The Breakfast Cereal Gourmet is a new cookbook by David Hoffman that should be a tremendous purchase for any cereal enthusiast."Armed Man enters home, eats bowl of cereal, police say" from the Reno Gazette-Journal:
A man under the influence of drugs and looking for a free meal invaded a family’s home at gunpoint Thursday night, Sparks police said.
When police officers arrived at the home in the 2000 block of South Mackenzie Circle, they said they found Daniel Jeppsen sitting on the couch eating cereal and milk.
Click here to add your name to a petition to promote Cap'n Crunch to an Admiral.
Here's a quote from the blog punkybrister69 reviewing a book, Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman:
"An inordinate number of cereal commercials are based on the premise that a given cereal is so delicious that a fictional creature would want to steal it. We are presented with this scenario time and time again. The most obvious is the Trix Rabbit, a tragic figure whose doomed existence is not unlike that of Sisyphus. Since the cereal's inception, the rabbit--often marginalized as 'silly'--has never been allowed to enjoy even one bowl of his favorite foodstuff, and the explanation for this embargo smacks of both age discrimination and racism (we are to accept that Trix is reserved exclusively 'for kids')." (p. 121)
In this essay, the public's relationship to breakfast cereal is likened to our relationships with others in society... AND IT WORKS. The argument may sound silly, but--if you think about it--a lot of us are who we are based on our relationship to pop culture.
General Mills has a special rebate offer running right now. More details here:
http://wholegrainlife.archway.com/run/Lookup?key=GMWHOLEGRAIN
NFO MySurvey.com recently conducted a marketing survey regarding ceral packaging.
Here is what they found:
Survey Results - In a Bag or In a Box?
Dry cereal is a popular food item - no surprise there. A recent survey indicates that 87.5% of our members have bought dry cereal in the last six months and in most households it doesn't last very long -- 60% of respondents said a box of cereal lasts for two weeks or less.
Cereal manufacturers know their products are popular, but they continue to look to consumers for ideas about how to improve. Even for products that are consumed quickly, packaging preferences are an important consideration. Here are the cereal packaging preferences, from most to least popular, based on the same survey:
| Type Of Cereal Packaging | % of Respondents |
| Box with resealable inner packaging | 65% |
| Resealable packaging with no outer box | 17% |
| No preference | 10% |
| Box with non-resealable inner packaging | 7% |
| Box only, no inner packaging | 1% |
Not everyone's a cereal fan, and some people have some gripes.
Here's one from Bert's Blog: Tony the Tiger was a liar, lamenting over the wasted space in cereal boxes.
On the heels of yesterday's quiz, here's another one: What kind of cereal are you?
Hardly serious, but fun.
Here's my result:
Fruit Loops/Trix - Silly rabbit trix are for kids
u are a good combination of colors and fruits
making you brightm fun, happy and at the same
time under control. you enjoy doing things
w/friends and beign popular but you no when
some1 isn't being true and you have ur limits
making u a good person. u r the party of Lucky
Charms mixed with the wholesome essence of
Cheerios.
What kind of cereal are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Cool quiz at http://www.readingforresults.com/cereal/quiz.htm.
Find out what cereal mascot you are like.
Kellogg's is facing negative publicity over a new Apple Jack's TV ad and website that disparages real apples. More reason that advertising targeted to children is coming under more scrutiny. Read more here.
The American Cereal Council (the cereal industry trade association) is looking for families with school-aged children to take part in a simple survey. They'll supply money for cereal and milk, and the families are to track their breakfast habits and impressions. Learn more here.
An excellent article from the South Bend [Indiana] Tribune that describes how
"Cereal lovers roar their passion for the crunchy stuff in testimonials, a cookbook and themed eateries"
Plus, some interesting stats:
A BOWL of cereal is being touted as the perfect brain food for children preparing to start back at school.
Welsh research has found that those who eat cereal every morning are more mentally alert and less tired than their non-breakfasting friends.
A bowl of cornflakes first thing in the morning has been found to boost alertness by 12% and cutmemory and attention span difficulties by up to 10%.
But the common breakfast cereal has also has long-term health benefits, including reducing the likelihood of suffering from stomach complaints.
Consider what happened to Alpha-Bits this year when Kraft Foods decided to add more whole grains and remove all the sugar. Kraft's goal was to have a cereal that parents would not mind giving to children under 6 as finger food.
Unlike General Mills, which reformulated many of its cereals with 25 percent to 50 percent whole grains, Kraft was determined to make Alpha-Bits with 75 percent whole grains.
But raising the amount of whole oat flour made the product considerably bulkier than before, and the letters that came out of the machine, known as an extruder, looked a bit too chunky to be legible.
Additionally, the absence of a sugar coating caused the letters to break apart more easily. As a result, the new version of the cereal, which Kraft started selling this month, looks significantly different from the old version, which children have been eating for nearly four decades. The company says that its team of cereal scientists is working hard to resolve the product's "letter integrity" issues.
There are many tasty treats that can be made with cereal. Here are two using simple puffed wheat, from the blog chef-girl.net:
Puffed Wheat Squares
Honey Cinnamon Puffed Wheat Squares
Now, there's an idea!
From a blog, Wasps: "So after brining [sic] the car home last night Liz and I went to Laura's house to have a cereal party (where you bring your favorite cereal and share) ..."
Cereal is so much more than a food. For most of us it has been a daily part of our lives, rich with memories and impressions.
From time to time I will share stories from individuals of their memories and experiences with cereal. Here's one from the blog Bite the Pariah called "The Call of the Crunch Berry".
Pull up a chair, grab a bowl and spoon, choose your favorite cereal, and pour on the milk!
Join me in a fascinating journey into the food that shapes not only our bodies, but our culture as well!
Watch for a wide variety of personal memories and reflections, industry news, and related discussion.
And, be sure to leave your comments, as I'd love to hear from you!
Better get back to the cereal before it gets soggy...
It seems like every sports celebrity has their own cereal now. Here's the latest: MarinO's (Dan Marino).