Living in a Cereal World

I didn't realize I was going to open this today; I ran out of granola and had to mix something  together. The first thing I noticed was the texture: there's a lot of puffy pieces mixed with what I would consider "regular" granola. It's like they were aiming for  Ancient Grains granola  but erred on the side of  Honey Smacks  (which, by the way, I didn't eat as a kid. We were strictly a Golden Crisp family). Anyway, the next step was to taste a cluster, which went from slightly medicinal all the way back over to sweet. I was concerned but it really didn't come across in the yogurt. Still, I don't think I'll be eating a whole bowl with milk. Also, I don't recall seeing too many almonds; they're probably all in the bottom of the box. Also, I have to send Fiber One Caramel Delight to the cereal graveyard. This makes me sad. It was the best! When you think "fiber" wouldn't you rather think, "oh, yay, not a dry flake cereal...

Yes, this is another one of the variety pack flavors they don't make anymore, which is a shame because their dried-and-reconstituted fruit is so much better than Quaker's. In fact, I don't even like Apple and Cinnamon oatmeal because of those mealy little bits of things. It's definitely one of those texture deals. So the apple chunks are better but what about the cinnamon? Yeah, that has more flavor, too. I'm thinking this may be the winter to confirm what I already know about Quaker's instant oatmeal flavors. It's been a while. Back in school my brother and I would split the variety box: he'd get Apples and Cinnamon and Cinnamon Spice; I'd get Maple and Brown Sugar and Raisins and Spice. ...I got just slightly off topic, didn't I?

I don't really need to review this, since I already covered it with the Little Bites version. Same flavor, different size. I just wanted it on record that I mentioned it. **** Now to what I really wanted to write about today: Dear Kellogg's, Do you have something against cinnamon? Why are you taking away my cereals? First the Simply Cinnamon Corn Flakes, now the Cinnabon cereal? Did you have to save up your cinnamon for the new Raisin Bran , which, admittedly, is delicious? Oh, and the Cinnamon Roll Mini-Wheats Little Bites. Yeah, that probably takes a lot of cinnamon. You realize you're now forcing me to try the new Apple Cinnamon Chex, though. Yeah, that's right. General Mills. Maybe you can win me back next year. Sincerely, cerealfyre

Why review a cereal that's been discontinued? I guess I just wanted it on the record. I was actually looking for Total Cranberry Crunch--I didn't realize that was already gone. Really disappointing. I'll wait till the end of the year, though, for any new flavors of Total before I resort to buying the regular kind and putting Craisins in it. Anyway, obviously I haven't bought Total in a while. Let's start with the redesigned box. Who is the target audience here? Accountants? Engineers? It's too busy and makes eating a healthier cereal seem sooooo serious. You only need to appeal to me with good flavors. As for the actual cereal, I like that's there two different kinds of flakes--oat and wheat, I think--although I'm still not sure which is which. The darker one is probably wheat. Also, there's flax seed clusters. I never noticed that was where the flax came in. I wonder if chia seed clusters are next? That would be an interesting sell. So this...

I don't bake often but my brother is home for the week and dominoes (no food pun intended) just kept falling. I was determined to make this blueberry rhubarb pie because my brother loves blueberries and he'd recommended strawberry rhubarb pie to me a few years ago. Now I'd never had rhubarb until this pie, but I guess if it can be baked, I'll try it. First, I had to find some rhubarb. I actually had to go two towns over to Wegmans, where it turned it out to be cheaper to buy frozen rhubarb for the amount I needed. Once it thawed, I was able to really assess it for the first time. It reminded me of celery, but not as stringy (and don't worry, it doesn't taste like it either). Another first time ingredient for me: tapioca. It's a thickener and I think I love it. Nobody likes runny, watery fillings, especially when using frozen fruit. Tapioca tightens that right up. It was nice to cut a slice and have nothing but fruit and crust. As for the flavor, it wa...