Put Some "Snap, Crackle, Pop!" Into Your Life!

When I was a tot, I used to eat Rice Krispies quite a lot. I remember sitting next to my cousin at breakfast while she demonstrated to me how she dug a hole in the middle of the bowl in which to pour the milk, so as to end with the perfect ratio of milk to cereal. At some point during those years, I seem to have lost my taste for Rice Krispies somewhat. If we have them, I'll eat them, but I'd rather just stick with puffed rice, which ideally starts out mushy. If Rice Krispies turn mushy - and they usually do at some point before the bowl is empty - it's hardly cause for celebration. But they certainly offer a satisfying noise before they become too submerged.

Speaking of beautiful noises, Rice Krispies' three mascots - the elves Snap, Crackle and Pop - have always delighted me, particularly when they are singing. Somewhere in my house lies an old tape so worn it crackles just as much as the cereal. I played it often when I was younger, and on the rare occasion when Rice Krispies decides to resurrect the old jingles, I watch and listen with a big goofy grin on my face. There's the fantastic three-part tune in which the little lads argue good-naturedly about which of them makes Rice Krispies great and the "let 'em pour" one, which preaches the virtues of the cereal with all the conviction of a gospel choir.

But better than the cereal itself and better than the commercials are Rice Krispies treats. Sure, you can buy them separately now, but there's nothing quite like mixing up a batch yourself and cutting out an often too-goopy square, leading to sticky fingers. The treats are easy to make and hard to keep around the house; it's rare that they'll last much more than a day. I may not enjoy marshmallows in my morning cereal, but I love them as the glue that holds these bars together.

Like Cheerios, Rice Krispies contains 110 calories per one-ounce serving. There are plenty of worse things you could be eating for breakfast, and these classic bits of rice are even better if you have access to fresh strawberries. Take a moment before eating to just sit and listen to the distinctive "snap, crackle, pop" once you've poured the milk in; it's quite a sweet little symphony. Hooray for musical cereal!