I really hate it when blogs devolve into “what I ate for breakfast today”, even the ones with photos, so I know I’m treading into dangerous “Unsubscribe!” territory here, but I wanted to say a few words about something that is a large part of my life these days: Oatmeal.

When I was younger I was always a fan of instant Cream of Wheat. It was easy to make, and warm, and satisfying. But it was only a now-and-then thing. I was addicted to Frosted Flakes for a while there, and that’s all I would eat, barring the occasional bowl of cream of wheat.

But now, I can’t get by a day without oatmeal. On the weekends, Berta usually makes some kind of special breakfasts. Nothing too fancy, maybe some waffles or pancakes. But on weekdays, it’s all oatmeal for me.

I used to be a Quaker Oats guy, but lately I’ve been digging this new brand, Oat Revolution. They come in these nice tall boxes, and tidy single-serving bags that can also measure the water used for cooking. And the taste! It’s fantastic! It’s like a whole new oatmeal.

It’s really getting to the point that I need to have my oatmeal fix each morning in order to function. Like some people with coffee, if I don’t get my oatmeal, I instantly start out with a blemish on my day.

I was recently very excited to find Oat Revolution on sale at Acme. They had moved their overstock to the 10 for $10 section, and I suddenly found myself shifting whole shelves of the stuff into my cart with my arm. Yes, it was at this point that I decided I had a problem.

My favorite flavor these days is maple and brown sugar, but I also really like the Quaker Oats Raisin Spice. I had a really good concoction at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, once. The restaurant served plain oatmeal with a bevy of different flavoring ingredients in little bowls. I mixed the brown sugar, maple syrup, and raisins together… Yes, it was good.

Also, since we’ve been brewing beer, I’ve been noticing the different flavors of the oats. One day I was eating my oatmeal, and realized that it was fundamentally the same ingredients. Depending on the richness of the oat in the oatmeal, you can imagine its flavor in a beer. It would be interesting to make a “breakfast oatmeal” beer, with brown sugar flavor. Yum!

It’s odd that anyone should get so excited over a breakfast cereal, but it makes me happy these days, which is something all too infrequent.