Doing porridge

Well maybe not doing porridge , but making some that mother bear would be proud of!
It was very cold and frosty when I got up this morning and I remembered that on Sunday when we were having coffee at Patisserie Valerie, fruit porridge was on the breakfast menu so decided to make some. Not only does it warm the cockles of your heart as my grandmother used to say but it also brings back childhood memories of bowls of steaming porridge with lashings of syrup and cream.....not exactly healthy eating. My grandmother also used to say that if we ate it, it would stick to our lungs! she also said that if we sat too close the the fire that our spine would melt! Whenever I see sacks or jars of cereal like these lovely porridge oats in my kitchen I want to have an Amelie moment......

The fruit that I decided to use was these enormous sultanas that we bought in London from a Turkish Delicatessen. I think it's called Dickle International. I love going there, it's full of all sorts of fresh fruit and veg and herbs and they have bags of pulses and sacks of rice. They also have huge jars of gherkins and olives, freshly baked baklava and bread...it's like going on holiday....I must take my camera next time we go. But getting back to the sultanas they are HUGE I've never seen any so big......I know that I've got small hands but they aren't that small.

Any way this is how I made it:

I used about five dessertspoonfuls of oats. Five because that's how many my mum used to count for each one of us (I have three sisters.) Plus water as much as you like depending what consistency you like your porridge to be. I add honey to sweeten, my mum used to add treacle for herself which made it taste like treacle toffee but I don't like it I think it tastes a bit bitter. Then I added the HUGE sultanas.

Dried apricots, dates or figs would be nice too. You soaked in apple juice overnight to soften. It's also nice with cinnamon added.

Put everything in a saucepan and keep stirring until the porridge is cooked to the consistency that you like, being careful not to burn.......mum was always burning the porridge pan.........

Then dish up. Some people like to add yogurt or cream, but me I just like it as it comes all warm and comforting....