Berry Burst Cheerios

General Mills earns a 21-yum salute with this latest oat 'n' fruit mixture. There hasn't been an O's variety that I didn't find agreeable to the taste buds (including the jingoistic hokeyness of Team Cheerios -- go Ewe Ess Aye!), and Berry Burst continues the streak of simplistic goodness.

Supplanting Apple Cinnamon as my pick-to-pour, the lip-smacking twist-o'-tradition is spun two ways: Strawberry and Triple Berry. Both are as sweet as my red-headed niece Kelsey, but an irresistible combination of raspberries and blueberries with the former adds a tangy bite to the bowl.

Like all good cereals, Berry Burst can also be savored without the product of cow udders. Whenever I've lacked potato chips to complement my Mom's should-be-famous chicken salad sammiches, O's have substituted nicely as a crunchy side dish. Heck, I'm the kinda guy who likes them ON the sandwich. Weird? Perhaps, though I'm Huey Lewis and a glass of H2O compared to Ally Sheedy and her usual sugar-packeted bread pockets served daily at "The Breakfast Club." At a twist-tie luncheon last Sunday, the salad's blended rawness of celery and onions was counterbalanced by lavishing juices somehow emitted from dehydrated fruit. As expected, the wholesome neutrality of circular grains harmonized with Hellmann's-covered chicken. Give this piece of low-budget culinarity a chance. It sure beats Boca burgers with Beatle Paul.

O's, darling -- Berry Burst fields forever!