160.2 - How Cereal Became The Number One Breakfast Food in the U.S.

You've seen it, right? The long cereal aisles in a U.S. supermarket? Crammed from top to bottom with colorful boxes? I bet you have. Cereal arouses a sense of nostalgia in a lot of the Americans that I know; it brings about memories of childhood, simpler times, family breakfasts. It's a wonderful topic of conversation that you can have with native speakers. Ask them: What was your favorite cereal when you were a child? You'll see their eyes light up. Then maybe you can share something that you learned in today's lesson!Premium Content:  Season 4 (Episodes 150 - 200) = Each episode includes a quiz, the PDF transcript (the text of the audio) with definitions of challenging words and the mp3 file. All Premium Content for Seasons 1, 2 and 3 (Episodes 001 - 150) Raisin Bran Muffins: 1/2 cup vegetable oil (or canola) 2 cups buttermilk (I use low-fat) 2 eggs 2 cups flour 4 cups Raisin Bran cereal 1 cup sugar 1.5 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup raisins  2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon all spice Optional Topping: 1/2 cup chopped pecans (small) Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all of the muffin ingredients in order.  Let mixture sit for 10 minutes, so that the cereal softens. Bake in a muffin tin at 400 degrees for 14-18 minutes (depending on the color and size of your muffin tin.) I like the pecans to develop a very toasty flavor, so I generally cook them closer to 18 minutes. Let cool at least 10 minutes. Top with butter and/or honey. Each batch makes about 18 muffins. My family doubles it and it makes 36 at a time! We freeze them. Then, in the morning, we microwave each muffin for 40 seconds, slice in half and spread a bit of butter on each side. :) Enjoy! Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices