Comfort food

Did your mother serve you ginger ale when you were sick? Mine did, so I, in turn, poured it for my children when they were home with an illness. Years later, both admitted that they hated gingerale. They loved, however, the Cream of Wheat, that I trolled out when they had a sore throat or stomach ache.

What is Cream of Wheat anyway? How did they take perfectly wholesome grain and make it white? And why is it so hard to clean the pot post-cooking? Nutritious or not, Cream of Wheat equals a mother's...or daughter's love. I made a creamy white bowl for my mom today as she was down and dizzy with something or other. Beats drugs!

Speaking of ailing mothers, she makes a good case for maintaining one's quadriceps while aging. More on that later.