Creamy Brown Sugar Vanilla Polenta

Simple Pleasures. It is something that I have done my entire life but never put a name to it until seeing a Hallmark movie a few years ago called The Wish List.

The lead in the movie reminds me of so many people who are part of my every day life. The lead character is all about organization and focusing strictly on her goals in life. Then she meets this man -a barista- who is the opposite of everything that she is. Fast foward. They fall in love and live happily ever after. Typical Hallmark movie. But there is a scene where she is disgusted as he bite into this sloppy, juicy burger. He explains to her that it is his "simple pleasure" for the day. Every day he allows himself to have one thing that he enjoys and he takes the time to truly enjoy it.

What a great concept right?

I often find myself swept up in the chaotic mess that is American society. Let's face it, we all want perfection in our lives. I, myself am a highly goal oriented person. I however always take a few moments each day to do something that I enjoy and just remove myself from the craziness that typically consumes my world.

Yesterday my simple pleasure was driving off Raleigh with a friend for sushi. This morning it was enjoying this porridge on my front porch watching the sun come up over the trees and warm the earth.

Baked Porridge with Pear

I am moving in slow motion this morning. I know it's Sunday, a day to rest but I spent almost 4 hours making and eating breakfast. If you aren't moving as slow as molasses in the wintertime, you could easily make and eat this breakfast dish in under an hour and a half.

I saw this recipe from Panna about a month ago, however even with my pantry well stocked with various grains and flours, I had no semolina. I figured that any plain porridge would do, so I made a mixture of Cream of Rice and some wheat bran to use as the porridge base. Oatmeal would not work well for this however because of the texture.

This is going to become one of those recipes that I make often, especially in the fall and winter when hot cereal becomes the common breakfast of my house and there always seems to be about a half serving left over that is too little to save for the next day's breakfast but yet too much to throw out without feeling wasteful.