"Grandmother's Good Olde Cream of Wheat"

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Food is such an intricate part of our existence. Without thinking we often go to certain foods for comfort because somehow they have the magical power of transporting us back in time and creating in us a feeling of joy.

There is nothing like actually being involved in the process of making something from scratch. We put a bunch of what may seem like random ingredients together, but each has and serves its own purpose. Though some can be replaced or omitted, others must be included or you'll end up with an inedible mess that serves eight.

The first recipe that I would like to share, is our most popular breakfast dish that can truly be eaten anytime of day. Fair warning, do go ahead and make the large batch because it will disappear rather quickly. 

Cream of wheat was a part of my childhood growing up. My grandmother Zabel, would often make it on cold winter mornings or whatever she deemed a rather cold day in California. I loved her cream of wheat and no one else's cream of wheat would do. In fact, some I had tasted were vomit worthy and at the time I was only an innocent six year old, with no filter and a sensitive palette for bad tasting food. So you could say I was pretty spoiled with some real good home cooking.

Well, this was all put to the test when my grandmother and grandfather decided to take a month long holiday during the summer of August 1982 to Greece and left us in the care of our Great Aunt Mariam. She was to house sit during the day and keep an eye on the three of us, my four year old brother, ten year old sister and eleven year old me. She was under the impression that this was going to be her own holiday from simple apartment-life, to lavish living in an actual house. Lest she knew the demands that awaited her, she would have reconsidered her decision.

Though she was polite, very well read, spoke seven different languages, told wonderful stories about her life, had 3 stepchildren and later 2 children of her own, many grandchildren and could dance like nobody's business. She did not like, nor did she want to cook!  

Did I mention we were only eleven, ten and four years old. I being the oldest was already a great Sous-Chef to my grandmother and had a subscription for "Bon Appetit" Magazine at the age of nine but had not acquired the courage to deal with all the dangers of cooking yet. 

Doing what kids do best we begged and pleaded for Great Auntie Mariam to make us cream of wheat. After I gathered all the ingredients she needed onto the kitchen table she reluctantly stood up and attempted to cook. 

Now I had witnessed grandmother through this process of making the cream of wheat and I remembered how she did things. Poor Great Auntie Mariam wasn't even close. She didn't roast, she didn't stir, seemed overwhelmed from the very beginning and she didn't put things in the right order. After my siblings and I enjoyed a few private chuckles on her behalf, I was there to be her compass guiding her through this pensive process of duplicating grandma's perfect porridge. 

The house didn't even smell like she was making cream of wheat but she said everything would turn out just the same. It did not and we told her that it was nothing like grandmother's. Defeated yet determined, she asked what it was that was so different. I told her that grandmothers was sweeter, so she added more sugar. Then my sister complained that it was too sweet. "Well, now what do we do?" she asked, all but confused. "Just add more milk", I said with confidence. Once again Great Auntie Mariam obliged and did what we requested of her and added more milk. At this point, the pot was getting too full so she poured everything into a larger pot and continued to cook. Finally it started to thicken and she poured it into the bowls and sprinkled it with cinnamon as we suggested she do.

In the end, we had 24 bowls of an inedible clumpy and lumpy mess of what Great Auntie Mariam deemed cream of wheat!

I invite you to try grandmother's recipe in your kitchen and cook up your own cream of wheat story to share with your children.  

                      Grandmother's Cream Of Wheat

1.5 cups of (Bob's Red Mill) organic cream of wheat                                             

2 cups of filtered warm water

4 tbsp. of unsalted organic butter (Organic Valley Butter)

1 cup of raw organic sugar

8 cups of organic whole milk (Straus Family Creamery) 

sprinkle of organic nutmeg

3 tsps. of organic dark maple syrup or maple extract

1 tsp. of organic cinnamon for garnishing  

Measure out and have all your ingredients at hand before you begin.

Dry roast the cream of wheat, in a stainless steel heavy pot on medium heat until you see speckles of brown throughout and you can smell the nutty roasted aroma filling your kitchen.

*Beware your children will get used to this aroma and will be able to identify what you are making and will flock to the kitchen long before you are done.

When you are done roasting, turn off the heat and remove the pot from the hot burner and let it cool for 3 to 5 minutes. If you decide to skip this step, it will result in a big mess and clumps.

While the cream of wheat is cooling, you can mix the warm water with sugar and butter in a glass measuring cup. After waiting at least 3 minutes, slowly add the water, sugar and butter mixture to the cream of wheat in the pot, stir and add until you have a smooth paste. Then add the milk, 1cup at a time whilst mixing the cream of wheat as you pour, until you have incorporated all 8 cups. At this time it will look like cream of wheat soup. Go ahead and add the maple and a sprinkle of nutmeg. 

Now the trick here is, to keep stirring so it doesn't clump up or stick to the bottom and burn.

Once it thickens to a cake batter consistency, pour into bowls and spinkle with cinnamon. 

Makes about 12 ( 6oz. bowls)

If you have leftovers and that is if, it will keep for 3 days in the fridge.

It can be eaten hot or cold, but room temperature is best.

**For a vegetarian version, just replace the butter with the same amount of coconut oil and the whole milk with almond milk or rice milk. We have made these vegetarian versions and they're just as deliecious.

                             A big thanks to my little brother for editing this project.