You see, I learned to make oatmeal from a master cook. Grandma. As a child, it was a rare day to actually have something more to eat than milk-toast. Or just plain toast. My mother was a single parent at times, and rarely made breakfast for us. Many times we went off to school without eating anything at all. It was just the way it was, we accepted it and really didn’t know there was any other way.

The best part of being small was the two weeks each of us spent at Grandma and Grandpa’s house each summer. Grandma was the quintessential housewife. She cooked and cleaned daily, did the shopping – which was called marketing – my kids still laugh when I say I’m going to do the marketing, and kept a well oiled machine moving. Three meals were prepared each day beginning with breakfast. It always involved that red, white and blue box. Quaker Oats. Old Fashioned Rolled Oats. She made them for us and served them with brown sugar and butter. It was the only way we ever learned to eat them. But it was the way she cooked them that made them so good.

Each oat was cooked to perfection. It held its own, was separate from all the others and could be wrapped in butter and sugar individually. Well, no she didn’t wrap them individually, they just turned out that way. So how do you make oatmeal perfect? This way. You’ll need a saucepan. 3 cups of water and 2.5 cups of rolled oats.

Begin with the 3 cups of water poured into a saucepan. Bring the water to a boil. Add oats to the boiling water. Stir once or twice to make sure the oats are all in the water and stop. Allow the pats to come to a boil, which usually takes about 15 to 30 seconds, and put the lids on the saucepan. Turn off the heat. No flame at all. In five to six minutes your oats will be cooked to perfection. Add a bit of butter, your sweetener of choice and a bit of milk if you wish. You’ll be glad I showed you how to cooks oats properly!

So we have laying hens and I needed to use up a few eggs. So why not replicate a breakfast that Guy Fieri featured on his show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. He was visiting Phoenix again and stopped in at Over Easy to have some breakfast. Wow. All you Phoenicians should be getting yourselves over there! Their chef made a really great looking french toast with caramelized bananas and pecans.

Well, we’re not in Phoenix, but I did recently take a chocolate Master Class and learned how to make caramel, so I thought why not give this a try. I told everyone that in the morning we’d be having candy for breakfast. Really good candy.

It is very simple to do. You get yourself some thick bread, a brioche loaf is a good choice, if not go with the standard french toast loaf most grocery stores have on hand. Slice it thick and dink it in your french toast batter. My batter consists of 4 eggs, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/4 to a half cup of really good milk, a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger or just some pumpkin pie spice. Stir it up and your ready to grill the toast. I use my electric griddle at 300 degrees. It takes about 2 minutes to cook. Voila! French toast.

For the caramel sauce you begin with 2 cups of granulated cane sugar. put it in your skillet of choice with the flame on high. Begin stirring the sugar. Stir it until it is a nice caramel color. Now turn off the flame and add 2 cups of heavy cream (the heavier the better). Stir!!!! quickly as it will begin to seize in places if you’re not careful. And keep in mind this is like molten lava, do not get it on you! add a dash of salt to finish it while stirring. Add sliced bananas and roasted pecans. Drizzle over the toasted bread, adding butter if you wish. Serve.

Yummmm! However, this is not an everyday dish. Special occasions only folks!