So we received our grocery order last night and it was a great success! Everything arrived, the delivery guy was helpful and friendly, and the comfy pants were ever present despite the drizzly evening.
I’ve discovered that I’m getting oddly obsessive about certain things as I get older, and grocery shopping is one of them. I used to hate grocery shopping, which is slightly ludicrous given that at the time I didn’t cook, so I’m not even sure what I used to buy. It’s maybe since having children and also, I suppose, because I’m quite passionate about food ( “quite” says she who spends her days thinking up food creations, cooking them, photographing the outcome and then writing about it) that I’ve become a tad controlling about the shopping. By that I mean that it’s run with the military precision of a master strategist; lists, plans of attack, and a comprehensive system of shopping cart compartmentalization/bag packing strategy. Buddy thinks it’s a little nuts, he clearly doesn’t grasp the brilliance of the system… perhaps trying to live a more meaningful life was even more needed than I thought…
Anyway, a while ago I relinquished a bit of the control by trying out the buying on-line and then picking up your order at the store thing. It’s handy, but I must admit that I order the fresh fruit and veg with gritted teeth. So imagine the tooth grinding that occurred when ordering the produce knowing that I wouldn’t even have the option of swapping my bruised tomatoes, wilting greens or mushy avocados for glistening perfect versions in store (not that I’ve ever actually done the latter when picking an order up). So when our order not only arrived with everything present, but also with some of the most luscious looking black cherries that I’ve seen in many a year, I was delighted.
A couple of my childhood summers were spent in the Okanagan in the interior of BC. It’s beautiful. We borrowed a camper van from a family friend one summer and spent our time winding our way through the Interior, camping by lakes, swimming, seeing the sights, making smores. It was a wonderful summer.
In Okanagan Lake there’s meant to be a Nessie-like monster called the Ogopogo. My sisters and I spent ages trying to spot the elusive monster. Finally we did. We were convinced. It had definitely, undoubtedly, with all certainty been the mighty beast revealing its age-old mysteries just for us… that, of course, is when we discovered that we’d been looking at the wrong lake…
Pre-historic lake monsters aside, the Okanagan is also the home to some of the most mind-blowing, drool-worthy fruit in the known universe. The climate there is absolutely ideal for fruit growing. Of particular saliva-inducing note are the peaches, and the cherries. You can stop and buy this fruit at stands at the side of the road and, my heavens, it’s a life affirming moment of juicy wonder.
So really, when these cherries arrived at my door step on a rainy Shetland evening, happy lazy summer monster-watch with my sisters and parents thoughts filled my mind. But what to do with them?
Summer seems to rapidly be giving away to blustery Shetland autumn, so I felt that I needed to come up with something that celebrated both seasons. Porridge! Nothing better on a blustery morning than a warm bowl of porridge combined with the sunshine memories of summer fruit. I decided to throw in some almonds to boost the protein. With that combination my mind went to one of the most delicious of my UK discoveries, the Bakewell Tart. Bakewell flavours in a warming porridge; summer, autumn and dessert for breakfast, Good Morning!
- 75g millet
- 25g ground almonds
- 2 dates, chopped
- 200mL milk
- 200mL water
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- Punnet of fresh cherries, pitted and chopped
- Yogurt to serve
- Combine the millet, almonds, dates, milk, water and extracts into a small pot and set over medium heat.
- Bring it to simmer and leave, stirring occasionally until the millet is soft, about 25 to 30 minutes, adding more hot water if it begins to dry out. You want a creamy porridgy consistency, so allow a little extra liquid to remain in it if necessary.
- Remove from heat, stir through the cherries.
- Serve immediately with a dollop of plain yogurt.
- I've used millet here as a bit of a different twist on porridge, but oats would be lovely too, just cook as you would oat porridge with milk.
- I've used the dates to sweeten the porridge, but if you prefer it a little sweeter you could add more dates or sweeten it at the end with a bit of honey.