Are you a cereal person?
Me neither. Well not really. I've got to be in the mood. I'm not one of those people who sits down to a bowl of Rice Krispies each morning. I get way too bored of the same thing and I'm not one for sweet things in the a.m. either. I only eat yoghurt and pretend it's not sweet.
That said, this morning I really fancied a bowl of Lucky Charms. Do you know what I mean? If you went to America as a child, you would have wanted nothing but these. Moons and stars cereal mixed with brightly coloured and shaped marshmallow pieces. So sweet you could bellow Ballroom Blitz after just one mouthful, but quite moorish all the same. We always used to bring them back whenever we went somewhere where you could get them - everywhere but here it seems.
I think Selfridges sell them, but they're not that widespread here are they, unless I've missed something? Anyway, one bowl full and the garish packet, with its sinister leprechaun character grinning at you, will sit unloved and unattended until way beyond the sell-by date. A bad idea.
The supermarket cereal aisle is one we rarely venture down, so I don't really even know what's out there. I saw an ad for Shredded Wheat, which seems to come in many varieties. But at the end of the day it's still Shredded Wheat - bloody hard work. The more palatable Shreddies are now knitted by nana's, apparently, and also come in flavour after flavour, and of course the ubiquitous Coco Pops in its many guises is still going strong. The ever-present and perhaps not quite as popular as they'd like to think they are Crunchy Nut Cornflakes are still alive too, as is Weetabix, Oatibix, Ryebix, Flaxibix and the rest of the bix family.
But there's no sign of Puffa Puffa Rice (always had Sooty on the box) or Sugar Stars (with Captain Scarlet), my two childhood favourites. And remember when Coco Pops were Coco Krispies, and Sweep was your boxfront friend?
Tastes change
17 comments:
That Sugar Stars box is frankly terrifying.
Ricicles, please...!
Were Ricicles advertised as being twicicles as nicicles or is that just my faded brain?
I can't start the day without something in a bowl with milk but tend to go for something "grown up" like Bran Flakes or Oats & More even if I do sometimes give in to chocolate weetos.
Growing up in Welwyn Garden City we always had the smell of the shredded wheat factory hanging over everything which put me off even more than the taste or effort involved in eating it.
Yes of course, Welwyn - Cereal City. I remember the Ricicles jingle and it was exactly that.
My childhood issue with cereal was that I don't like milk much, so despite loving the adverts and wanting the toys out of the box, I could never actually eat more than a couple of mouthfuls of the stuff.
Nowadays I eat muesli but only the unhealthy oaty honey clusters/granola type, not the healthy dusty grit. And only with yogurt on!
Whatever happened to Treasure Flakes? I would have bought those if they'd brought them to market.
Variety packs were always my fave as they were associated with holiday, still buy them now for the kids for the same reason.
Breakfast is my worst meal of the day, after all these years I still haven't found something I really like. Just have an apple these days.
Variety packs were always a treat. In fact they still are really.
I do like granola, mainly because it's got no raisins in it. I can't be doing with raisins, they're either gritty or chewy or both.
Who had Ready Brek? We had it every morning in the winter. It was such a chore to get down. I've not looked at it in 30 years or more.
I can't eat sweet things in the morning either so I've never ventured beyond Corn Flakes, Rice Crispies, muesli and porridge in 30+ years.
All those cereals sound quite frankly, disgusting.
Hurrah for you FC - Puffa Puffa Rice!
I've spent years grinding on at the endlessly patient Mrs PM about what a treat PPR was - and why don't they bring it back (it won't taste the same, of course - Golden Nuggets didn't). I've even got a plastic statue (sweep I think) as giveaway somewhere.. I used to eat it dry. Lush!
Lucky Stars were available here in the early 90s, but never took off. The same time as Cinammon Toast Crunch/Cinammon Graham/Curiosly Cinammon - which is still going and a fave of mine..
Do you remember this cereal like Golden Nuggets, but had raspberry flavor as well - so yuo had a bowl of yellow and raspberry boulders..
And am I the only person who remembers buying mini cereal boxes from cigarette-style vending machines in supermarkets
I always thought WGC smelt like bacon. Haven't dare eat Shredded Wheat since.
I only remember Golden Nuggets, which inexplicably were taken off sale when it seemed to me everyone loved them. I certainly did. You're right though, they didn't taste the same years later.
I really don't recall serial boxes in machines. Not just a dream to you, PM?
Honestly I did see them. How about the cereal with Mr Spock on the box. I had a pair of cut out and keep 'Vulcan' ears from the back.
Or the Dr Who/Weetabix series, while we're on the sci-fi/cereal crossover subject
I think Spock was on Sugar Smacks, Kellogg's own Sugar Puffs variant.
Why does Sooty look so worried on that Puffa Puffa Rice box? Did he know something we didn't?
I'm a dour sort, so it's porridge for me every morning (except Saturday, when a bacon and tomato bagel appears.). I have it with fruit, but couldn't now face anything too sweet like Sugar Puffs ( they made your wee smell, anyway.). When I was a kid, I loved them.
I think Golden Nuggets were removed from sale when Type 1 Diabetes rates shot through the roof among the 8-10 age group in 1971. There was a pound of sugar in every 'nugget'. Apparently.
I love cereal and had a bowl of Crunchy Nuts just this morning. As I've said before, we're sophisticated here in Newark.
My favourite cereal of all time has to be Ricicles though. These days I mainly eat Shreddies, or Sainsbury's/Waitrose's own versions thereof. Supermarket own brand cereals are as good as name brands these days.
What I hate are those 'good for you' cereals like Special K or Optima. They taste of bugger all and usually are still loaded with bad stuff.
What is it about Variety packs and holidays? We used to have them only in Cornish cottages. I wouldn't go for them these days though as there's nowhere near enough for me in each box, and I just can't mix two cereals in the same bowl.
I love sitting down in front of the telly on a Saturday morning and getting my rocks off to Susanna Reid while munching on a huge bowl of cereal.
Like I say, I love cereal, me.
Those would be Coco Pops Rocks of course, PM?
Post a Comment