Winter Breakfast

"Did you add salt?" He always asks me that when I make the oatmeal. I never cooked oatmeal with salt before we met. Salt is for savory food and oatmeal is a sweet, breakfast food, right? Okay, technically oatmeal is not sweet at all but you'll never catch me eating it plain or without some sort of sweet addition. And though I never would normally add salt to oatmeal, now I find my hand uncontrollably hovering over the salt bowl for a pinch to toss into the oatmeal as it cooks. 

There are still days that I forget and cook it without salt but nowadays, most times you'll find just a hint of salt flavor mixed in with my butter and brown sugar, or fruit topping. The tiny hint of salt provides a more rounded flavor and when I think about it, most chocolate chip cookie recipes that I've come across call for a little salt. 

A few combinations of things that you could find adorning my oatmeal:

- Fresh blueberries, walnut halves, butter, brown sugar and milk

- A light sprinkling of homemade granola, with sliced bananas & milk

- A BIG dollop of fresh “fruktkräm" and milk. Fruktkräm is a homemade Swedish jam made with any leftover berries and fruits, that are slightly passed their freshness but not quite ready for the compost, with a little added sugar and potato flour for thickener. So delicious!

... or one of my new favorites...

- Sliced bananas and a tablespoon or two of ground cinnamon cooked in with the 

  oatmeal that is then topped with a dusting of brown sugar and a heavy pour of milk. 

 Complete with a lovely cappuccino...

Good to the last spoonful...

And if I'm feeling especially inspired... 

baked oatmeal with bananas, blueberries, milk, eggs and a touch of sugar, cinnamon and pecans...

What favorite toppings or flavors adorn your oatmeal?