Just Right

I received my spices in the mail from The Spice House last week. I got Madagascar vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, and ground cloves for baking. I also got a garlic pepper spice blend for grilling and I'm sure I'll find a lot of other uses for it. It smells delicious. When I opened the package, the scent of all those freshly ground spices was heavenly.

I was so anxious to use my new spices that I served my family porridge for breakfast and I spiced it all up. Oh, be quiet. I know you're thinking Goldilocks and those three bears and all that, but have you ever had porridge? I tried it for the first time last year in Helen, Georgia, of all places. We visited my in-laws in Atlanta for the holidays and Brian and I took a day trip to northern Georgia. It was mountainous, snowy, cold and the whole trip exuded Christmas. In fact, here's a picture of us there:

Helen was a German settlement back in the day and they're holding strong to their roots, I suppose. It may be a little kitschy, but this Alpine village is what I picture the North Pole to look like:And then we went to a small town called Dahlonega filled with antique shops and little boutiques. I mean, look how cute:

Okay, back to the porridge. On our way home to Atlanta, we stopped at a real, working Grist Mill, The Nora Mill Granary. We tried samples of their grits, porridge and cornbread and bought bags of all three. If you've never had porridge, give it a try. You can order Nora Mill's online or maybe the grocery store has it. (Sorry for the lack of research.) I've found a 9-grain cereal at Sprout's that is similar, though not as tasty, as the mill's. On Saturday, I added cinnamon, cloves, brown sugar, and butter to our porridge. When Brian came into the kitchen he asked if I was making an apple pie. It smelled that good...and tasted even better.