Baked Apple Oatmeal

The first week without Caleb in regular contact. He is in residential, which means no phone, no outside contact for the first thirty days, which is the protocol and which is the right protocol even though it makes the silence louder. I have been driving the pipeline truck and eating lunch and checking my phone in the way I do not usually check my phone, out of a reflex that knows there is no message and checks anyway. The reflex will correct itself by week four. I know this because I have had brothers and mothers and fathers and I know how the absence of calls from them reorganizes your habits.

Kai started first grade this week. First grade. He is five, he will turn six in May, he is the right age for first grade and also he is too young for first grade, in the way that your children are always too young for the next thing until they are clearly not. He walked in the first morning with his shoulders back and his head up, the same way he walks into everything new, the compass backpack from last year replaced with a new one that has a map of Oklahoma on it, which Hannah chose and which is exactly right. He is going to learn to read Oklahoma. He is going to learn to read the land. This is the beginning.

I made a batch of kanuchi Sunday. I used the last of the hickory nuts I gathered in September — they keep well in an airtight container and these ones were still good. I gave a portion to Lily when she called on her way back from Tahlequah, meeting her halfway at a diner on the turnpike and handing her a Tupperware container through the car window in a parking lot, which is not the most dignified transfer of traditional food but is efficient. She had family coming for dinner. The kanuchi is for her family. It is exactly what it should be used for.

Danny is stable. Good days and okay days. Caleb is in Stilwell doing the work. The first-grade boy with the Oklahoma map backpack is in school doing his work. The kanuchi is made. Everything that is supposed to be happening is happening.

The kanuchi I made Sunday used up the last of the hickory nuts, and that’s as it should be — you gather in September, you use what you have through winter, and when the container is empty it means the season was full. This baked apple oatmeal runs on the same logic: one pan, enough for a week, good enough to hand to someone through a car window if that’s what the situation calls for. It won’t replace kanuchi. Nothing will replace kanuchi. But it’s the kind of thing you can make on a Sunday when the house is quiet and Kai is asleep and you need your hands to be doing something steady and warm.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup packed brown sugar, plus more for topping
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
2 1/2 cups whole milk (or oat milk)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and diced into 1/2-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Instructions

Heat the oven. Preheat to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish with butter or cooking spray.
Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir until evenly distributed.
Whisk the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the milk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla until smooth.
Combine. Add the diced apples to the dry oat mixture and stir to coat. Pour the wet ingredients over and fold everything together until the oats are evenly moistened.
Transfer and top. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and spread into an even layer. If using nuts, scatter them over the top. Dust lightly with an additional pinch of brown sugar.
Bake. Bake uncovered for 35—40 minutes, until the top is golden and the center is set and no longer wet when you press it gently with the back of a spoon.
Rest and serve. Let it sit for 5 minutes before cutting into portions. Serve warm, with a splash of milk or a drizzle of maple syrup if you want it a little looser. It stores well covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days and reheats easily with a small amount of added milk.

Nutrition (per serving)

Baked Apple Oatmeal — What Gets Made When Everything That’s Supposed to Be Happening Is