I appreciate that the recipe doesn’t make too many bars. But of course, I can never leave well enough alone so I added several twists of my own. I found a recipe for pretzel-peanut-Cheerios bars which looked easy enough. I was aiming for a sweet-salty combination with interesting mix-ins that would put these cereal bars a couple notches above traditional crispy rice treats, which can be cloying and visually uninspiring. I wanted to make a cereal bar with Cheerios, since that’s what I’ve got, and I didn’t want bars that were too sweet. This month seems an opportune time to give it a go, since we’re settling into the warmest stretch of summer and I am loathe to use my oven. This morning, as I was standing in front of the pantry, eyeing our beautiful lineup of cereal boxes, it occurred to me that I’ve never made no-bake cereal bars. Maybe it’s the amino acid tryptophan in the milk or maybe it’s the pleasant way that the cereal settles in my stomach, not too heavy but filling enough to satisfy me. Twenty minutes later, my head is nodding. I read a book and munch my lightly processed, grain-based treat. When the woes of the world lay heavy on my addled mind and my lidless, staring eyes are like two skinned grapes, I creep downstairs and pour myself a bowl of vitamin-fortified solace. I’ve found that cold cereal is a relatively effective antidote for my insomnia. I indulged myself this morning with a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, which still feels a little transgressive, like I’m getting away with something naughty. At the moment, I’ve got Cheerios and Raisin Bran, just like I grew up with. However, I’ve ended up following my mother’s footsteps with regards to which cereals I’ll keep in the house. It was hard to decide because I loved them all with a white-hot passion. Once a year, however, I got to pick one box of whatever sugared-up cereal I wanted: Apple Jacks, Froot Loops, Cocoa Puffs, Frosted Flakes, Lucky Charms or Corn Pops. I begged - begged! - my mother to buy Honey Nut Cheerios when the variety was introduced in 1979 and she only relented after months of whining. Growing up, I had cold cereal a few times a week, though my mother would only allow “healthy” cereals into the house, like Grape Nuts, Raisin Bran or plain Cheerios. Perhaps cereal is so comforting because it’s one of the first solid foods we’re fed as babies: soft rice cereal mixed with milk or easily graspable toasted oat nubbins to nibble on once we’ve got a tooth or two. I know the only actual perfect food is ice cream.) It requires no prep except pouring in a bowl and nothing else besides milk, a spoon and my mouth. Cold cereal is, in my opinion, a near-perfect food. On days when I don’t feel like cooking, we eat - quite happily, I might add - cold cereal for dinner.
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