Cornflakes

Aunt Lucy and Uncle Alex were constants in my childhood. We traveled to Pittsburgh to visit them every Christmas and Easter, two holidays that are indelibly related to food in my mind. Aunt Lucy was a wonderful cook, from a family of good cooks who all lived nearby and the holidays were a time of good food and lots of company. When Aunt Lucy passed away after what seems to my childhood memory a long painful battle with illness, Uncle Alex soldiered on. When we arrived for our first Easter without her he had valiantly endeavored to cook all the traditional dishes right down to the stuffed artichokes. The food was surprisingly good and even though we all felt the loss of a warm and wonderful presence no one had the heart to say so. As I chewed my way through the artichoke leaves and tasted the garlicky stuffing I noticed something different. "It's cornflakes." he told us proudly. "I used them for the stuffing instead of the bread crumbs for a little something different." These days you can actually buy cornflake crumbs for breading although economy would dictate buying regular cornflakes and crushing them on your own. Alex is currently enchanted with idea of cooking with cornflakes and I am looking forward to seeing what new dishes come of it.