Moms' Cafe

When our children were very young we lived in a suburb of Washington DC in Northern Virginia. Often we would meet Daddy after work and stop at a fast food place for supper. Our children became VERY familiar with them. However, as our family grew to five children we decided that eating out was too expensive. The first time we chose to eat at home the children asked, "Where are we going to eat tonight?" And we answered, "At Mom's Cafe!" They were so excited to try a new place. Ha ha! We pulled into the driveway and they were totally puzzled. It only worked a few times before they caught on and didn't want to go to "Mom's Cafe". But we didn't care, we went anyway.

Hence, my kitchen became known as Mom's Cafe.

Fast forward many years and all the children are leaving home. They asked me to put together a cookbook with all the family favorites. I promised, worked on it a bit, procrastinated and promised some more. 

This summer I decided to get it done. 

Tah-Dah! (And yes, I'm inadvertently revealing my true identity, but hey, we're among friends here.)

Each child got a different colored book.

Each Section is labeled and on the other side (sorry no photo) is a list of recipes in the section.

On a few recipes I included photos.

The Housekeeping section is to remind them of what I taught them, plus a few things for grownups

such as defrosting a chest freezer and cleaning an oven.

That's a huge project completed and crossed off my list. Now on to some T-shirt quilts and photo albums. 

Oh my. I'm tired already!

Not Your Grandma's Oatmeal

Oats are so versatile! I like to dress them up with all sorts of fruits, nuts, spices, etc. This one is Peaches and Cream. (Center is chopped walnuts and a teaspoon of brown sugar, and heavy cream over all)

I use old-fashioned thick oats for a better texture.

2 parts water to one part oats, plus a dash of salt is the ratio I always use.

Bring water and salt to a boil, add oats and reduce heat to simmer for approximately 7 minutes. Stir occasionally. Oats are done when most (99%) of the water is absorbed. Spoon into bowls and top with whatever your heart desires.

I often cook chopped apples or dried fruit with the oats. 

Last week we had Caramel Apple Oatmeal; made with a chopped Granny Smith apple cooked with the oats, then drizzled with caramel sauce (the kind you put on ice cream). Oh my was that yummy!