As I write this installment of 368… it is April the 7th.  A cool date.  4+7=11  That’s a good one in that number-crunching-brain of mine….  This marks the birth date of a really special person I knew… who went on to have a wonderful child…  and I am thankful for both of them.  Happy Birthday AF.

Today is also the birthday of Will Keith Kellogg.  He was the  American cereal manufacturer and  was born way back in 1860.  As a very young boy, Will knew he had a strong dislike for eggs and bacon.  He grew up on a chicken farm in Battle Creek, Michigan.  A rooster pecked him violently when he was five years old.

So young will went on to promote cereals, especially corn flakes, as a healthy breakfast food. He started the Sanitas Food Company around 1897, focusing on whole grains… specifically… the Toasted Corn Flake. (Sanita, by the way, it the Portuguese word for toilet.  He had wet his pants when the rooster attacked him….  seriously.)

But back to the cereal thriller: At the time, the standard breakfast for the “rich” and well-to-do, was eggs and meat…… and the poor ate porridge, farina, gruel and other boiled grains.  While many of you may not be able to resist a hot bowl of gruel…. ol’ Willy got the nillies about THAT too.  So it all started with the Kellog’s Corn Flake!  Ironically enough, Will wanted to use the iconic rooster head on the box as a reminder of his grass roots.  And so it goes.  Toilets and Rooster-Heads.

Since that time there have been a boat-load of Kellogg’s Cereals on the market, some of which include Apple Jacks, Raisin Bran, Honey Loops, Corn Pops, Coco Pops, Mini-Wheats, Rice Krispies….. and of course… my favorite…… Special K.

Some that didn’t work out were….Moonie Slivers, Powerpuff Girls, Mr. T’s Muscle Crunch, C3PO’s and Concentrate.  Seriously.

I, for one, eat more “gruel-type” food than I’d like to admit.  Bowls and bowls of it.  I am a fan of white-pasty foods.  Eggs and bacon too.  I’ve never been pecked by a chicken though.  Or a pig, for that matter.  Cock-A-Doodle-Do.  They’re great.