Until very recently I thought crab grass was another name for twitch
grass (quick grass, quack grass, witch grass) but it turns out that
they are two different weeds. I know from youthful experimentation

Crabgrass is crabbier, the leaves growing sort
of horizontally from a central point. The witch
grass I know is upright and has sharp leafy
leaves (I've actually been cut by it). I've
eaten the tender less chlorophylled lower stems
of witch grass. In fact, when making the
assertion that beets taste like crabgrass (as
here on the echo), I too was actually referring
to witch grass.

that twitch grass porridge and flour are nasty. I'm not sure I've
come across crabgrass in any of the places I've lived.

Did you dry and/or roast the seeds first? That
might improve things.

While on the subject of edible grains I just bought steel cut
pinhead oats for the first time ever and I am impressed. I had been

Some of my friends will go out of their way and
pay a substantial premium for them. McCann's is
the most easily findable, and it's okay I guess
(I am not a breakfast cereal fan in general),
perhaps less objectionable than the usual glue.

under the impression that their superiority over rolled oats was
merely hype. (I'm talking proper rolled oats here that need 12-15
minutes to cook, not quick oats and certainly not that muck that
is instant oatmeal.) But for those of you who haven't had them,
pinhead oats are better tasting and have a much nicer texture than
rolled oats. They just might change your mind about porridge. They

Neh. Though the claim is made (mostly by Scottish
people) that Scotland has a glorious culinary
heritage owing to its onetime alliance with the
French against the English, porridge is a decisive
counterexample to that claim.

take 20-24 minutes to cook and remain chewy, not mushy. Next I plan
on toasting them in a cast iron frying pan and baking them in the
oven.

Morning Steel Oatmeal
Categories: celebrity, breakfast, cereal
Serves: 4

1 Tb butter [M says: double it at least]
1 c steel cut oats
1/4 ts kosher salt
3 c boiling water
1/2 c whole milk
1/2 c plus 1 Tb low-fat buttermilk
h - Optional
1 Tb brown sugar
1/4 ts cinnamon
1/4 ts freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 c fruit such as blueberries or chopped peaches

Place a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add
the butter and when it's melted add the oats
and salt. Stir for 2 min or until the oats
smell slightly toasty. Add the boiling water
and reduce heat to maintain a bare simmer for
25 min, without stirring.

Combine the milk and half of the buttermilk,
gently stir into the oatmeal and cook for an
additional 10 min. Spoon into a serving bowl
and top with remaining buttermilk.

Taste before sweetening or adding any spices -
who knows, you might like it.

Notes: I often add fruit to my morning
oatmeal and I do so when I add the milks
because I like the fruit to cook a bit ...
especially blueberries [M's note: proof
positive that Alton is palate-dead].

Alton Brown

At the store I noted that rolled oats are a mere $2.00 per kg.
The steel cut pinhead oats were $4.00, still cheap and worth the
premium. Meanwhile Quaker flavoured instant oats in single serve
pouches were $12.90 and Nature's Path for "Envirokidz" with pictures
of cute baby animals on the label are an amazing $19.50 per kg.

I don't know what Quakers taste like. Punch
line not suitable for the echo.

(That's steak prices.) BTW the Quaker brand name has nothing to do
with those righteous religious people who value truth and honesty,
and Nature's Path's marketing strategy ought to be against the law!

Sick-making, but with truth in advertising, the
companies would rapidly go bankrupt - who would
buy Pepsi-Cola oats?

... Electrician's epitaph: His death was a shock to everyone including him

We should be careful on the echo when
talking about current events.
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