Wednesday, October 26

Cream of Wheat


Saturday morning at the height of my misery with this cold, I made a quick trip to the grocery store for the essentials like tea and Robitussin. While there I walked down the cereal aisle and fixated on a comfort food from my past: Cream of Wheat.

I usually make my food choices based on the nutritional label, but I admit that I won’t look at the side of the box of this one (okay I peeked and it was better than I thought). My Mommy use to make Cream of Wheat for me on cold days when I was a kid. As we were in England for a good deal of that time, I ate a lot of Cream of Wheat. I also love oatmeal (especially with raisins) and pine for ReadyBrek, which is an instant English hot cereal that’s practically unheard of here in the states.

I’m very traditional about these things though. While I’m willing to experiment a little with my oatmeal, my Cream of Wheat must be made exactly the same way my mother use to make it, with half milk and half water, and it must then be topped with a generous sprinkle of brown sugar. I simply cannot tolerate the packets of instant hot cereals you find on the shelf nowadays. I even have special ways of eating them. You must never dive into the middle. You must eat around the edges of the bowl, clockwise, and you must never stir the contents. This also has the added plus that you get most of the brown sugar towards the end, which is divine. I would worry about such compulsiveness, but I know it only comes out for the sniffles that I somehow always get each autumn.

According to my husband I am the only person in the world who actually likes the stuff, but my one box a year is hardly enough business to keep it stocked in every cereal aisle in Texas. So bowls up to my fellow hot cereal lovers.

7 comments:

utenzi said...

I like cream of wheat also, Lora. I don't have any special way of eating it though--unless you count the huge quantity of brown sugar I add to the top. Yum!

I hope you feel better, Lora!

Bearette said...

I love oatmeal cooked with unsweetened soy milk and 1 Tbsp of raisins mixed in. yummy!

feel better...

Kel said...

a sister sufferer of the cold
I have one this week too

and porridge/cooked oatmeal/cream of wheat is a favourite of mine too
but this winter I discovered it's extra yummy if you pour sticky date sauce on top

thanks for the creative blog links, it will give me something new to check out today as I sit at home in my PJs

Anonymous said...

Cream of Wheat and Breyer's peach ice cream were the only foods my daddy could eat for his last few weeks. I have never liked it, but I am grateful it's in the world.

Feel better soon.

Anvilcloud said...

I like it too but mostly cook oatmeal in apple juice if I have hot cereal now. Add cinnamon of course.

Sue said...

I don't like that kind of thing myself at all (I'm not even entirely sure what cream of wheat is!) but if you're craving ReadyBrek, you can buy it - albeit at quite a cost including shipping - from the British foods in America store, see http://www.ukgoods.com/cereals-c-56.html?osCsid=7e0ea3206f3079e76ec361ac7273b1af
(or if that link's too long just try ukgoods.com and click 'cereals')

When I have a cold I drink masses of hot lemon and honey - dissove a good tablespoon of honey in some hot water then add the juice of half a lemon and stir. Vitamin C powder can be added, and extra honey if needed. But anything milky makes me feel even more bunged up usually.

Caro said...

Cream of Wheat is delicious as is oatmeal with raisins. When I was little, my mother made me something called Maypo too. It was a kind of maple flavored hot cereal. Not sure if that one is even made anymore.