DOVI'S FAVORITE MORNING HOT CEREAL RECIPE

Dovi is a terrible eater. I don't recall who coined the term, but I refer to his issue as "Food Swings." He'll LOVE eggs for six months and then have nothing to do with it for a year. He had a love-hate relationship with chicken; right now it's in the love stage. He has another love -hate relationship with yogurt; at the moment it's at the smear-everywhere-except-to-my-mouth stage. He loves snacks - the more savory and spicy the better. He loves barbeque or garlic or falafel flavored anything. Breakfast is a real challenge; I'll painstakingly prepare 80 different kinds of food for him and he'll just fling it all on the floor. Toast, cornflakes, granola, lettuce and peppers... they're all hit-and-miss, depending on his mood.

A year or so ago I discovered that he has several nearly-never-fail foods, which he'll gladly eat anytime, whether it's for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, unless he's in a real "mood" or is full from a recent big meal.

French fries is one of them. Pizza wraps is another. Frozen peas, anytime. The crowning glory? Hot farina. YUM.

My husband often brings home a steaming container of farina from our local cafe, on mornings when he's off from work or has spare time. When that's not feasible, I cook it myself. It's tricky though; it often comes out lumpy, overcooked, undercooked, too salty, too sweet, whatever. It's tough.

Then I discovered this INCREDIBLE recipe, which is called "Kimpeturin Farina", as it's served to new postpartum mothers at the mother-and-baby-convalescent home in New Square, New York. It's finger-lickin' delicious, pretty nutritious, and also a little fattening. It's a bit of a hassle to prepare, especially as in this house, open boxes of raw cereals get turned into edible sand spread all over the house. But on mornings when I do have the energy and patience to cook up one of these beauties, Dovi and I are sated and happy, and he goes off to school or to his Sunday fun program a happy chappy.

(Today, incidentally, he locked himself into his highchair and refused to come out. I am wrung out and charleyhorsed from fighting with him to come out. Which he finally did after I lured him out blowing bubbles.)

So without further ado, here is the yummy, scrummy Kimpeturin Farina which I have officially renamed  Dovi's Favorite Hot Breakfast Cereal (using Dovi's real name, of course).

1 1/2 cups cold milk

1 1/2 cups water

1 Tablespoon sweet butter

4 Heaping Tablespoons Farina

1 Tablespoon wheatena

1 Tablespoon Oat Bran

2 Tablespoon sugar

a dash of vanilla sugar

a dash of salt

Optional: Dash of cinnamon

Combine ingredients in a 3 - 4 quart saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil. Stir occasionally to prevent clumping.  Serve immediately.

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Personally, I usually make only half the recipe, so I omit the water, and I put in 2 T farina, 1/2 T wheatena and 1/2 T oat bran. I dont pull up the flame too high, so I am careful while it thickens so that it thickens just barely. Dovi likes his farina rather runny instead of hard. As soon as it has thickened enough so it is no longer liquid, I turn the flame off, as it still tends to cook for a few minutes after the flame is off. I then pour it into two plastic dinner sized plates and it cools pretty quickly that way.

IT IS SCRUMPTIOUS. GUARANTEED.

Let me know how yours turns out.