So boring it's almost uncool

Good day to you all! It’s a bright and sparkly morning here in the great state of North Carolina, and I’m pleased to be able to be here with you to share multiple insights and cogitations on what’s been going on here today.

Specifically, what I had for breakfast. Oh yes, it’s nothing but delirious excitement here when the discussion of breakfast comes up. I imagine that at this point you’re nearly white-hot with the thrill of finding out my thoughts on the matter, so let’s get right to it, shall we?

Today I had a new food for breakfast.

"New?" you say? What can be new about breakfast? It’s cereal or toast or eggs or pancakes or something along those lines, and it’s been that way since time began, or at least since dinosaurs roamed the earth (eg - when I was a kid). My Mom would put out cold cereal one day, cooked eggs the next, while her three bleary-eyed kids would sit down fresh from sleep and eat whatever was put in front of them. We ALWAYS had breakfast. (we always had cake after dinner too, so one could say that consistency at mealtimes as a hallmark of my youth).

Occasionally the cold cereal part of the bipolar breakfast personality was superseded by oatmeal or cream of wheat. Mmmm, cream of wheat with a big spoonful of grape jelly stirred into it so that it turned a nice shade of grayish lavender. What bizarrrely colored comfort on a cold morning that was. Oatmeal got a dollop of syrup or maybe some brown sugar. OK, LOTS of brown sugar. We believed in sugar on our cereal back in the day. Doesn’t seem like anybody does that anymore. Sad, really. Sure charged us up for a busy day at school. Whee!

Time marched on, and, once we moved to Virginny, grits were introduced into the hot cereal lexicon. I distinctly remember having my first-ever serving of grits at a Holiday Inn breakfast buffet during our first weekend in Virginia. The pool of melted butter on top spoke to my grease-loving soul, and whoever cooked ‘em up must have had a deep love for the grits because they were creamy and perfectly salted. The door to heaven was nudged open a touch at the first taste, as I recall. What bliss......

In the 30 years or so since grits became a beloved part of my life, there have been no new hot cereals to discover, or so I thought. Oh, I dabbled with hot Grape Nuts (surprisingly good!), and had some odd hippie cereals when I was pretending to understand that lifestyle, but until now it’s been the oatmeal, the cream of wheat, and the grits, all three.

I thought I was happy with that.

As it turns out, that happiness was misplaced, for I have been introduced to something new that is wedging that heavenly door open yet more. Are you ready for this?

It’s Maple-flavored Malt-o-Meal. Oh yes. Malt-o-Meal! Chock FULL of folate and other vitamins, tasty in a yummy pancakey-flavored way, cookable in the microwave, a substantial start to the day. I don’t really even care what it’s made of (though I suspect it’s wheat somethingoranother), because it’s origins matter little when the taste and texture and eatin’ pleasure is of such high quality.

Y’all it does NOT take much to make me happy. Little things, like making it to work in once piece, can cause a baseline euphoria that lasts for hours. You can imagine then how the discovery of a new yummy healthy brekkie food makes me feel.

I expect THIS rush to last through until the free lunch I’m getting (for sitting through an all-day telecon), which, by it’s freeness, will propel me through the afternoon in an equally good mood.

Some days just rock harder than others.

------------------------------------------

Y’all got any favorite yum-tastic ways to start YOUR days? I’m all about this new food thing today, and need to know.

Over and out.