Cooking Basics: Cheerios

American Breakfast

CHEERIOS

Every budding chef, whether five years old or fifty, must start somewhere. Why not with this confidence builder?

INGREDIENTS

1 bowlful CheeriosTM
1 bowlful milk, 1 pint maybe?

Pour a bowlful of CheeriosTM into a bowl. A ceramic bowl works best, but if this dish is a challenge for you and you’re fifty, you might only have a plastic dish with the slogan, “Gashud for Kansas Agricultural Commissioner” on it. Fear not, the plastic bowl will work just fine.

The next step is critical.

Pour the milk over the CheeriosTM and into the bowl. The amount of milk is a matter of taste. I prefer just enough to make the cereal float. Don’t be afraid to experiment!

DO NOT leave this bowl of milk and Cheerios unattended for more than ten minutes. The cereal will lose its crunchiness. It will become soggy. Ugh. This horrifying mistake will scar your psyche for life. Don’t do it. No! Eat the cereal right away.

If this recipe didn’t turn out quite right, don’t fret. Try again. As the famous chef Julia Child maintained, if no one saw your culinary mishap it didn’t happen.

If you succeeded in this venture, congratulations. You are ready for your next culinary triumph.

TIDBITS

1) A nice relaxing bath with powdered Cheerios relieves itching. Do the Cheerios get soggy? I imagine so; I’ve never tried it.

2) Cheerios does not have evil high-fructose corn syrup in it.

3) Break apart a Cheerio to form the number one. Put thirteen whole Cheerios after it to form the number ten trillion, roughly the size of the Federal deficit.

4) I have a sneaking suspicion Ian Fleming came up with the idea for James Bond, 007, while eating Cheerios.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.