Surreal! Serial Cereal Ingesters Run Amok!

[Gifted Gourmet]

the article from NYT

While affection for cereal among the young is certainly not new, anecdotal evidence suggests that they are eating it like never before, and industry analysts say that such pervasive consumption by teenagers and young adults makes that age group one of the strongest markets for manufacturers. A new restaurant called Cereality Cereal Bar and Cafe is scheduled to open at the end of this month on the University of Pennsylvania campus, with a menu of more than 30 cereals and even more toppings served by pajama-clad "cereologists" in a setting of comfy chairs and farmhouse tables.

You eating more cereal now?

Know anyone who is? Is this a possible carb-backlash to Atkinsing?

a bowl of sugary cereal has a way of evoking cozy images of home and childhood.

Ah, 'noshtalgia' once again! the desire to return to the womb ... I don't wanna grow up, Wendy!

[Moopheus]

I seem to recall that this sort of thing happened when I was in school, which was a more than a few <cough, cough> years ago, so maybe my memories are not good. Bulk containers of cereal were always available in the dining hall. We'd eat it. Food was a continuous blur of cereal, pop-tarts, pizza, and mystery-meat pucks.

[Carrot Top]

Nostalgia? Hmmm.

My daughter informed me...over a bowl of morning cereal recently....that it would be 'healthier' if she could have pizza for breakfast, based on the sugar-laden calories in most breakfast cereals.

Cereal is an immensely popular all-purpose fast convenience food, isn't it?

It can be eaten morning, noon and night. It is something that even the youngest hungry child can prepare for themselves without an adult's help (let's forget for the moment images of spilled milk slopping from the heavy gallon jugs... and the cereal boxes that don't ever get closed right).

It comes in all sorts of flavors, is easily digestable, and in a pinch one can pretend to being eating something healthy because of the 'grains' and the milk.

It is also inexpensive which matters to lots of people who have children to grow.

It seems to be the ultimate 'modern' food to me, in that it fits in so well and usefully with the way life is for a huge segment of society.

Ah. For nostalgia, it is fun to visit Cereal City in Battle Creek, Michigan. A fun walking sort of museum dedicated to everything about cereal, with lots of interactive displays for the children.

That 'cereologist' image is sort of fun, though. Uh...but I am not sure whether the actuality of seeing unknown people in their pajamas would really be a fascinating experience.... What do you think? Prefer pajamas or something else...worn....by your server?

[NulloModo]

Hmmm, I Can't say cereal holds much notalgia for me, mostly, because even when I did eat it, it never seemed that great. Too sweet, or too fibrous, never a satisfying mouthfeel (perhaps due to the omnipresent skimmed milk, blech). As a kid I always much preferred some hot oatmeal or (even better) the full layout of my fathers southern style breakfast (biscuits, eggs, sausage gravey, fried ham, red eye gravey, hash browns, grits, maple syrups (holdover from out time spent living in New Hampshire), pancakes, and whatever else he felt like cooking up). Man, that big sunday breakfast made it almost worth having to go to church.

Nowadays I do see others really seeming to get back into cereal, and in college it always seemed popular in the dining halls, although I preffered to eat my fill from the 'make your own omelet' stand instead.

A guy I work with is now doing weight-watchers as a sympathetic gesture to his wife, who is doing it since she recently had a child. He has forgone his candy bars for 'All-Bran' ceral bars, which we have all begun (only semi-jokingly) reffering to as 'Shit Bricks'.

[Gifted Gourmet]

'All-Bran' ceral bars, which we have all begun (only semi-jokingly) reffering to as 'Shit Bricks'.

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[StudentChefEclipse]

the article from NYT

A new restaurant called Cereality Cereal Bar and Cafe is scheduled to open at the end of this month on the University of Pennsylvania campus, with a menu of more than 30 cereals and even more toppings served by pajama-clad "cereologists" in a setting of comfy chairs and farmhouse tables.

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Funny, where I come from a "cereologist" is a person who studies and perhaps participates in the formation of crop circles. hrmmm... That's a bunch who could use a good breakfast.

As for my cereal habits, sometimes I go through a Raisin Bran phase. Sometimes I like Grape-Nuts with apricot nectar instead of milk. Neither of these for breakfast though. I have cereal for dinner sometimes. Maybe I'm an alien.

[LaurieB]

I just had lunch at a place a couple of weeks ago, a burger/wings kind of spot, and on the appetizer list, along with fried mozzarella and quesadillas, you can order a bowl of Lucky Charms.

[peppyre]

I can honestly say that as a child, I refused to eat cereal. I found it too sweet and the chemical aftertaste that it left just turned me off it. I remember my older sister trying to get me to eat it because it was good for me and I always said no thanks and would have a homemade muffin instead. My mom was the same when she was a kid, but now, she will have Raisin Bran almost daily, not for breakfast though, and I really like Good For You Muesli, but only at night and with yogurt not milk. Maybe we're just weird though....

[misstenacity]

I've gone back and forth on cereal.... my parents would only buy the "healthy" kind, and usually that was generic brands anyway. So we had knock-off "oat rings", raisin bran, corn flakes, rice crunchies, etc. Oh, how we lusted after the really expensive cereals - cookie crisp, fruity pebbles, all that stuff. And now of course we know that corn flakes will send your blood sugar into the same tizzy that fruity pebbles will.

In college I ate far more cereal than at any other point in my life. After working a factory job in the summer I would typically come home and eat a whole box of something (dry) while sitting on the recliner and reading a magazine. Wowza.

Now I'm more "normal" in my tastes - I like Kashi Go Lean, all kinds of muesli, and other boring fare like that. I usually eat them with yogurt or kefir instead of milk. Milk is for mixing with protein powder, nowadays. Hehe.

But once in a while, I'll see Cracklin Oat Bran, or Basic 4, or the 'filled' bite sized shredded wheat, or other premium cereals (where the tiny boxes always seem to be $5), and feel lustful again.

Andrea

http://tenacity.net

[Daniel]

R.I.P Ice cream cone cereal and Ice Cream Cone Jones. I have not been the same since.

[jgarner53]

I used to be a huge cereal eater. Fortunately (?), mom let me eat most of the sugary cereals I wanted, except for Lucky Charms, so when I went to college, it wasn't quite as exciting to see the bottomless vats of the Cap'n and Cocoa Pebbles.

Most of the time I still eat cereal for breakfast, though I've felt lately like most are way too sweet, and I'm finding I want something more savory (or at least less sweet) in the morning, like steel-cut oats with brown sugar and dried cranberries. Once in a while, I'll still get a box of the sugary stuff (Crunchberries are a fave, as is Boo Berry when it's in season) and eat it as dessert. And if I'm staying over at a friend's for the weekend, where she has a big variety of cereal, I'll usually indulge there.

[Varmint]

Cereal. Love it -- always have and always will. Hell, I used to put sugar on my Cocoa Puffs. These days, I just stick with Frosted Mini-Wheats (spoon size).

There's nothing like a raw roof of your mouth and your teeth feeling like they're wearing sweaters after eating a couple of bowls of Cap'n Crunch. I actually ate an entire box of Apple Jacks at one sitting when I was in my mid-teens!

[bloviatrix]

My mom was a food nazi. As result there were no sugared cereals allowed in the house. The only two cereals she would purchase were Product 19 and whichever bran cereal looked like animal droppings.

Needless to say, as soon as I got to college I rebelled. I have fond memories of eating Capt'n Crunch with whipped cream as a midnight snack (the joys of living in a sorrority house ).

I haven't outgrown my love of sugared cereal. Our favorites are Honey Bunches of Oats w/Almonds and Coco Pebbles. Occasionally we'll get a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch -- cinnamon milk is really quite yummy. In the fall and winter months I tend to go with oatmeal for breakfast, but a bowl of cereal always makes a great snack at about 11 pm. Ironically, nowadays, if my mom sees Coco Pebbles on sale she'll buy us some boxes.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Ironically, nowadays, if my mom sees Coco Pebbles on sale she'll buy us some boxes.

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Ah, but this valiant woman put up a brave fight for her tiny offspring in their formative years ... an ayshes chayil ... (a woman of valor, who can find?)

Now? eh, they are gonna eat it anyways .. why fight it??

[phifly04]

I still love and crave Cap.n Crunch with Crunchberries,i also eat frosted mini wheats and Cheerios and occasionally some quaker oats instant,It,s just such a convenience food to me

Dave s

[RSincere]

My mom bought a small box of Lucky Charms (we called them Yucky Germs) and mixed them in a Dannheim's ice cream bucket with generic Cheerios. Picking out the marshmallows was strictly verboten. You got what was poured in your bowl. No cheating with your hands!

I'm the middle of 5 kids; girl boy girl boy girl. We all had to have a cereal box in front of us as we were eating in order to block the view of our siblings. Sometimes we'd really block ourselves out using three boxes. We all fought over reading the back of the boxes. We had to take turns on the premiums. I usually had the box in front of me to block out any view of my brothers, but then had a book to read as well. One of my brothers has serious sinus/allergy issues and always had to chew with his mouth open--and would slurp his milk--and he often ended up eating alone.

[viva]

There was an article in People magazine about this last week. Apparently there is a Cereality open on the Arizona State campus in Tempe near me. I might check it out to see if it has any options that would beat the variety at the local grocery store. The stuff takes up a whole aisle, for crying out loud!

Anyway, there's nothin' wrong with cereal! I like Kashi Go Lean Crunch, Cracklin' Oat Bran, Sugar Smacks, plus any stuff with lots of dried fruit and crunch. It's all good. And sometimes it's my only source of, er, fiber.

[Maison Rustique]

In all my many years I've never been a cereal fan. But (you knew there was a but coming didn't ya), I've got a new breakfast habit. Weetabix. Weetabix sprinkled with cinnamon and some Splenda. Then a splash of non-fat half and half and some non-fat milk. Then nuke it for about a minute. Almost like the cinnamon milk toast Mom used to make for us when we were sick.

edited to fix typo

Edited November 17, 2004 by Maison Rustique (log)

[peppyre]

I had almost forgotten about Weetabix nuked. A guy that I used to live with had that every morning for breakfast. As I was trying to wake up and enjoy my coffee, he was beside me on the couch with a grey mushy bowl of ...Cereal?...wasn't sure what it was at that point, but he swore by it and said it was the best breakfast ever!

[Mooshmouse]

Cereal.  Love it -- always have and always will.  [snip]

There's nothing like a raw roof of your mouth and your teeth feeling like they're wearing sweaters after eating a couple of bowls of Cap'n Crunch.

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Ahhh, Cap'n Crunch -- the breakfast of champions. Every time a girlfriend of mine came along for a ski weekend, she'd bring a box of Cap'n Crunch with her. We'd come pretty close to polishing off that box in two days... nothing like fueling your first morning ski run with a straight hit of sugar.

There's also Sugar Corn Pops. I've been known to buy a box of these once in a blue moon.. and not share them with anyone. Also Rice Krispies. With a teaspoonful of sugar in the milk, of course!

[jgarner53]

I particularly love the fact that cereals that used to have the word "sugar" in the name (Sugar Corn Pops, Sugar Smacks, etc.) have now dropped the word or changed it (to "honey" in the case of Sugar Smacks).

Like that makes the cereal healthier.

[cakewalk]

I'm the middle of 5 kids; girl boy girl boy girl.  We all had to have a cereal box in front of us as we were eating in order to block the view of our siblings.

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Still chuckling at that one. Sounds familiar, too.

I love cereal, but don't like the overly sweet ones any more. Barbara's Oat Squares are my very favorites, and I can easily have a bowl of that (with a banana chopped in) for dinner. In fact, that's been dinner more than once, and will likely be again. In fact, I have no qualms about pouring myself a second bowl ...

[Carolyn Tillie]

In the Daily Pennsylvanian:

Cereality, a cereal bar and cafe, will open its doors to the Penn community at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow, introducing not only a new retail dining option for students, but also an entirely different restaurant genre to Philadelphia.

The new 1,500-square-foot cafe, which is located at 3631 Walnut St., is modeled to look like a typical kitchen, and its workers will be dressed in pajamas to provide a breakfast-feel.

and my favorite quote:

"I think it will probably succeed," College sophomore Noah Sugarman said. "I assume lots of students on campus like cereal."

[FistFullaRoux]

Saw part of a segment on NBC's Today show where they were plugging the thing. Methinks these folks watch a bit too much Seinfeld. It's all they talked about.

Edited to say: I didn't hear about the Philly connection. I assumed it was for NYC.

If it's not in Manhattan, they're nuts.

Edited December 1, 2004 by FistFullaRoux (log)

[Jason Perlow]

Well, I thought the all rice pudding restaurant in NYC, Rice To Riches was pretty stupid too, but that one is still in business.

There's also a Peanut Butter sandwich joint in NYC as well - Peanut Butter & Co.

EDIT: The cereal joint is in Philly? They're toast.