Oatmeal porridge is a first-rate food, and here's a little lady who's got a little
lady who loves it for breakfast. There are three different kinds of oatmeal,
coarse, medium, and fine. To make a good thick porridge, which at the same time isn't
stodgy, use two ounces of medium oatmeal to one pint of water. Have your water
boiling first, and add a pinch of salt. Then sprinkle in the oats, stirring as you do so.
You can avoid lumps forming by sprinkling and stirring all the time, like this, for a few
minutes, making sure that it doesn't go off the boil. Then cook for 45 minutes, stirring
occasionally. If you have a pouring door, or a double saucepan, it requires much less
looking after. Another excellent way of cooking porridge, and one which saves you that 45
minutes burning of fuel, is to use a hay box. You need a large wooden box, like this.
Any solid box will do. Now take some brown paper or newspaper, make three thicknesses
of it, and line the bottom, sides, and lid of the box, fixing it into place with drawing
pins or tacks. When your hay box is lined, it should look like this. Now take your hay.
If you live in the country or near a stable, you can get hay very easily. Put plenty of
hay into the box, and see that it's tightly packed. Incidentally, once your hay box is
made, you can use it for cooking other things besides porridge, such as stews and soups.
For your porridge, you can use an ordinary saucepan with a long handle. But if you have
a billy can or a pan with small handles, so much the better, because you will find it
easier to pack into the hay box. Now put your pans into the hay box. Pack the hay as tightly
as ever you can around the pans, making nests like these. Leave about four inches at the
top for a final cushion of hay, which we're going to make now. An old sheet or pillow case
will do perfectly well for this. Stuff in plenty of hay, set it up at the end, and fit the
cushion on top, making sure that it fits snugly all around. See that your box has a catch
so that it shuts down tightly. Now prepare your porridge as before, with boiling water
and a pinch of salt. Sprinkle in the oatmeal, and boil fast for two or three minutes, stirring
all the while. Then put the lid on the saucepan and take it off the stove. Wrap it in your
newspaper, put it into its nest in the hay box, place the cushion on top, and see that the
box is securely fastened. Leave the porridge in the hay box for at least an hour and a
half, for it takes twice as long as ordinary simmering. Most people like to make it overnight,
and in the morning it will be ready and waiting for you. In any case, you'll save considerably
on fuel, and the porridge cooks itself without any watching. You should just heat it up
before serving, stirring to make sure that it doesn't stick to the pan. Then serve it
to the family. Porridge is a good warming breakfast for all of them, and is nice with a little
salt, or with sugar or jam if you like it sweet. But whichever way you eat it, porridge
is a grand dish, simple to prepare, economical, and a good food value.
