Marja Puuro (Berry Porridge)
8 c cranberry juice
1/2 c sugar to sweeten.
Bring to boil and then slowly sprinkle in 1 cup of instant cream of wheat with a wisk. Lower the heat, but still let it bubble. Cook for 10 minutes with a lid on.
Now, pour it into a large pyrex type bowl. Place the bowl in a pan of cold water. Beat the mix until it's much lighter in color. My mother used to tell me to stick out my tongue and when it looks that color, it's done. Keep it on the counter top for at least an hour and then serve with milk or half and half and a sprinkle of sugar. It goes especially well with Finnish Pulla bread.
My mother served this combination upon arrival of many guest in our home, especially each time a new group of Mormon missionaries on their way to Finland came to our home for an evening of Finnish cuisine and culture.
Our kids now call this Mummo's Porridge and plain cream of wheat or farina Papa's Porridge because it's what each often made for them when we'd visit. My Dad makes breakfast, so we'd have his then and my Mother did the rest of the cooking, until her health prevented her from her passion of cooking. We still asked her lots of questions while we were making it, since we don't make it too often and wanted to make sure we did it correctly since it was being made for the expert.
Now my kids especially like it on Valentine's Day since it's pink. I didn't get it made this V-Day since I didn't have cranberry juice on hand, so we did it today.
