Oatmeal Day

Seamann / morguefile.com

The 29th October is Oatmeal Day.

Colder weather is approaching, and today is a good reminder that oatmeal is a warming breakfast that “sticks with you” throughout the day.

You may wish to have oatmeal porridge at breakfast, oatmeal cookies at lunch, or use oatmeal as a savoury polenta-type meal at dinner. Or what about an oatmeal face mask?

“Chefs are turning to oatmeal in much the same way as they do polenta: as a base for inventive, comfort-food dishes… A plain bowl of oats can be customized with toppings ranging from raspberries and chocolate chips to gorgonzola cheese and truffle oil; signature bowls on the savory menu include bacon-pumpkin with sea salt, and sun-dried tomato and Parmesan with a balsamic glaze… Adding a little salt, pepper, stock and olive oil can completely transform the flavor profile of oatmeal from sweet to savory…[top] oatmeal with a steamed egg and arugula salad [or] smoked mozzarella and mushrooms.” — Toribio, Elyse. Oatmeal, a breakfast staple, takes its place at dinner table. Passaic, New Jersey: The Herald News. Monday, 29 October 2012. Page D1, col. 2.

Morning Herald. Wednesday, 24 May 1967, Hagerstown, Maryland, United States Of America. Page 12, col. 2.

As the decades come and go, just about every food has had various health or safety alarm bells rang about it, but never oats: nutritionists, dieticians and doctors have just never had a bad word to say about oats, or oatmeal.

Did you know there’s actually a town called Oatmeal in Texas? It’s about 90 km (56 miles) northwest of Austin.

#OatmealDay #Oats

See also: Oats, Spurtle, Oatmeal Muffin Day, Porridge

Activities for today

• Have oatmeal for breakfast today;
• if your breakfasts are rushed, buy a box of mug-sized instant oatmeal packs for quick weekday breakfasts;
• try dessert oatmeal after dinner. Top the oatmeal with fruit, yoghurt, a drizzle of syrup, and maybe some jam or jelly and nuts;
• if you work in a cafeteria, be sure oatmeal is on the menu today;
• bring in to work packets of differently-flavoured oatmeal for your co-workers to enjoy;
• give out packets of oatmeal to customers as a promotion for today;
• look for coupons and offers on oat manufacturers’ web sites;
• share your favourite oatmeal toppings on social media;
• look for manufacturer-sponsored events and contests happening on this day;
• donate sealed, packaged oats to a food bank or shelter;
• try an oatmeal face mask.

Oatmeal Day Recipes to try

Rosemary Oatmeal Apple Fritters

Lunch and dinner recipes (from Quaker)

Pumpkin Cheesecake Oatmeal (provided by Quaker Oats)
Ingredients:
½ cup of Quaker Oats (Quick or Old Fashioned)
¼ cup of canned pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons graham crackers, crumbled
1 tablespoon whipped cream cheese
1 tablespoon chopped pecans

Preparation: Prepare oatmeal as usual. Stir in pumpkin puree, brown sugar, pumpkin spice, and vanilla. Top with crumbled graham crackers, a dollop of whipped cream cheese, and sprinkle with chopped pecans.

History

Oatmeal Day used to be on the 2nd of January, according to The Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom, as well as many food day calendars of the 1990s and early 2000s.

Boulder, Colorado, got sponsorship from Quaker for celebrating it on the 2nd of January date:

“Back in 1996-97, downtown business owners were looking for a way to promote the town in the winter and found National Oatmeal Day on a calendar in January…”  — Potter, Beth. Lafayette loves its oatmeal: Fest draws attention from Quaker, nation. Boulder, Colorado: Colorado Hometown Weekly. 5 January 2016. Accessed October 2021 at http://www.coloradohometownweekly.com/news/lafayette/ci_29346646/lafayette-loves-its-oatmeal-fest-draws-attention-from

The earliest print media mention of Oatmeal Day having migrated 10 months to be in October that CooksInfo can find dates from 2012 in New Jersey:

“Because today [Monday, 29 October 2012] is National Oatmeal Day, why not take the opportunity to get creative and put this tried-and-true breakfast staple do the dinner test?” — Toribio, Elyse. Oatmeal, a breakfast stape, takes its place at dinner table. Passaic, New Jersey: The Herald News. Monday, 29 October 2012. Page D1, col. 2.

We cannot find a reason anywhere for moving it out of Oatmeal Month in January and into October. Perhaps it was an error that a food day calendar creator made, and the error just got perpetuated.

Still, you will find print media even in 2020 adhering to the original January date.

The Quaker Oats Company still promotes all of January as Oatmeal Month, and has done since at least the early 1980s, because January is the top-selling month for oatmeal in the northern hemisphere. But, Quaker seems to have got on board with the October date for the day:

Sources

Abesamis, Abigail. Quaker Oats Is on the Hunt for Its Newest Flavor. The Daily Meal. 20 January 2016. Accessed October 2021 at https://www.thedailymeal.com/news/eat/quaker-oats-hunt-its-newest-flavor/012016

McGahan, Michelle. Send a friend free oatmeal on National Oatmeal Day. Rockford, Illinois: WZOK FM. 29 October 2015. Accessed October 2021 at http://97zokonline.com/send-a-friend-free-oatmeal-on-national-oatmeal-day/

Quaker Oats Celebrates its Fans on National Oatmeal Day with ‘Oat Street’ Takeovers. Chicago, Illinois: PR Newswire. 28 October 2014. Accessed October 2021 at https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/quaker-oats-celebrates-its-fans-on-national-oatmeal-day-with-oat-street-takeovers-280627622.html

The earliest mention that Cooksinfo has found in print was for an Oatmeal Day at a school on 31 January in 1989. “Third graders will celebrate ‘Oatmeal Day’ with an oatmeal bar in the morning.” ^[1]In The Schools. Winchester Star. Saturday. 28 January 1989, Winchester, Virginia, United States Of America. Page 26, col 3.

Oatmeal cookies. Daria Yakovleva/ pixabay.com / 2016 / CC0 1.0