Flickr/elisasizzle

A dab of Nutella on mini toast

Nutella isn't a health food? But it's made with hazelnuts -- nuts are good for you. And chocolate -- doesn't chocolate contain healthy antioxidants?

Two class-action lawsuits against Ferrero, the maker of Nutella, say the company's claims in a recent TV commercial that Nutella spread on toast makes a healthy breakfast for children went a little too far, according to the New York Daily News. (One suit was for California, where the suit originated, and the other was for hazelnut-spread victims in the rest of the country.)

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It's not just breakfast all day, it's free breakfast all day today at IHOP, which is offering a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes to each guest from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m in honor of National Pancake Day.

In return, diners will be asked to make a voluntary donation to support the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals programs at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and Children's Hospital Orange County. [List of participating IHOPs after the jump.]

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screenshot of Got Milk ad

Recently, actress Salma Hayek was announced as the latest celebrity to be milk-mustached by the Milk Processor Education Program, otherwise known as the "Got Milk" people. Hayek's ads will promote the new The Breakfast Project campaign, which touts milk as key to a good breakfast. In the commercial, Hayek makes an attempt to go straight to the source to get her milk. Which is kind of where we go to for breakfast inspiration: the farmer's market.

According to consumer research firm NPD group, one in 10 Americans skips breakfast, mostly because they don't have the time to prepare it. And although most of us are fully aware of the benefits of the first meal (and second, and fifth...), it can still be a struggle not to run out of the house in the morning on an empty stomach. So in solidarity with Salma, turn the page for our top five quick farmers market-inspired breakfast ideas. (And the video.)

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Julia Turner

The Great Granola Off

Since Monday, after you read our conversation with Andy Bowers, executive producer of Slate's Culture Gabfest podcast, you've probably been wondering, "Who won the Granola Off competition?"

The answer is not Gabfest host Stephen Metcalf.

How do we know this? First of all we listened to the podcast "The Great Granola Showdown" edition (which starts off with June Thomas' not quite convincing argument for the merits of Downton Abbey season two and culminates with a double blind tasting filled with thoughtful chewing, lively debate and occasional slurping noises).

But we also know that Mr. Metcalf did not emerge victorious because we tracked him down last night. At the time he was in Manhattan, having just discovered that his train had been delayed for an hour. Which meant more time to walk us through his defeat in just the way we like it: Unfiltered, gloves off and only half-kidding. (We especially enjoyed the part where he disparages the other entries by comparing them to the sort of collection of dried leaves and flower petals, wood shavings, cinnamon and lavender that you'd find freshening the air in someone's bathroom.) But was the competition rigged? "The results could have appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine," Metcalf insisted. "In that sense it was untainted, although I don't abide by the results."

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Flickr/EvinDC

It beats French toast.

Remember Bill Cosby's classic 1982 routine about feeding his kids chocolate cake for breakfast? It went like this:

"The child wanted chocolate cake for breakfast! How ridiculous! ... And someone in my brain looked under chocolate cake and saw the ingredients: eggs! Eggs are in chocolate cake! And milk! Oh goody! And wheat! That's nutrition! ... And their father said, 'Chocolate cake coming up!!' ... And five children sat at breakfast and the morning music was playing and they were eating chocolate cake and singing songs to me: 'Dad is great! Give us the chocolate cake!'"

Cosby's creative take on the all-important first meal of the day (he gave them grapefruit juice, too!) didn't go over so well with Mrs. Cosby: "The skin and hair split and came off of her face so that there was nothing except the skull! And orange light came out of her hair and it lit all around! And fire shot from her eye sockets and began to burn my stomach! And she said, 'Where did they get chocolate cake from?!?'"

Thirty years later, Cosby's sweet breakfast idea has been vindicated. New research from a study at the University of Tel Aviv has found that eating dessert at breakfast could help promote weight loss for those with a sweet tooth, NASDAQ.com reports.

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jgarbee

Blueberry crumb tart & chocolate croissant at Milo and Olive

Cooking up breakfast in bed for someone -- a baking-heavy repast beyond scrambled eggs and French toast -- is often one of those great weekend ideas that comes to an abrupt halt when you pull out that 4-hour-plus recipe for homemade croissants. These are the times when turning to the best bakery in your neighborhood, say, Milo and Olive, is an obvious yet often overlooked choice for early morning takeout. And as it doesn't involve cooking, whomever is the recipient of your breakfast-in-bed generosity now has absolutely no excuse ("How do I scramble eggs again?") not to reciprocate, a pretty great bonus.

The other bonus of early Saturday morning takeout, in addition to no traffic and that cost-effective dine-at-home appeal: You get to brew your own favorite style of coffee. Right. If you're already getting takeout, why would you want to brew your own coffee?

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Anne Fishbein

the invisible restaurant critic

Dear Mr. Gold:
As a former resident of South Texas, I often miss the unique Texas-style breakfast tacos so ubiquitous there. (I like mine with machacado.) I'm sure you know that these are not the same as breakfast burritos, and are defined well in this article about how New York has "discovered" them. Where can I find them in L.A.?
--Molly Arevalo, via Facebook

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T. Nguyen

Breakfast at Square One Dining

Most days, it's just a cup of coffee. Other days, cereal and milk. And at Pee-Wee Herman's playhouse, it's pancakes, eggs, bacon, and Mr. T's cereal via a nifty Rube Goldberg breakfast machine that involves no less than a few whirling fans, a life-sized model of Abraham Lincoln doubling as flapjack flipper, and a toy skeleton pterodactyl swooping down to drop bread off into the toaster. That Pee-Wee just takes a few bites of this enormously overproduced breakfast before getting on with his big adventure is a testament to how much we love the pomp and circumstance of the most important meal of the day, even if we don't have the time to eat it all.

Which brings us to our list of the ten best breakfast spots in the city. These are our favorite places to spend our mornings when we do have the time to eat it all, when we can linger and contemplate. We absolutely probably left off your favorite neighborhood spot; if it gives you any comfort though, we had to leave off a few of our favorites too, including The Village Bakery and Cafe, The Griddle Cafe, 3 Square, and BLD. Alas. These are the ones we think are worth your time, your money, and your mileage. Rube Goldberg machine optional.

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Rachael Narins

Turkish Breakfast at House

Leave it to the cooks of Turkey to prove how well we really can all get along via a single plate of food. As perfected at House Café on Beverly Blvd., the Turkish breakfast -- kahvalti -- has something for everyone, seemingly from every nearby country. The composed dish has small portions of French style strawberry jam, Bulgarian feta, Greek yogurt, Turkish simit bread, (a sesame seeded toroid of bread) tomatoes with Italian basil, Spanish olives, a softly poached egg and undressed arugula presented with a small carafe of lightly sweet Turkish tea. Unexpected, beautiful, delicious.

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Flickr/Dalboz17

Apple Jacks ranked as the 8th worst kids cereal

According to a new study by the Environmental Working Group, some children's cereals contain more sugar than Twinkies and Chips Ahoy! cookies. The worst offender, Kellogg's Honey Smacks, is nearly a whopping 56% sugar by weight. For the top 10 list of the sugariest children's cereals, click here or head to the jump.

In their review of 84 popular brands, the EWG found that one cup of Honey Smacks (nee Sugar Smacks), Post Golden Crisp (nee Sugar Crisp, Super Sugar Crisp) or General Mills Wheaties Fuel (yes, Wheaties!) has more sugar than a Twinkie. One cup of any of 44 other children's cereals--including Honey Nut Cheerios, Apple Jacks and Cap'n Crunch--contains more sugar than three Chips Ahoy! cookies.

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