When my in-laws first got married, my mother-in-law, ever the good 1960s wife, prepared a bowl of globby oatmeal for the two of them every morning. Little did she know that her husband actually disliked oatmeal, almost as much as she did. Both ate their oatmeal every morning thinking that the other one liked it, until one day the truth came out and, much to their mutual relief, ne’er a bowl of oatmeal was to be seen on their table again.

But, I like oatmeal. The steam rising from the bowl emitting a wholesome, nutty fragrance first thing in the morning can be both comforting and restorative. But you know what might be even better than hot oatmeal? Well, not necessarily better, just altogether different…and wonderful– bircher muesli.

Now I know muesli. In fact I went through a brief, albeit red-hot desire for Familia Muesli in high school. Yes, I could not get enough of that granola-like cereal of wheat germ and oats, nuts and dried fruit. I needed my morning fix of that crunchy mix — Familia became like my crack cocaine (and I guess one could have a slightly more dangerous fixation like, well– crack). But perhaps my jaw actually grew tired of the constant chewing because, eventually, I moved on.

When I saw the recipe for the bircher sort of muesli in my breakfast cookbook (which will be making several appearances in the coming weeks), it sounded delicious and satisfying. This muesli has a little bit of everything, a tart apple for crunch, a bit of cream for richness, and a small amount of oatmeal for body. But this isn’t any old ordinary oatmeal. You take the oats and soak them in water overnight. They lose their brittle texture and assume a creamy, pleasingly lumpy form. And, I felt free to consume as much bircher muesli as I wanted, I knew my jaws could handle it.

With all of the stunning, boogley-eyed figs in season, I adorned my muesli with them, but feel free to substitute berries or even raisins as it says in the recipe.

Muesli comes from a Swiss word that means mush. And this muesli, coming from Marion Cunningham, is one sweet, delicious mush. Her recipe calls for blackberries as a topping, but you could substitute other fruit as well–with all of the stunning, boogley-eyed figs in season, I adorned my muesli with them, but feel free to substitute berries or even raisins.
Bircher Muesli
From The Breakfast Book, this recipe serves one:

1 heaping tablespoon rolled oats
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon cream
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 small apple
1 handful blackberries

Soak the oats and water in a small bowl overnight. Just before serving, stir the cream, honey, and lemon juice into the oat mixture. Grate the unpeeled apple and quickly mix into the oats. Add the blackberries. Serve with brown sugar and cream.