Cereal had a special place in the home I grew up in, literally. Sam, my dad, had built drawers in the cabinets for easy access and one of those drawers was loaded with Tupperware containers filled with a variety of choices. Barbara would occasionally buy a sweet cereal, like Captain Crunch with Crunch Berries, but it had to be rationed against 'plain' cereal to which we added at least the same amount of sugar that was in the Captain. Probably more. Most likely, there was some secret equation or ratio, like one box of sweet cereal to every 4.25 boxes of unsweetened cereal, but I never cracked that code.
Perplexing cereal to children? Grape nuts. It was a like a never ending bowl that just kept sucking up and absorbing the milk. It probably takes at least a half-gallon of milk to eat one bowl of Grape Nuts. Who knows. Another secret equation.
- Cereals I would eat as a child: Cheerios, Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies.
- Cereals I would prefer not to eat: Grape Nuts, Bran Flakes, anything with raisins.
- Cereal involved with disgusting story I will not repeat here: Captain Crunch with Crunch Berries
My grandmother, Ruth, also had an array of Tupperware cereal containers. (In fact, I think Ruth invested all of her mad money in Tupperware. When she finally acquiesced to an apartment close to my parents, Barbara told me that everyone had already gone through her collection, but I could look at the remainders. Three yard-size garbage bags left! After everyone had taken what they wanted!) She didn't see these cereal containers as simply a place to store cereal, but as a starting point and outlet for creativity. In each, Ruth would create a custom blend of cereals, every changing and always intriguing. You might find Cheerios combined with Raisin Bran or Corn Flakes mixed with your Rice Chex. If you wanted cereal straight, you had to get it from a fresh box opened from the pantry. Otherwise, it was take your chances with one of grandma's cereal cocktails.
Reader, you're probably wondering where Ruth kept her custom cereal blends. In a special sliding drawer built by my dad? No, she had those of course, but Ruth kept her cereals in an appliance above her stove that was either an old microwave or extra oven. It's true. It heald at least six containers of the magical, cereal potions easily. In her defense, I should say that my grandmother rarely fed her children or grandchildren cereal for breakfast. She would make waffles in an ancient waffle iron my uncle had saved his money to order from Sear's in the 1950s, my Aunt Sally's bran muffins (That, dear reader, is another story about aging and the demise of cooking skills.), or leftover blackberry cobbler my uncle would top with heavy cream and my mother with skim milk.
What is in my new cereal container? Kashi's Heart to Heart. What's in yours?All of this to say, cereal is probably still my breakfast of choice, with breakfast tacos as a very close second.