Chapter 28 Polly And The Children continued

Part 2

How It Tasted

Molded Cream of Wheat

Hot or cold, carefully molded or just ladled into a bowl—I don’t like cream of wheat.

I really tried. I did. Dutifully I kept spooning it up, at least as long as the raspberries held out. But with my son away and no one to set a good example for I couldn’t continue. I’m pretty sure my husband would have eaten up my leftovers--he loves cooked cereals--but as DH wasn’t present the dog got a nice surprise in her bowl.

Poached Egg on Toast

The egg resting on a slice of toast looked like such a good breakfast, so wholesome—even, yes, so tempting.

Then I cut into it with my fork…

Bleah!

Trying to be fair to the egg (and I suppose the chicken that went to the trouble of laying it it) I did eat all the white stuff. But I discovered once again that I simply don’t “do” runny eggs. In fact, I couldn’t even manage the parts of toast that had been touched by the yolk!

Cream and Sugar

I had cream and sugar at the ready (anything to make this challenging breakfast more palatable), but it didn’t do much. Even pouring cream over the cereal couldn’t help to float it down, and a sprinkling of sugar only benefited the raspberries.

Coffee

My one salvation in this less-than-appetizing meal.

I always find a good cup of coffee bracing, but this morning it was especially welcome. Staring at a half-filled plate of food (and knowing I couldn’t force down one more bite) made me feel morose and crabby, but a cup and a half of my beloved percolated coffee certainly chased those blues away.

Would I Make This Again?

Speaking for myself I’d have to say no. This has go to be one of my least-favorite breakfasts, but I can’t say my husband wouldn’t have enjoyed it. He likes hot cereals, fixes eggs so underdone the hens might as well just lay directly on the plates, adores berries of all kinds, and is fond of percolated coffee.

Thinking about it, even my son might not have had as negative reaction as I. He generally avoids hot cereals, but he might have been intrigued by this chilled, raspberry-garnished version.

Kids being what they are, though, I doubt this breakfast would have made Filip’s Top Ten list. In fact, it makes me wonder what sort of spell Bettina cast to make her nieces and nephews eat this stuff—something involving hemlock and toads, no doubt. Or maybe she just slipped the kids a few pennies after they made the cereal and egg “all gone!”