Superfoods Then and Now

When we were in Arizona, we started most mornings with a bowl of porridge--one of our friends made a huge pot, and we ate bowl after bowl until it was gone.

Every morning since we've been back, I've made myself a small pot of porridge--it has enormous staying power, and on these days when I'm unsure of exactly when the next time for a meal will come my way, that's a real plus.

This morning, as I was measuring out the old-fashioned oats, I thought back to the fall of 1988, when oat bran was all the rage.  We bought it from huge vats at the Fresh Market, at the health food store (Rosewood Market), and then eventually, we could buy it packaged at the grocery store.  We added it to our baked goods, which as poor graduate students, we made ourselves, so it was easy to take out some flour and add some oat bran.  We sprinkled it on our cereal and our yogurt.

And now, although it's still a healthy foodstuff, we don't hear anything about oat bran at all.  The various tastemakers have gone on to embrace other things, like kale.  And some year, it will be something else, and some of us will miss the everpresent kale.

Are we on to the next big thing?  Is it Greek yogurt?  I haven't paid much attention to this craze, since it costs so much more than regular yogurt, and I don't see it as having much more to offer for the extra cost.

I wish I had time to bake this morning.  I suddenly have a craving for muffins, preferably made with yogurt and pecans, but not kale.  With a huge storm to our south, I have an urge to bake, even though the storm is likely to miss us--at least, with this morning's 5 a.m. forecast.  All of that could change throughout the day.

And of course, with such a huge storm going by to our east, we will likely feel some effects--which also makes me want to do baking--and filling up water bottles.

But instead, I'll get some grading done for my online classes, while I still have electricity and Internet connection.  I'll try not to spend too much time on the Weather Underground site.  I'll remind myself that the forecasts of the track of hurricanes are only changed with the 5:00 and the 11:00 updates.