Welcome once again to "Oatmeal Tips." Today we have two oatmeal tips, both (perhaps inspired by yesterday's oatmeal tip) concerning innovative additives. (Speaking of which, I was out of fruit yesterday and tried putting a dollop of fig preserves in my oatmeal. Not the best use for fig preserves, it turns out.) I've been sitting on these oatmeal tips since yesterday's edition of "Oatmeal Tips." I didn't want to overwhelm you with oatmeal tips! The first comes by way of the NBIL, who writes: "Oatmeal with flax is pretty tasty. Don't know if you've tried it, but I had some instant oatmeal that was 'Flax Plus' flavor. I was surprised to find that I really liked it. Even better than the 'Maple Nut' flavor! Also, a group of rattlesnakes is called a 'rhumba.' I saw that factoid on a page-a-day trivia calendar." Thanks, NBIL! And we're going to trust you about "rhumba." After all, you were right about tyromancy. But we do want to remind you here at "Oatmeal Tips" that instant isn't as good for you as the kind that takes several minutes to cook. And of course the slow-cooking stuff is the best for you, but who has time for that in our modern world of conveniences such as automobiles? Our next oatmeal tip comes from my "myspace" friend Claudia Smith. Check out her great robot story in the anthology NEW SUDDEN FICTION. Or give yourself a treat and "click" here to see several of her stories. And now, Claudia's oatmeal tip: "Put cocoa powder, the kind you use to make hot chocolate, in your oatmeal and stir it up, maybe with a little milk or honey or whatever else you like to have in it. It is tasty! But you have to use nice cocoa, not Swiss Miss but the more expensive kind." That's it for "Oatmeal Tips." Don't forget to send YOUR oatmeal tips to "Oatmeal Tips" c/o "Writer" Oxford, MS 38655.
