture.

you need:

• 3 cups extra thick rolled oats (not instant. not quick cooking.)
• 2 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1/4 of a grated nutmeg
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3/4 cup real maple syrup
• 1/2 cup half & half
• 1/2 cup melted, unsalted butter
• 2 t vanilla extract

make the baked oatmeal:

1. preheat the oven to 350. if baking the oatmeal in ramekins, prepare a kettle of boiling water and have a large enough baking dish on hand so that the ramekins can fit inside and the hot water can come an inch or so up the sides.
2. mix together the oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg.
3. in a separate bowl, whisk the eggs. add the milk, maple syrup, half & half, butter, and vanilla. mix well.
4. add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix completely.
5. pour mixture into your baking dish or spoon into individual ramekins.
6. bake for 30 minutes (20 or so for ramekins.)
7. serve warm with milk and sliced fruit or a bit of maple syrup for drizzling.

preparation notes:

• you can assemble the entire dish the night before you plan to serve it and simply pop it in the oven in the morning.
• if you’d like, add a sprinkling of raisins, dried cranberries, dried blueberries or coconut to the dry mixture before adding the wet. 
• you can use all milk if you’d like, but i love the decadence of half & half.
• you can substitute oil for the butter, but butter does give the oatmeal a richer flavor.

freezer notes:

• baked oatmeal makes for delicious leftovers, but if you’d rather scoop it into ramekins and bake a few now and then freeze a few unbaked for later, you can do that easily! simply wrap the individual oatmeal-filled ramekins well. when you’re ready to eat simply bake from frozen. add a few minutes to the baking time and don’t forget the waterbath!
  
  

oats! baked oatmeal ‘batter’, finished baked oatmeal:


me & grammar girl: look closely behind us and you’ll see windows. the very same windows that we once vandalized with our butt-prints. notice you can’t see our full faces. that’s to keep us from finally getting busted after all these years.


ps: if asked, i guarantee you grammar girl will deny any involvement in any senior prank, ever.

pps: this baked oatmeal honestly is completely versatile. more to come on the subject!