Cereal

Cereal manufacturers used to put all sorts of strange and wonderful (if you were a child) things in their boxes to entice people to buy their products -- baking-powder submarines, fanciful space creatures that rode on a spoon and rings.Kellogg's is doing it again with something that may have collectors of all ages shaking their Corn Flakes boxes for hidden treasure.For the first time since 1983, Kellogg's is putting out a baseball set. This year's is one of the smallest by the cereal maker, and it marks the only appearance this season of Sportflics.

Zach Phillips keeps a few lucky quarters in his pocket. Pedro Strop wears Ninja Turtle boxers. And Jason Hammel - well, it got so extreme that he had to swear off the whole superstition thing. It was, he says, a distraction. "Yeah, I've actually gotten away from that," says Hammel, the Orioles right-hander who was among the league's elite pitchers this season until a recurring knee injury forced him onto the disabled list for much of the second half. "I used to do superstitions - where I went to eat, when I left to go eat, the way I put my socks on, wearing the same pair of underwear for each start.

As I glanced at the headline of last Monday's article, "When terrorist and '60s child converge" (Feb. 22) by Susan Reimer, I thought that it would be yet another aged hippie opining about why America's enemies are justified. I was not disappointed. In some ways, she was right. Shows like "The Bachelor" and "The Real Housewives of Orange County," while entertaining, portray people whose hot tubs far surpass their character in terms of depth. I am ashamed to have seen shows that match "The Bachelor" in mindless entertainment, but does this mean that I should be wiped from the face of the earth by the likes of the underwear bomber?

Here at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, four-time IZOD IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti and two-time champion and Chip Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon had breakfast Friday -- from boxes with their pictures on them. "This is so cool," Franchitti said, picking up a box of Kellogg's cereal called VROOMS and looking genuinely excited. "when I was a kid, I wanted to be on a cereal box!" Franchitti, Dixon and Juan Pablo Montoya, the 1999 CART Champion, who now races full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Ganassi, will have their photos on a variety of Kellogg's breakfast foods in celebration of Target's 23rd anniversary in motorsports with Ganassi Racing.

This week: reader mail. Last week, I wrote about hot cereal and how long it takes to make it properly. Ginny McGowan of Hempstead, N.Y., e-mailed me with the method she and her husband use for steel-cut oats: "Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add 1 cup of steel-cut oats, mix and take off the burner. Put a cover on the pot and let sit for at least 12 hours - we usually let it sit for 24 hours." I've long used a variation on this method for all hot cereals: Before you go to bed, put cereal and about four times as much salted water in a heavy saucepan.

To gauge the effect of massive doses of sugar on human physiology, an experiment was conducted recently in which this writer sampled a total of 13 cereals marketed primarily for children.A maximum of three spoonfuls of each cereal was consumed; the cumulative effects were recorded in the journal below:7 a.m. -- Kellogg's Frosted Flakes. Veteran spokescat Tony the Tiger ("They're Gr-r-reat!") grins fetchingly from the box as I dive into a bowl of the familiar flakes of corn, lightly splashed with milk.

If an entire entertainment empire could be built around a mouse with a squeaky voice, why not one dedicated to breakfast cereal?Besides, just as the realm of Walt Disney's Mickey is more than a celebration of mousedom, Kellogg's Cereal City USA, which opened this month in downtown Battle Creek, Mich., promises to be more than a $22-million monument to snap, crackle and pop.It's been 100 years since W.K. Kellogg devised a way of making airy little flakes out of corn and revolutionized the American breakfast and life in Battle Creek.

"What's the best cereal?" everyone wants to know. Frankly, I wouldn't answer that question on a dare. Products are constantly being reformulated, changing the fat content, sodium, calories, fiber and taste. And taste is the number one reason why people choose food. So you're going to have to decide for yourself, based on your nutritional goals, as well as what tastes good.A friend recently set out to answer this question and compiled a chart for easier comparison. Some things to consider:Fiber content -- Health organizations recommend 25-35 grams of fiber per day, about twice the American average.

You think you have problems getting the kids through the cereal aisle without whining? Meet Jerry Cook, age 51..Mr. Cook recently paid $1,000 for a Lone Ranger Frontier Town Map, once a Cheerios premium."

THERE IS nothing quite like starting the day with a heaping bowl of Cap'n Crunch cereal and watching your hands tremble violently as that first jolt of sugar hits the central nervous system.Top if off with three or four cups of strong coffee and by mid-morning, you're speeding around like a jittery fox terrier, ready to tackle (sometimes literally) that new client or whip through those household chores or clear a dozen acres of trees and heavy underbrush using nothing more than a hatchet and old-fashioned elbow grease.

When young, aspiring artists ask Mark Foster, the 27-year-old leader of Los Angeles trio Foster the People, for tips on making it big in the music industry, he offers practical advice. "Kids hit me up on Twitter and I tell them to learn how to bartend," Foster said. "There are career waiters in Los Angeles and they're making over $100,000 a year. " Foster knows first-hand how difficult breakthroughs can be. After moving to Los Angeles from Cleveland at 18, Foster threw himself into the city's party scene, hoping to make any connections he could.

Students and staff at Prince George's County Public Schools are celebrating National School Breakfast Week March 5 to 9 in partnership with Kellogg's cereal company, to increase nutrition awareness and help a local Feeding America food bank. For each school breakfast purchased by students during the week, Kellogg's will donate a bowl of cereal to a local food bank through its "Eat, Share, Prosper" program. According to school officials, Prince George's County public school serve an average of 170,000 breakfasts each week.

U2 is in Baltimore. Where should they eat? Be sure to Tweet or email me right away if you see Larry Mullen, Jr., at California Pizza Kitchen. Here's Erik Maza's Midnight Sun coverage of tonight's concert at M&T Bank Stadium. Here's a list from a U2 fansite on 10 Types of Sustenance in U2's Lyrics . Here's a link to the restaurant at the Clarence, a boutique hotel in Belfast owned by Bono and The "M. J. 'Jay' Brodie" Edge. And here , from the Ben Stiller Show , is Bono for Lucky Clovers cereal

As I glanced at the headline of last Monday's article, "When terrorist and '60s child converge" (Feb. 22) by Susan Reimer, I thought that it would be yet another aged hippie opining about why America's enemies are justified. I was not disappointed. In some ways, she was right. Shows like "The Bachelor" and "The Real Housewives of Orange County," while entertaining, portray people whose hot tubs far surpass their character in terms of depth. I am ashamed to have seen shows that match "The Bachelor" in mindless entertainment, but does this mean that I should be wiped from the face of the earth by the likes of the underwear bomber?

Janet Stout from Baltimore was looking for a recipe she had lost for cookies made with cornflake cereal. As she said, cookie-making time is here, and she wanted to make some of the delicious cookies again. Irene Gozdziewski, also from Baltimore, who says she is 86 years old and "still likes to try out new food and recipes, thank God," emailed me a recipe she had for "cornflake crunchies." She said the recipe came from a generic box of the cereal. I whipped up a batch of the cookies in no time.

No player personified the 1989 Orioles more than Mickey Tettleton, the poster boy for the "Why Not?" crew that nearly won a pennant. Spurned by other clubs, Tettleton joined Baltimore and blossomed in that magical summer as the no-name Orioles gave fans the ride of their lives. That the Birds battled the Toronto Blue Jays to the wire before losing the American League flag was attributable greatly to Tettleton, the Popeye-armed journeyman catcher who batted with a chaw in his cheek and a stance all his own. So what if he stood soldier-straight at the plate, abandoning the hitter's crouch?

WASHINGTON -- It is surely one of the most bizarre battles the military has found itself engaged in. Call it the Froot Loops War.It is being fought over who should be able to put what on the breakfast tables of the nation's men and women in uniform.On one side, fighting a rear-guard action, are major cereal manufacturers, like Kellogg. They want to protect their commanding positions on the shelves of the nation's 315 military commissaries, where 1.5 million active duty troops, their families, reservists and retirees shop.

If you suspect that you're paying a lot more for cereal now than you used to, your instinct is right on target.Since 1983, cereal prices have gone up more than 75 percent -- more than twice the average price increase for all foods eaten at home, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.Many cereals now cost $3 to $4, and some larger boxes are shooting toward $5.The good news for shoppers is that the value of cereal coupons has also climbed, with a handful approaching $2 -- as much as a whole box of cereal cost a few years ago."

There's nothing wrong with vanilla ice cream or a vanilla-and-chocolate frozen-yogurt cone. But sometimes you just want something different, something more. Some shops in the Baltimore area have taken that idea to a whole new level, offering frozen treats in wacky flavors or spicing things up, sometimes literally, with out-there toppings. Some of the craziest cold concoctions: Dominion's vegetable ice cream, which comes in spinach, carrot, tomato, sweet potato and jalapeno; Mr. Yogato's peach yogurt with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette; Pitango Gelato's spicy chocolate, with crushed red chili peppers; Moxley's Old Bay ice cream, for that extra little kick; and Sylvan Beach's margarita ice cream, complete with salt and lime.

Want to save sodium on your hot cereal? If you choose Cream of Wheat Enriched Farina, you'll get 85 milligrams per serving, before you add your own salt. Farina Original Creamy Hot Wheat Cereal, on the other hand, cooks just as fast but has no sodium. (We found the latter at Eddie's of Roland Park.) Kate Shatzkin Cream of Wheat Enriched Farina Per serving (3 tablespoons - makes 1 1/4 cup) 120 calories 4 grams protein 0 grams fat 0 grams saturated fat 23 grams carbohydrate 1 gram fiber 0 milligrams cholesterol 85 milligrams sodium Farina Original Creamy Hot Wheat Cereal Per serving (3 tablespoons - makes 1 cup)