Feeling Your Oats

Plain oatmeal is so damned boring--nutritious, yes, but the relative lack of flavor cries out for the addition of fixins. My personal favorites are brown sugar and cream, but today, I felt like trying something a little different, so I whipped up this for a hearty midwinter breakfast.

HOT COC'OATS
Serves 3 (or 2 very hungry people)
3.5 C milk 
2 T sugar
1/3 C cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
1 C steelcut oats
Marshmallows to garnish

Pour the milk into a medium-size saucepan; whisk in the sugar, cocoa and oats. Heat the whole shebang to boiling, stir in the oats, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 25-30 minutes. Pour in individual bowls, and top off with marshmallows. Eat while making happy "mmm" noises.

FYI: The marshmallow in the picture is a homemade one, crafted by yours truly. Don't be impressed--it's a crazy easy recipe I pilfered from Alton Brown--you can peep it here.