On the opposite end of the spectrum, when my South Georgia born and bred husband was stationed at Fort Drum, some cook from Brooklyn had no idea that grits and cream of wheat weren’t the same thing. As I understand it, there was a phone call placed to an Italian grandmother that weekend, and she explained in rather colorful terms that, basically, grits = polenta and cream of wheat = farina and no idiot grandson of hers was to ever make that mistake again.
Also? Toasted cream of wheat sounds damned good. I toast my rice before cooking - usually in butter or olive oil. Do you add oil to the CoW, or just toast it in a dry pan?
My abula used to make me harina de maiz, cornmeal porridge that always included a stick of cinnamon. I used to use it to mix the milk and sugar in. I haven’t thought of that in years. Yummy!
If I’m going to eat breakfast, I’d rather have most anything than cereal, hot or cold. Some of that is probably due to knowing I should go light on the carbs, so I’d rather have some that I truly enjoy. But honestly, I usually eat first around 10 or 11 AM and a sandwich goes down much better.
Anyway, if I must, cream of wheat or grits…well, preferably coarse yellow cornmeal mush, but whatever. And yes, I will put butter, salt and brown sugar on my grits/mush and I don’t care what you real Southerners think. At times I’ve even eaten a small bowl of grits with S/P, and then another small bowl with brown sugar after, much to the amusement of the in-laws.
Oddly enough, I made fried cornmeal mush tonight, with marinara sauce, Progresso breaded chicken breasts, and those yummy flat green beans. (I cooked the mush yesterday, served some hot to the littl’uns, and poured the rest in a loaf pan so I could slice and fry it today.)
At times I’ve even eaten a small bowl of grits with S/P, and then another small bowl with brown sugar after, much to the amusement of the in-laws.