So I guess January 20th was National Granola Day (as well as Arbor Day for Jewish People and Coffee Break Day). Granola (or granula) is a recent invention of the 19th century to define whole grain foods crumbled and baked until crispy. It was created in a sanitarium. Good to know the crazies were eating healthy-like. In the United Kingdom, granola is known as flapjack, which was weird for me because I probably consumed more British flapjacks while living in the U.K. than I did pancakes, which are strangely not real pancakes, but crepes. Anyway, it doesn’t look like a Granola or Flapjack Museum exists. But there’s plenty of Pancake Museums out there. Also true for Maple Syrup Museums. Go to Canada and Vermont if you’re interested.
The point is that I don’t really eat granola or pancakes for breakfast. I’m a toast person. So lucky for me that Maurice Bennett, “New Zealand’s most renowned artist”, makes abstract compositions and portraits of famous people on pieces of burnt bread. His collection of artwork can be viewed on his website. If anyone ever plans to open a real Toast Museum in the near future, well, I think we have some of the first objects for the permanent collection.
P.S. It’s also the second anniversary of President Obama’s inauguration, so this toast portrait is more than appropriate.
