Published Apr 27, 2009
Growing up, we were always big on the family meal. Breakfast was in a nook behind our kitchen, at a yellow and white Formica table that just fit in the corner next to the basement stairs. When I was young, I would read the cereal boxes while my parents read their newspapers; I learned every ingredient and every serving suggestion and solved every puzzle on the back. While we weren’t a sugary-cereal household, my mom and I did have our own breakfast indulgence: back in the days before most people used skim milk, we’d pour whole milk on our cereal and then top it off with some half-and-half.
Of course, that was when I was young. Sometime in elementary school the selection changed: next to our varied flakes and occasional Life cereal appeared this small box, filled with something very dense: Alpen muesli. Instead of a bowl full of Corn Bran, Alpen meant a couple of tablespoons of tan dust with oats in it, and my mother’s new skim milk on the top. Later, my father came back from a conference in Sweden, bringing a nifty viking ship model I liked to play with, and a reprehensible habit of putting his muesli on plain, unsweetened yogurt. The yogurt’s sour smell seemed to take over the whole sink when I washed the breakfast dishes, even more so when my mother picked up the yogurt habit too.
Alpen disappeared, and it was a while before Mueslix1 came on the scene, but somehow my parents persisted in ruining even something delicious like Cracklin’ Oat Bran by putting it on yogurt. I vowed that I would never ruin my cereal thus,2 and even stuck with whole milk into college.
So it is somewhat to my shock that I find myself having cereal with yogurt several mornings every week. I deceive myself that it’s not cereal with yogurt but instead a parfait, some special mixture of yogurt, honey, and granola; but let’s face it, I eat cereal with yogurt. The dollop of honey makes it nothing but sweetened cereal with yogurt. Worse, the cereal is either Grape Nuts or Kashi GoLean Crunch.
This is not what I thought adult meant. But it sure is tasty.
1 Is that Max von Sydow?
2 It’s not that I don’t like yogurt — I love it — or that I have a problem with plain yogurt — I eat it — just the yogurt/cereal combo always bothered me.
Maybe it’s because I suggested the parfaits in the first place, but I want to stand up in support of your breakfast. I think that cereal with yogurt is gross (because it is) and would never recommend you start your day in such a way. But what you’ve got going, my friend, is something else altogether! They’ve got spoon-licking-good, gourmet Greek honey and are packed in jaunty to-go containers.
Bottom line: Parfaits all the way!
Bottom, bottom line: apparently you don’t need to worry about deceiving yourself as I’m happy to step up for that job.
You used to post recipes for meals and drinks. A gourmet parfaits “recipe” would hit the spot =)
Did you like those? I may have to try to bring them back.
But, the recipe, since you so kindly asked:
1C Plain Yogurt
1t Gourmet Honey — I use honey either from the Farmer’s Market or imported Greek stuff from Papa Cristo’s in the Byzantine-Latin district. You’re counting on it for flavor here, too.
1/2-3/4C crunchy cereal — I mentioned my choices above.
Portion out the yogurt. Put the honey on top. (Can store for up to 5 days at this point.) Put the cereal in right before serving; stir well to mix the yogurt in well. Total is something like 350 calories, depending on the yogurt and cereal you choose.
Thank you! I will try it this weekend!