Oatmeal and Raisins, the Grandma Lee Way

Of course, you can always follow the instructions on the Quaker Oatmeal canister for perfectly acceptable oatmeal. However, in our family, we prefer our oatmeal the Grandma Lee way, which I suppose now is the Great-Grandma Lee way. My Grandma Lee taught my parents, they taught me, and I have already taught Sophia... yes, she’s only four but she loves to cook! In fact, making oatmeal before school is one of her favorite treats. 

First, a quick note on old-fashioned oat brands: I am generally frugal about all things, and have very few brand loyalties aside from organics. However, I recently skimped and bought Kroger-brand oats. Big mistake. The texture of the oatmeal is mushy, unlike Quaker oats, which retain a little toothsomeness after cooking. What’s funny is that I usually buy Quaker oats, frugality aside, because I adore the oatmeal cookie recipe on the inside of the Quaker lid. See what I get for abandoning my cookie recipe?

So, the Grandma Lee way. Combine one part old-fashioned Quaker oats, one part milk and one part water. Add plenty of raisins (yum) and a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and boil, stirring constantly, for one minute. Cover your oatmeal, remove from the heat and let stand five minutes. The result... oatmeal that is much creamier than the Quaker way.

In my years of serving Grandma Lee oatmeal, I’ve realized that there are as many ways to eat oatmeal as there are kind of people. I imagine this is a family tradition, passed down like recipes through the generations. Our people put a small ring of cold milk around the mound of oatmeal once it’s ladled and topped. My mom leaves the ring intact, gradually incorporating the milk and using it to cool each bite as she goes. Sophia and I stir in our rings of milk right away. We have yet to bring Ben over to our side, so his is milk-free. As for toppings, Ben, Mom and Sophia prefer a sprinkling of brown sugar, and I have recently discovered turbinado sugar, which I have left over from my adventures in Irish-American soda bread.

Like the wonderful women before me, I look forwarding to being Grandma Lee some day, and passing this recipe down, milk ring and all. If you eschew the Quaker recipe for ours, I simply ask that Grandma Lee gets credit where credit is due. Enjoy!