Pop Tarts

Who would think dinner conversation would spark a memory about Pop Tarts? Honestly, I cannot tell you the last time I had one. However I can tell you the first time.

Pop Tarts were just one of those things I never had as a child. My parents never bought them for us and we never asked for them. I guess I turned out o.k. since I made it through my first 18 years of life before I ever set lips upon the Kellogg's boxed breakfast fare. Rewind to the first day of college classes... I can recall the class (Hotel Operations), the building (Cantwell Hall upstairs), the professor (Tim Sullivan), the time (8:00 a.m.), and the day (Tuesday). After a thoroughly entertaining class- seriously, it was- I realized I had some time before my next class and so did a classmate. Edie was kind enough to ask me to head back to her dorm room to hang out for a bit before our next class. Since breakfast was pretty early and it would be a while until lunch, she offered me a Pop Tart to tide me over. Well, I can't say it was a life altering moment in terms of something I could not live without, but I certainly ended up with a memory out of it nonetheless.

On the rare occasion I pass by Pop Tarts and their generic counterparts in the breakfast foods/cereal aisle and think, "You know, I could really go for one right about now." I've declined in the name of better nutritional choices, but maybe if I could just buy one individual Pop Tart once in a while... I did kind of favor the blueberry frosted ones. Maybe, though, they wouldn't taste as good as I remember. Perhaps I'll just keep thinking about them and leave things be.

What do you think? Do you have a favorite Pop Tart? Toasted or non-toasted? Frosted or not? Name brand or generic? Never had one? Can't live without them?

My foodographic memory in action

Don went to the bakery grand opening on his birthday to get something for breakfast. Pain au chocolat (chocolate filled croissant) is always a good choice! As we were enjoying our warmed goodies, he recalled having them when we arrived at Heathrow airport in London two years ago. Enter my curse/blessing of a memory... I knew exactly what we had at Heathrow- baguettes with bacon- AND where we had the pain au chocolat that he recalled- at the train station in Brussels. Not bad, though... at least he remembered it had something to do with transportation!

English Breakfast

It's not just a meal; it's an adventure. English Breakfast is not for the diet-conscious and/or the conservative eater. I'm pretty sure you could eat this meal in the morning and bank enough calories and fat until the next week!

So what is included in a full English Breakfast?

• Bacon (back bacon, actually... most likely mistaken for ham)
• Poached eggs
• Fried tomatoes and mushrooms
• Toast
• Sausages
• Baked beans
• Hash brown potato cake
• Tea
• Angioplasty (Well, it should come with it!)

Yes, everything is fried. Even the toast. (I think.) So when you stay at a hotel in London around Christmas and you're not sure if anything will be open on Christmas Day, stuff your face with a full English Breakfast just in case there is no food to be found for the rest of the day. Of course, we were really paranoid that this would be the case, so we even added fruit, cereal, juice and pastries! Contrary to what everyone told us, however, there were plenty of places to grab a bit to eat, like the Charles Dickens Coffee House. While Chuck was not known for being a barista, apparently he actually lived and worked in that actual building. But I digress...

In summary, the full English Breakfast is NOT to be eaten daily. (Have you ever seen "SuperSize Me?") Though if you need to fill up or fulfill your fried food jones, it's exactly what you need. Just bring lots of Tums. Just couldn't get enough the first two days- we went out our last morning and had to get one last fill!

Thanks, Arosfa Hotel, for serving a killer breakfast!
 

Crepes

This past weekend reminded me of some wonderful memories I’ve had with the national pancake of France. We enjoyed dinner from Simply Crepes in Canandaigua with friends after a day of wine touring. I had a scrumptious combination of ham, brie, caramelized onion and apples while Don enjoyed an equally tasty crepe filled with turkey and smoked Gouda. For dessert we enjoyed Nutella with bananas and a strawberry/blueberry with vanilla ice cream. Delish!

Of course, we reminisced about our first Erie Canal kayak trip a couple of years ago. After our first night of camping, we set out from the JCC in Rochester to Pittsford. Our goal was to make it to Pittsford in time for breakfast at Simply Crepes. We made it and enjoyed perhaps the most posh breakfast any kayak campers have ever eaten. The perfect fuel for a full day of paddling!

Then we recalled the crepes we had in Paris. During our whirlwind tour of the City of Light, we stopped briefly outside the Pompideau Centre to research how good the crepes really are. First of all, the crepe itself had the diameter of a small kitchen table. Then, the crepe was smeared with the world’s most awesome substance- Nutella. Finally, Monsieur Crepe Guy took an entire banana and thinly sliced it onto the crepe. After a few folds, we had our quintessential Parisian crepe. Other than the fact that the Nutella turned into molten liquid and nearly burned every taste bud off our tongues, it was the most decadent, delectable and delightful street food we ever tasted. 

Post-crepe posing at Pompideau

I can’t think of crepes and not be reminded of my family’s Christmas breakfast tradition. Christmas morning means crepes. Mom never makes just one or two dozen, but (what seems like) about 60! There are the sweet varieties of either strawberry or applesauce, topped with powdered sugar. Then there is the savory crepe with ham, Swiss cheese and Mornay sauce. Breakfast always includes some kind of fruit and some type of bread or coffee cake, but the crepes remain the same: homemade, delicious and comforting.

Oatmeal and Cream of Wheat

I’ve paid homage to cold breakfast cereal, so here is my tribute to my favorite hot cereals. These friends and I go way back and while I’ve eaten my share of the instant versions, I’m waxing nostalgic about the old fashioned, long-cooking varieties. If you can read and measure you can make either one, but Nan always made them best. There was that special something she would do to make my oatmeal/C.O.W. the most delectable, comforting bowl of cereal ever. She always got the consistency right; I believe my mom used the term “wallpaper paste.” I do know there was more to it than just cereal and water. There was definitely brown sugar and a pinch of salt. Perhaps they were made with milk (probably whole milk) rather than water. Now that I think about it, I’m sure there was a good-sized chunk of butter involved as well. To this day, I still can’t get the proportions or taste quite right and I regret taking it for granted that they were such simple foods to prepare. Sure, things always taste better when someone else prepares them, but no bowl of oatmeal or Cream of Wheat ever came close to that which Nan made for me. I’m still on that quest. I only hope that someday mine will be as great as yours, Nan! 

Love you always...

Cereal

         Cereal was, is and always be my go-to breakfast. It's fun and it reminds me of childhood.

• Life: My all-time favorite. I remember the smell of it when I would open the box. I still take a whiff whenever I open it. More than just a breakfast food, I used to just eat it as a snack without milk. In fact, I still do.

• Frosted Flakes: Who doesn’t love Tony the Tiger? Frosted Flakes are classic; a simple cereal with just enough sugar to make it taste like you were eating dessert. They’re grrrrrrrreat!

• Flutie Flakes: On a similar note, Flutie Flakes were Buffalo’s answer to Frosted Flakes. I still have my red and blue boxes; one remains unopened!

• Honey Nut Cheerios: I vividly recall when I first had HNC. I was away at Girl Scout camp. At breakfast one morning there was this new (at the time) cereal. My friends and I proclaimed that it was the best cereal and went home to beg our moms to buy it for us.

• Super Sugar Crisp: Here was a cereal that just put it all out there. No guessing as to what was in the box. Eventually the name changed to just Sugar Crisp, apparently losing its superhero status. Then, sugar became a bad word and the name was changed again to Super Golden Crisp, as they were back in good graces with the Justice League. Its current name is just Golden Crisp. This was the Post Cereal version of Kellogg’s Sugar Smacks. Again, sugar became evil and the cereal became known as Honey Smacks. Then they were just Smacks. (Really?) Now they’re Honey Smacks again. Despite all of these alter egos, one thing remains the same: I still enjoy a bowl now and then with my good friends Sugar Bear and Dig ‘Em.

• Clusters: No childhood memory here, but a college memory. In my room at the Hotel Saranac dorm, I kept some food on hand for those times when institutional food just wouldn’t cut it. I always had a box of Clusters. One night I had a dream (nightmare?) about the squirrel from the commercial: he was chasing after me and trying to steal my Clusters! I know- scary, right? Yet I kept going back for more cereal. Had to show that squirrel who was boss.