Great Oatmeal Tricks

     Page Two Hundred Forty-Seven.
     Want to know how to dress up oatmeal when you're still asleep and can't think clearly? Here are some little hints.

     1) Add a tablespoon of bran to each serving of oatmeal while cooking. You'll also have to add a touch more water, too. This extra fiber adds nutrition and also makes the bowl of deliciousness more filling; thereby, keeping you from craving your next meal for a longer duration.
     2) Add some craisins, raisins, chopped dates, walnuts, pecans, pistachios or whatever you like while cooking. Again, add a little extra water. Be prepared, the cooking process will reconstitute the dried fruit and it will be warm, gooey, ooey and yummy. All these items will add even more healthful bulk, to keep you full longer. If adding the tree nuts, you'll get that much more protein.
     3) Add cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger or cardamom. Add vanilla extract or other extracts:  almond, orange, lemon, mint, butter rum, etc. while cooking. Pure flavor.
     4) Add brown sugar while cooking. There's no law against a little sweetness and malty flavor.
     5) After cooking, add maple syrup or table syrup. What was that about no law against sweetness?
     6) Top with finely diced fresh fruit like apples. Or toss on some berries, bananas or... why the possibilities are endless. Sprinkle on some crunchy granola. Yum
     7) Top with milk. This increases the protein, of course, and also if you didn't add enough cooking water, the milk will fill in the moisture gaps. This protein and calcium also makes it a complete and balanced meal.
     8) Prepare all the dry ingredients the night before. Put everything into the sauce pan and cover with the lid. Refrigerate or not, who cares? Then, when you arise in the morning, there's no thought involved. Just add the liquids, cook slowly for 5 minutes and chow down.
     9) For example, Orange Creamsicle Oatmeal: vanilla extract, orange extract, grated orange rind, white sugar and milk. Or Lemon-Poppy Oatmeal. Or Butter-Rum Oatmeal with extra butter added. Or Sweet Green Tea Oatmeal made with green tea instead of water. That would be good with cardamom, honey and chopped dates. Hawaiian Oatmeal cooked with a combination of water and pineapple juice and topped with more pineapple, sweetened coconut, chopped walnuts or almonds, coconut milk and topped with a marachino cherry. Come up with your own combinations. Anything you can create and cook at home will be substantially healthier than a McMuffin, doughnut or something prepared straight from a box in the freezer. 
     10) Remember, always add that bran to increase the nutrition.

Matzo Ball Soup - The Secret

     Page Forty-One.
     Soon after moving in with the Van Myms, in '82, I was rummaging through Amanda's spice cabinet. I picked up a bottle labeled "Cardamom" and smelled it, never having heard of it before. I thought it smelled like chicken soup. Amanda explained that cardamom is used primarily in central Asian cuisine and Scandinavian desserts of all things. But she did have to admit that I was right, though she'd never noticed it before; cardamom smells like good chicken soup.
     I'd learned to make Matzo Ball soup by that point: buy the box and follow the directions. But I decided to doctor it up with cardamom the following Passover. It was really good! I've been adding it to my Matzo Ball soup ever since and also add just a pinch to my real chicken soup. People enjoy it tremendously.
     A couple of weeks ago, a friend hosted a pop-up shop in his backyard and invited artists and craftspeople to come and sell their wares. I showed up and sold my soup. I SOLD OUT. Of course it helped that the pop-up shop was outside, here in Cleveland, on February 9th (30 degrees fahrenheit). Frozen people walked into the enclosure and immediately smelled my hot soup. So, of course, they bought. But still, I sold 43 pints of soup in seven hours. That's pretty good no matter what the temperature.
     If you want to improve your chicken soup or make even better Matzo Ball soup, add a dash of cardamom to your broth.