A popular entrée in my part of the country is chicken fried steak. It is a thin steak, dipped in egg, dredged in seasoned flour, and fried in a skillet until it is done. It is usually served with green beans, mashed potatoes and white gravy. (I can make a pretty good BTD imitation using rice flour. I quickly brown it in a tiny bit of oil, then transfer it to a baking sheet and let it finish cooking in the oven.)

Some restaurant chef decided to cook a thin slice of chicken breast the same way. He called his new dish - chicken fried chicken. The name has always amused me. The name of today's breakfast experiment is also amusing in a similar way.

We were out with friends a few days ago, and the topic turned to oatmeal. I'll admit it was a strange choice of conversation, but each of us commented on whether we liked oatmeal, and how we liked it cook. One of the men said, "On weekends I make oatmeal for the kids that tastes like an oatmeal cookie." Because it was a man describing the dish, it is more of a list of instructions than an ingredient list.

Put the amount of water in a saucepan that you would normally use for oatmeal. I was going to use 1 ½ cups of oatmeal, so I used ¾ cup of water. As the water heats up, peel and dice an apple and put it in the hot water. When it starts to boil, cover it and turn the heat down. When the apples are soft, add a hand full of raisins, some maple syrup or brown sugar (or both) and a little bit of vanilla. Then add the oatmeal, and cook it as you normally would. Serve with a little soy milk and olive oil, if you like.

My honorable husband and darling daughter both liked it a lot. DD said it is her 2nd favorite oatmeal, peanut butter oatmeal being her favorite. HH says oatmeal cookie oatmeal is even better than peanut butter. It is a good choice for a cold morning.