I was stumped this morning as to what to write for my blog and what to eat for breakfast. It was just one of those mornings. Do you get up some days and think you can’t face another piece of toast or bowl of cereal (or egg)? My husband was the same and then I thought, we hadn’t had rice in a while.

When I was a kid my mom would cook rice, like oatmeal, and serve it hot in a bowl with butter and sugar for breakfast. My husband had never heard of it and thought it strange, but he tried it. He found he liked it.

When I had babies one of their first meals was rice cereal. I had no idea what that was when the pediatrician said to give it to them as their first solid food, but I found it in the baby food isle. It looked like Cream of Wheat and the baby thought they were in heaven slurping it off the end of a spoon with a rubber tip. Cooked rice is much the same, but not creamy.

I read a book recently about the wild rice that grows in Minnesota near the lakes, and the residents swear they can taste the difference in the flavor of each lake. I didn’t know rice grew in cold climates, but there’s a lot I don’t know.

Rice is a staple like beans in many cultures. My grandmother lived in the Arkansas Ozarks, and we visited her often. There was a field across the road from her house, and the farmer sometimes grew cotton, and other times they irrigated it and grew rice. That was when the mosquitoes were the worst! When I think of rice growing, I think of pictures of rice paddies in Viet Nam. That is not necessarily the case.

I’m not that much of a rice connoisseur but this morning I cooked instant brown rice instead of instant white and found it didn’t get as soft, no matter how long I cooked it. I think I like white better. There is a difference in types of rice as I’ve seen going down the aisle at the grocery store. And there are people who know rice well. Not me.

At least breakfast wasn’t toast or eggs. It was different and I’m sure it was nutritious. I thought of something for breakfast, and we had a little discussion about it. I hope you don’t think it was weird, but it was a change.

What are you reading, writing, eating, or creating this week?