I have a certain love for Oreo cookies, as I think befits a working class “you’re going to college and going to be middle class” kid of the Fifties and Sixties. No, we weren’t raised to be gourmets. We were raised to have good table manners, to know what to do with the more unusual utensils seen only at the rare “really formal” meals, such as at weddings and Christenings. (And maybe, sometimes, Easter. But not Thanksgiving or Christmas, where the point was to enjoy the food, not show off one’s higher skills.)
The food itself, in our family, had its roots solidly in the peasant cultures of Sicily, Ireland, France, French Canada, Poland…. Okay, it was varied, to a point.
And then there were snacks. Only my two grandmas held the hard line against buying snacks rather than baking them. My mother and aunts were, as my Sicilian grandma had predicted, Americans. Oreo cookies were a favorite throughout the extended family. We learned to love them in their classic form–two chocolate wafers, with a vanilla creme filling. I’m sure there was never any real vanilla in that filling; this was empty calories for the masses.
Eventually, of course, there were innovations. Golden wafers. Double stuffing. Novelty colors for major holidays. Well, holidays. For the start of spring.
At the right time of year, Oreos are now quite colorful.
But this year, something quite wonderful came along. A new novelty Oreo! Something designed to tempt me personally. Because, you see, in addition to Oreos, I also love chocolate. Especially if I can put more chocolate on it. And then more on that.
