Eating Moth Balls

When I was a kid, I had a favorite treat. Well, I suppose like all kids I had a number of favorite treats.

First came marshmallow peanuts — those artificially banana-flavored, peanut shaped, marshmallow goodies. Known as Circus Peanuts, they were the inspiration for the marshmallow treats in Lucky Charms cereal (a later favorite of mine).

After I ate too many Circus Peanuts one day and I discovered they weren't as pretty or as tasty coming back up, I moved on to Cocoa Krispies. The cereal had the magical power (to me) of changing plain milk to chocolate milk. But I liked them right out of the box. Until, that is, I ate too many and learned that they suffered the same limitations as Circus Peanuts.

I moved on to Froot Loops, which turned the milk into a rainbow, and I was still enjoying my Froot Loops for breakfast when I met Jerry. He stayed with me anyway. We have an old friend who has three bowls of Froot Loops each morning for breakfast. She says this means she starts her day with three servings of fruit (well, maybe she means froot).

SO MUCH TASTIER THAN ACTUAL MOTH BALLS (I'M GUESSING).

Around the same time I discovered Froot Loops, I also discovered "Moth Balls." At least that's what my sister called them. I don't think I knew until I was about 10 years old that what we were eating were actually called malted milk balls and not moth balls. I always thought it was strange that the same thing that made the closets smell so bad could taste so good (simply by being dipped in chocolate). Being much more mature (although, obviously, not the sharpest tack in the box) when I was introduced to malted milk balls, I didn't over-indulge. So, they remain a favorite.

WE GOT ELEGANCE.

As I mentioned in a previous post, my English Family (the tea connoisseurs) were not pleased when they learned I was making my tea in the microwave. Not only did they leave an electric tea kettle behind for our use, but they gave me my very own, elegant Diamond Jubilee "beaker." On their return home they mailed me a box of Maltesers (the English version of malted milk — aka, moth — balls). I boiled a cuppa and opened the box of Maltesers. I'm sure it was exactly like high tea at any of your finer hotels.