Henrietta Leavitt’s menu
Breakfast — the morning meal

Oatmeal Porridge with Maple Syrup

EverydayDocumented🍯facile15 min

A thick, comforting oatmeal, sweetened with a drizzle of maple syrup and topped with a splash of cream. The quiet fuel of cold Massachusetts mornings.

Breakfast — the morning meal

A thick, comforting oatmeal, sweetened with a drizzle of maple syrup and topped with a splash of cream. The quiet fuel of cold Massachusetts mornings.

Before the day dawns over Cambridge, I would heat the oats slowly, without rushing, for a good porridge requires patience — like examining a plate where a thousand stars are hidden. I would pour in a stream of maple syrup, never more, for simplicity suits those who must work long. Believe me, my child: a belly well lined with porridge is better than a mind distracted by hunger, and the Lord never reproached anyone for having breakfasted sensibly.
Henrietta Leavitt
Ingredients
  • Oat flakes or groatstwo handfuls per person (base)
  • Water and fresh milkto cover (cooking liquid)
  • Pinch of salta pinch (seasoning)
  • Maple syrupa drizzle (sweetener)
  • Heavy creama spoonful (finish)
How it was made : Oats were cooked slowly on the corner of the wood stove, sometimes overnight for steel-cut groats. Since refined sugar was expensive, they sweetened with local maple syrup or molasses rather than white sugar.
Sources : Fannie Farmer, The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, 1896