Grape Nuts

 

In some ways, I have channeled Euell Gibbons today, in that I convinced my wife to add a few tablespoons of Grape Nuts to my normal morning cereal concoction that I have eaten every weekday for AT LEAST the last 15 years  if not longer:

The basic version of the cereal.....

~3/4 C of All Bran Buds

~3/4 C of Fiber One Cereal

~3/4 C of Blueberries

Milk poured over-top AT LEAST one full hour before consuming, so the cereal is pleasantly soggy.  

While most days the above is exactly how I eat the cereal, sometimes, depending on fruit sales, the blueberries may OCCASIONALLY change to raspberries or blackberries.  And, for a period of time during the height of COVID, there was a shortage of All-Bran Buds, and I had to substitute the less flavorful and less fiber-filled All-Bran Flakes.  And, for added flavor, I have had OCCASIONAL sprinklings of a few tablespoons of other-flavored cereals on top of the basic version (Grape Nuts, Corn Flakes, Cheerios, and Life have been the most common).  

For many, the idea that I wait AT LEAST an hour before consuming my cereal is perceived as odd.  But, I am not really a fan of CRUNCHY cereals.  I tend to feel ANY cereal is improved by being soggy.  This means that often I carry my cereal in a sealed bowl in my lunch pail to the U due to timing.  

To further enhance the sogginess, I eat a separate bowl of fruit and a banana FIRST, before I allow myself to eat my wonderful cereal.  

With the typically more leisurely pace of the weekend (at least Sunday),  have for the same time frame been able to have the ultimate (to me) breakfast food:

 Old Fashioned Oatmeal  (usually also including ~1/2 All-Bran Buds and then also some raisins).  I usually drizzle a small amount of maple syrup or butter pecan syrup on top or sprinkle a half a teaspoon of brown sugar on top.  

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• 11 miles this morning (~16 km).  It is seeming to be my daily fate since I am FIRST into the building after the facilities operator opens the doors just ahead of 6:00am... and I am also the FIRST onto the track, hoofing away.  But, I seem stuck being able to only accomplish 11 miles in the amount of time I have before I MUST leave to get ready to go to the U.    If the place would open a half an hour earlier, it would give me just enough leeway to get the additional miles I would prefer done so I can feel a bit ahead during the week.  
• My wife has annoying work meetings that will keep her away until 9pm tonight.  It is also frustrating that our planned swimming has been cancelled due to the meetings.  I will go and swim alone.... but it is just not the same.... nowhere near as pleasant and fun.  With my wife being gone until so late, I was imagining my choosing to get soused on a few beers when I get home.  I unfortunately also know I won't really do that.... because I would  not be able to have a pipe with it, and at least to me, drinking of its own accord is rather superfluous UNLESS it is able to be accompanied with a pipe or two or three.... or four. 
• PCS = 7 - quieted back down a bit to a seven.  Still pretty damn strong, but easier to grapple with than the 8 was.  These higher scores feel awfully persistent, almost like a catepillar consistently munching through a leaf from stem to stern.  I sometimes wonder if the PCS never subsides, how long can I keep this up?   
  

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My stretching of my hamstrings has been continuing to visibly get better. I am glad I figured out what sort of stretch I could do successfully, because several suggested options felt damn near impossible for me to do.  

I took a bit of a creative "spin" during the weekend.  One of my sisters gave me a fairly hefty box of pears that she and her husband had picked from the rather large pear tree they have on the property of their up north, vacation home.  I was feeling a strong hankering for cake, and decided to experiment a little:

I made a "Pear Upside-Down Cake".   Basically, I looked for a general "Pineapple" Upside-Down Cake" recipe for the basic ingredient "ratios" and then heavily modified the ingredients (but kept most of the ratios) to make my experimental cake.  My cake had NO oil or butter (fat free), and the topping that glazed the pears was a mix of brown sugar, some cinnamon, a hefty amount of ginger, a small amount of powdered rosemary and some salt.  The cake batter was based off of a relatively standard yellow/white cake recipe that was part of the pineapple upside-down cake recipie,  but...  I also modified it by adding cardamon, ginger, some all-spice, and more than double the usual amount of baking powder to help "lighten" the batter.

I have to say it was a damn good cake!  All of my culinary experiments are at least edible.  However, a majority any are at least quite pleasant.  This cake.... though.... IMO one of the most delicious cakes I have experimentally made up a recipe for.

PipeTobacco