The first snowy groundcover… so pretty, but it brought my garden prep for next year's planting to an abrupt halt. A shovel and a wheelbarrow are the only remnants of digging in the dirt on a warm afternoon one short week ago.
A hot bowl of oatmeal would have been perfect on this cold morning, but I chose instead to make Creamy Coconut Custard, a recipe from Jane Kinderlehrer's Smart Breakfasts Cookbook to change things up a bit. It turned out to be a warm soothing choice that has the same ingredients as a bowl of oatmeal drizzled with milk and topped with bananas, nuts, and seeds… just combined in a different way to produce an entirely new end-product proving that breakfast can be as varied as dinner and supper. My daughter Lisa and two of our grandkids from New Jersey flew in for a little visit. We couldn't refill our 1 ½ year-old granddaughter's bowl of custard fast enough. Even our grandson, who somewhat dislikes coconut, finished his off.
Creamy Coconut Custard
1 1/3 cups milk
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
4 eggs
2 tbsp molasses (I used maple syrup. Honey would be a good substitution too.)
1 ½-2 cups mashed ripe banana
½ tsp nutmeg
1 cup granola
Combine milk and coconut in small saucepan. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, beat eggs; stir in coconut milk, and remaining ingredients. Pour into oiled casserole dish or divide the mixture among 6 oiled custard cups. Place the casserole dish or custard cups in a cake pan then pour water around them to a depth of 1 inch. Bake for 30 minutes or until custard is set. Top with granola. Serve warm or serve cold with a pitcher of hot milk on the side.
Whiteley Creek Homestead 
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