I used to love going grocery shopping. Seriously, I used to LOVE it. This started way back when I first moved out of the house and was jazzed with the notion of buying whatever the hell I wanted to eat. Of course, there was that stretch of time lots of us go through where we can only buy stuff like mac & cheese or Ramen noodles. This is around college / just past college years. Looking back, I remember not having meat in my fridge because it was expensive or I didn’t know what to do with it so I just settled for pasta of some kind. Seriously, Young Marcus, what the hell? Just buy some chicken, you idiot. Add some meat to the mac & cheese!
Once I made a little more money and my brain kicked out of befuddled / survival mode, I started shopping like a regular person. That’s when the fun began. Beef jerky? Sure! More than one kind of cereal? Go for it!! In fact, get all the stuff I used to want when shopping with my Dad, only to be shot down with a solid, “You gonna pay for that?” My Dad was never abusive, but sometimes he was just no fun. Decades later, after helping to raise two boys myself, I’ve dropped that same line plenty of times myself.
Anyway…grocery shopping has since become a chore that is rarely much fun. Except when I stumble upon that one thing that perks me up. There’s at least one item in my cart that has me thinking, “When did THIS come out?” “I wonder that this will taste like?” “Will I look too feral if I stuff this into my mouth right now instead of waiting until I get home?”
Such is the Favorite Grocery.
This time, it was Cinnamon Pebbles! I’ve been a Pebbles fan for as long as I can remember. Mostly I go cocoa, but the fruity is always a welcome change. There’s just something about the way they pile up in the bowl to form that perfect mound of sweetness held together by milk. And the milk?? When the Pebbles are gone, the taste-enhanced milk remains. YES!!! One of my boys doesn’t like milk on his cereal. I call him a freak. He also wants to buy beef jerky when we go shopping. What does he think? I’m made of money???
I wondered what took them so long to make this new Pebble. For the rest of the trip, I couldn’t stop thinking about what this new delight would taste like. What would the milk taste like? Would it just be like Cinnamon Toast Crunch except mashed up? The answers are: Crunchy cinnamon / milky cinnamon / No.
Also, I can’t wait to make Rice Krispy Treats using the new flavor. Ever have treats made with Cocoa Pebbles? Yum. Fruity Pebbles? YUMM!!!
PS – My boy who refuses milk for his cereal thinks I’m a freak for plenty of other reasons, so it all comes out in the wash. Family, right?
