Spiced Pumpkin Oatmeal, a love for brunch.

I want to talk about brunch.

I know it's Wednesday night. Not prime brunch discussion time, but I believe brunch is an important topic and can be discussed at anytime. Especially Wednesday night, you have just lost your glow from your past Sunday brunch and are approaching the point where you can start eagerly anticipating Saturday brunch.

This is what hump day means to me.

What do you need for brunch? An array of options. All yummy. That can touch on your plate. And all should taste good with some amount of maple syrup on it. 

There should be eggs, meat, carbs, coffee, butter, syrup, juice and alcohol. Always. 

There should also be either oatmeal or grits. Always. Sweet oatmeal or cheesy savory grits. This post is about the oatmeal. Maybe next week we can discuss grits.

I like oatmeal. I actually love Quaker Instant Oatmeal, especially the cinnamon & spice flavor. I was raised on it, and my mom and nana always taught me to eat it out of a huge plate, and to start at the edges, eat in large circles from the outside to the inside so I wouldn't burn my mouth.

Now I am grown up. Sort of. I do now, however, make oatmeal from oats and stuff and flavor it myself, rather then out of the little paper pack. I like lots of flavor, so this recipe gave me lots of joy. 

This oatmeal reminds me of eating a pumpkin pie with no crust. So yum. Lots of health. Toasted spices. Pumpkin puree. Oats. Milk. 

Pair it with...

And a lovely friend...

And at our house someone's always doing this during brunch...

And you get....

Yup. That's brunch. This photo is by said Lovely Friend (www.beewaterhouse.tumblr.com)

Countdown to Saturday.

Spiced Pumpkin Oatmeal

From the New York Times Cookbook

You'll Need...

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, plus more on top

1/8 tsp ground ginger

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

4 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups steel cut oats

3/4 tsp salt

Stuff you might like on top, apple sauce, apples, syrup, honey...

Toast the allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger in a large saucepan until they smell lovely, probably about 2 minutes. Add the brown sugar and pumpkin and mix together. Add the milk and raise the heat till it comes to nice simmer. Add the oats and let it all simmer over a medium heat for about 20-25 minutes, until the oats are tender but not mush. 

Remove from heat and add the salt. Serve topped with cinnamon and other things you love.