These are always some of my favourite topics and the ones that create the most controversy on the web. No matter who you are and what you do, we love to rank things in our lives. There are hundreds of categories of things that we keep track of and are continually deciding whether the next item is memorable enough to get into our “top 10”. Selecting 10 of anything in a category is tricky but when you boil it down there can only be and handful of “hall of fame” selections in the category. I have aptly named these my Mount Rushmore, in deference to the incredible US monument.
The fascinating part of that monument is not the marvel that led to sculptors carving massive faces of President’s Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln into the South Dakota mountainside . It’s the fact that they were able to narrow the best US leaders down to 4 only and because they are literally carved in stone, there is no altering the faces and no addition of the greats that came afterwards. Our Mount Rushmore can be flexible, exchangeable and arguable to the point where you will have your own top 4. The other point is that when you get down to the best 4 ever, there is no need to rank them. They are all great and all deserve to be in the pantheon of their realm. Today we look at boxed cereal. Let the fight begin.
- Raisin Bran – Kelloggs
Raisin Bran has been around for ever and unlike other legacy cereals, the formula has not changed much over the years. The bran starts crunchy and eventually soaks up the milk. The raisins stay firm throughout and have just the right amount of sugar frosting to make them something just short of candy. You can go away from the cereal for years, pick up a box and launch back in like you have never left its comforting grip. Try it again, it’s worth the reminder of what makes it great.
2. Honey Bunches of Oats -Post
Your dad can have its predecessor Corn Flakes but you should be diving into a box of Honey Bunches of Oats. Whether it’s the wide variety of additional flavours and toppings (strawberry, almond, vanilla etc) stick with the classic honey roasted. The chunks of granola mixed with bran and corn flakes lightly frosted are divine. It’s one of those cereals that you have a bowl and then two more and you realize you should have bought the family size box. an amazing combination of goodness. You can settle for its brother cereal, Vector but HBOO is the only correct answer.
3. Honeycomb – Post
Maybe the king of junk cereal, Honeycomb is an amazing cereal experience. This is the one cereal where your selection of milk really matters. The science of the cereal design literally traps the milk in the combs and is the most glorious part of each bite you take. The frosting provides a respectable force field against the milk making the bowl soggy and re-using the milk from your inaugural bowl only makes the second and third bowls more magnificent. Ask your kids, they know a great junk cereal when they see one and the beacon of red coming from the oversized box sucks them in every time. Amazing.
4. Crispix – Kelloggs
One of the greatest things about cereal is its versatility. Rice Krispies are boring as a cereal but great in baking. Mini Wheats are tough to eat in a bowl with milk, but you can eat them as a snack. Crispix is top tier in its versatility to be a simple but tasty combination of a corn flake and rice when mixed with milk OR the key ingredient in your munchie mix snack combo. Throw this into a bowl with some peanuts, pretzels, bugles, and spice and you have Super Bowl Sunday. The drawback is that you need to be ninja quick when you mix into milk to eat it before the milk disintegrates the cereal fibres into cream of wheat.
There are others that could be on the Honourable Mention list but there is now statue of Obama in the Mount Rushmore parking lot so there will be no participation ribbons here. Add your comments here and let me know what your favourite cereals are. Happy binging!