Porridge

“ Porridge is wholesome and nourishing, and will help to make them strong and hearty. Even grown-up people frequently enjoy a small portion of porridge served with treacle and milk. Oatmeal is either ‘coarse,’ ‘medium,’ or ‘fine.’ Individual taste must determine which of these three varieties shall be chosen. Scotch people generally prefer the coarsest kind. The ordinary way of making porridge is the following—Put as much water as is likely to be required into a saucepan with a sprinkling of salt, and let the water boil. Half a pint of water will make a single plateful of porridge. ”

“ Porridge—the which he ate barbarously with sugar, instead of salt,—bacon and eggs, marmalade and toast. The appearance of the same dish at the dinner-table twice over in a fortnight would have evoked complaint and reprisals, but he would stand no tampering with his breakfast. The Times and the Morning Post lay beside his plate. He glanced at the headlines in the interval between porridge and bacon. Nothing going on! It was the dullest of all dead years.
Katrine was nibbling daintily at fruit and cream. ”

“ Supper—the old frugal meal of stiff leek porridge and milk—was on the table cooling when he returned out of breath, and whispered to Ales, as she carried out the porridge-pot, that their mutual friend, Robert Jones, had business of his own in Cardiff, and if she would join him at seven in the morning, where the roads met, she could ride all the way on one of his team. ”

“ The few sticks which boiled the porridge had blackened into ashes upon the hearth, and the children sat hand in hand in the open doorway. A breeze was stirring. Sweet smells came on its wings from the woods. ”

“ Faith! I shall not keep your porridge hot another instant,” sounded from the kitchen.
[Pg 10] “I’m coming, mother dear,” the little girl called back, and hurried down the stairs, wondering to herself why grown people who could always do exactly as they pleased should think it best to rise before the sun was really up.
“Your father was off to the mill an hour ago,” said Mrs. Carew, setting a bowl of steaming porridge on the end of the table beside a narrow window, “so you will have to eat your porridge alone.” ”

“ Bernard took his place at the table opposite his mother, looking askance at the large plate of porridge set there for him to eat.
"Your porridge will be half cold by this time," continued the scolding voice.
"It is." Bernard just tasted it, and pushed the plate away. "I cannot eat porridge yet," he said.
"You must try. Porridge made as Jane makes it, of good Scotch oatmeal, is just what you want to put some life in you." ”

“ Probably the best plan of all is to use a water-jacketed saucepan for making porridge, for it is always desirable to have oatmeal thoroughly cooked, and as the water in the outer pan obviates the necessity of frequent stirring, the porridge may, with little trouble, be cooked for 2 or 3 hours on the previous day, and reheated when required; a pinch of salt should always be added to the porridge. ”

“ Half a gallon of sowan porridge a day will sustain life. The recipients are of three classes: those who receive it in lieu of two ounces of bread; those who wish to purchase food over and above the quantity to which they are entitled; those who are absolutely destitute, both black and white, and who receive the porridge free. ”

“ I tell you, a woman 'ull make your porridge every day for twenty years, and never think of measuring the proportion between the meal and the milk—a little more or less, she'll think, doesn't signify: the porridge will be awkward now and then: if it's wrong, it's summat in the meal, or it's summat in the milk, or it's summat in the water. ”

“ The proportions for porridge made in this way are a heaped tablespoonful of coarse oatmeal to a pint of water.
“It is scarcely necessary to give directions for making—
“Bread and Milk, for everyone knows how this should be done. It may be said that the preparation has a better appearance if the bread is cut very small before the boiling milk is poured on it, and also that the addition of a small pinch of salt takes away the insipidity. Rigid economists sometimes swell the bread with boiling water, then drain this off and pour milk in its place. ”

“ A mistaken idea very generally prevails, that water gruel is not nourishing; on the contrary, it is a light, cleansing, nourishing food, good either in sickness or in health, both for old and young.—Milk Porridge. Make some water gruel, and when it has stood awhile to cool, add to it about one third part of new milk without boiling. It may be eaten with or without salt. Milk porridge is exceedingly cleansing and easy of digestion, and is agreeable to the weakest stomach. ”

“ But this isn’t porridge: it’s called thin gruel. The porridge is for the appetizer snack.”
“But do you make cabbage soup, or any other sort of soup?”
“We have had that, brother—cabbage soup; and what soup it was! If you were to spill it on the dog his hair would peel off!”
“Well, you might make a little soup.”
“But where would we get the potatoes? You can’t buy any from a peasant, any more than from the devil, brother! You couldn’t wheedle even snow out of a peasant in the middle of winter.”
Kuzma shook his head. ”

“ All he [149] had to do was to set the porridge on the stove and turn peacefully over to snore the night out. In the morning, the minute the giants blinked their eyes open, there would be their porridge steaming up into the sunlight ready to be eaten. After breakfast his task was no harder. He had but to put on more porridge, and be off with his brothers for the fun of the day. At night when they came wading wearily back, down the river Rhine, they would see, miles off, the gust of smoke against the sunset that meant a hot supper at home. ”

“ Children who are married, and away from home, make and send a dish of this porridge to their parents if they possibly can. After the filial porridge has been eaten, the boys and girls amuse themselves by firing off crackers, playing merry games, and having a pleasant time. ”

“ And while I was groping for the fable and the character required, behold I found them lying ready and nine years old in my memory. Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold, pease porridge in the pot, nine years old. ”

“ Certainly many people have given up porridge because they found it did not suit them—too heavy, heating, &c.—but we must remember that all compounds of oatmeal and water are not porridge, and the fault may lie in its preparation. It is a pity that any one, especially children and growing youths, should be deprived of such valuable nutriment as that supplied by oatmeal, and before giving it up, it should be tried steamed and super-cooked. ”

“ Why, I happened to be in the kitchen yesterday, just before tea-time, when Dinah came over to borrow half a pint of meal to make some porridge for Nanny, so I asked Dinah what was the matter with her? for you know that nobody takes porridge but when they are sick, and not then, if they can afford a little posset, or even oatmeal gruel with raisins in it. ”

“ I conformed more and more to the type of the place, not only in manner but at heart, growing hostile to the officers and cabin passengers who looked down upon me, and day by day greedier for small delicacies. Such was the result, as I fancy, of a diet of bread and butter, soup and porridge. We think we have no sweet tooth as long as we are full to the brim of molasses; but a man must have sojourned in the workhouse before he boasts himself indifferent to dainties. ”

“ Porridge and milk!" And so she made a hole in it; but instead of a gosling out came a baby, but it was awfully ugly, and had a big head and a tiny little body. The first thing it screamed out for, as soon as it put its head outside the egg, was "Herring and soup! Porridge and milk!" And so they called it "the greedy youngster."
Ugly as he was, they were fond of him at first; but before long he became so greedy that he ate up all the meat they had. When they boiled a dish of soup or a pot of porridge which they thought would be sufficient for all six, he finished it all by himself. ”

“ Our fare knew no other variety than salt pork, potatoes, and sometimes bread, for breakfast; pork and potatoes for dinner; pork and potatoes for supper; with a porridge of Indian corn-flour for the children. Sometimes we had the change of pork without potatoes, and potatoes without pork; this was the first year's fare: by degrees we got a supply of flour of our own growing, but bruised into a coarse meal with a hand- mill; for we had no water or windmills within many miles of our colony, and good bread was indeed a luxury we did not often have. ”

“ As you may suppose, Jane grows haggard and thin in spite of old Margery's porridge—which is "put on" every day after lunch, for the next morning's breakfast, and anybody passing "gives it a stir." Did you know that was the right way to make porridge, Deryck? ”

“ Samp porridge was a derivative of Indian and Dutch parentage. It was samp cooked in Dutch fashion, like a hutespot, or hodgepot, with salt beef or pork and potatoes and other roots, such as carrots and turnips. These were boiled together in a vast kettle, usually in large quantity, as the porridge was better liked after several days’ cooking. A week’s supply for a family was often cooked at one time. ”

“ Serve the fruit on a tiny fruit-plate, the porridge [279] in a hot saucer, and the coffee, together. When the fruit and porridge are finished, offer the potato, wrapped in a doily to keep it warm, the steak in a hot covered silver dish, and the toast on an individual bread-plate. Or all may be served together when for any reason it seems best to do so: for instance, if the tray has to be carried a long distance, or up many flights of stairs. ”

“ You ought to be ashamed of yourself, that you can't even warm a mouthful of porridge, and here I've got to go running to the Knierutscher woman for fire—But just you wait: things will soon be bright and jolly on our hearth—the flames will leap over the sticks, the walls will light up red, the pots will bubble, the smoke will rush out of the hearth and the chimney and hide you from sight! And quite [90] right too, for then we shall eat our porridge and our stew in the shadow, and the pancake, too, that's to be fried to-day for Cousin Jok, and you shall see nothing of all these nice things! ”

“ Any impertinence of ours is sure to be visited upon us in the form of oatmeal porridge, or salt fish and crackers.”
“Lilia Porter, if you want to be an angel by and by, it would be better to draw your thoughts away from eatables for a time; you talk quite too much about food,” said Edith Lambert, who had a very hearty appetite, but never called attention to it. ”

“ To men who have to live for months together on oatmeal and salt, the difference between porridge with and porridge without milk is a very great difference indeed, both in point of salutariness and comfort; and I had succeeded in securing, on the ordinary terms, ere the arrival of John, what was termed a set of skimmed milk from the wife of the gentleman at whose dwelling-house we were engaged in working. ”

“ A good thick porridge can be made by stirring four ounces of oatmeal into a quart of boiling milk, and then pouring this into a quart of water boiling on the fire, and allowing it to boil half or three-quarters of an hour; care must be taken not to burn it; just before it is done it should be seasoned with a teaspoonful of salt ”

“ Porridge is made by stirring the maize or millet flour (usually the former) into boiling water, and is ready in a few minutes, once the water has been brought to the boil, which, with a large jar and a small fire, is apt to be a work of time. The pot is supported over the fire on three stones. Maize porridge (nsima) is, if well made of good flour, about the colour of a suet dumpling; if inferior, it is more or less greyish. It is very stodgy, trying to a European digestion, and exceedingly sticky to the touch. Natives will eat surprising quantities of it ”

“ Machin was making the porridge for breakfast, and now she stirred it with all her might, and whacked the wooden porridge stick that was nearly as old as she, on the side of the porridge pot. "What do you take me for, Mr. Vale?" she repeated. "A simpleton to let a dirty Indian into one of my bedrooms? ”

“ All well-trained Scotch children eat porridge for their breakfast, though it is going a little out of fashion these days. But Don ate it each morning, served in an old porridge-bowl which his father used when he was a lad. Around the rim of this rare old bowl was the [17] inscription, "There's mair in the kitchen," "mair" being the old Scotch word for more.
You must know porridge is a good thing to begin the day on in winter in Scotland. ”

“ He thought to himself, "It is a waste of good time for them to come into the house; they shall have their porridge where they are." He called all the men to him, and made them bring their porridge-bowls. Then he set the Little Mill down on the ground, and said to it, "Grind oatmeal porridge, Little Mill, and grind quickly!" The Little Mill ground, and ground, and ground, and out came delicious oatmeal porridge. Each man held his bowl under the spout. When the last bowl was filled, the porridge ran over on the ground.
"That's enough, Little Mill," said the Rich Brother. ”

“ Porridge is well enough for us, but we will set the savages down to no such fare, but to our best, lest they fall to and eat us all some night in the dark of the moon, when we are asleep and unprotected! Little I thought I should be cooking for wild red men in an American forest when I learned to make sausage in my father's house! ”