Breakfast II: Colonic Boogaloo

MOFO EPISODE 4: BREAKFAST II

The world ceased to be for a moment. Or perhaps for a day.

"What just happened?", asked Sherman. "You had just pushed the Big Red Button when everything just  ... stopped. For what felt like a long time. And no time at all."

"CHESTT might need some adjustment. First the incident with Tommy stumbling in, now odd time slips ... Hmmm ...", Peabody pondered. "But first, Michigan!"

Sherman was somewhat confused. And irritated that Peabody did not offer greater explanation. "And we are going to Michigan why?"

"Listen when I tell you things, Sherman. Like I said, breakfast!"

Sherman began to object that 'breakfast' didn't really explain anything, but stopped himself from saying anything. They were slipping back in to real space. Real time. Whatever was going to happen soon would do so.

And what was happening was a bearded man standing stiffly, as if waiting for their arrival. "Now what's this about?", wondered Peabody as he ushered Sherman out the front door.

The CHESTT had disguised itself as a shipping crate. Certainly appropriate chronologically (from the man's clothing Sherman guessed late 18th-early 19th century). That a large shipping crate had appeared in the middle of a dining hall did not appear to bother the bearded man. He extended a hand in greeting.

"Good Doctor Peabody! How long has it been?"

"Actually, never, I think. I'm afraid you have me at an advantage, Mr ...?"

"Doctor. Doctor John Harvey Kellogg, director, Battle Creek Sanitarium. I didn't believe you! When I first met you - my first time, not yours - you told me you'd be back, but before you knew me! Yet here you are ... You also said you'd be looking for breakfast?"

Peabody's eyes lit up at the mention of the meal. He felt positively famished.

"I'll have one of my daughters bring us something. But first, would you care for an enema?"

Peabody politely declined. Breakfast, on the other hand ... Which thankfully was being brought into the hall, preventing further talk of colon cleansing. The plates held domes of grain dressed with a thin sauce.

Molded Grain with Grape Sauce
adapted from several recipes in Every Day Dishes and Every Day Work (1897)

Prepare as many servings of grain needed as they are usually prepared for breakfast. Good grains to try include oatmeal, cream of wheat, and corn meal. Pour into individual cups or bowls and allow to cool. Refrigerate when cool. This can be done the night before. To prepare grape sauce boil 1 cup  grape juice. Dissolve 1/2 Tbsp corn starch in a Tbsp water and pour this into the grape juice. Allow to boil 1 minute, then reduce heat to a simmer. Stir until thickened slightly. Sweeten to taste with maple syrup or sugar. Do not oversweeten though - the sauce is best slightly tart. If using juice additional sweetner may be unnecessary. Turn the molded grain out on to serving plates and pour the hot grape sauce over. Good for dessert as well as breakfast. This sauce is also good made with blueberries.

A perfectly ordinary second first Vegan Month of Food post

On a perfectly ordinary day in a perfectly ordinary town a perfectly ordinary teenage boy walks down a perfectly ordinary sidewalk. His name is Sherman.

A perfectly ordinary name, except for the fact that his last name is "Tanch", which ordinarily would be pronounced "Tank". Sherman's parents were perhaps oblivious to the emotional scars the boy's classmates would inflict. Or perhaps they were terribly shortsighted, trading a moment of amusement for themselves for a lifetime of ridicule for Sherman.

Sherman was munching on 'fruit sticks' - a wonderful little snack he learned to make on his first adventure with Good Doctor Peabody. The adventure when the CHEST first opened for him ... and opened his eyes.

While he was walking the recipe for fruit sticks ran through his mind. Before meeting Peabody he would have allowed more ordinary things to play through his mind while he walked. State capitals. The periodic table. Counting to twenty in a half dozen languages.

Perfectly ordinary.

After Peabody, though, recipes. All was food.

The recipe was this:

FRUIT STICKS
adapted from Food and Cookery, 1911

1 3/4 cups pastry flour
3 T sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 T oil
1/3 c water
2/3 c raisins

Finely chop raisins. Combine flour, sugar, and salt. Rub oil well into this dry mixture.Mix water in so it is evenly distributed and forms a dough. Take half the dough and roll into a thin sheet. Distribute the chopped raisins evenly over it. Roll the remaining dough into a sheet and cover the first sheet of dough. Press the sheets together and cut diamond shapes. Prick each shape several times with a fork. Bake in 450 oven until the crisps are just light brown. Do not over bake.

A perfectly ordinary snack.

As perfectly ordinary as the phone booth Sherman enters.

A phone booth which proceeds to shimmer and disappear.

A perfectly extraordinary thing for a phone booth to do, really.

... TO BE CONTINUED