Many, many years ago – 30 plus years ago, in fact – I went to college out in California. It was the '70s, certain chemicals might have been consumed. After consuming said chemicals, certain other items might have been consumed, voraciously. One of the best post-chemical snacks ever made was something called Harvest Cookies – a brand name of some sort. They were flat cookies, almost crackerlike in shape (rectangular) and texture, not too sweet, but with kind of a shiny glaze on the top. They used to sell them at the local market. (I still remember one particular evening, when my roommate and I went tearing over to the Village Market to buy Harvest Cookies before the store closed.) Damn, they were good cookies – and I’ve never seen them since. Ever. And since, well, yanno, chemicals were involved, other than the fact that the brand was Harvest Cookies, I had no idea what they were. I’ve thought about them over the last 30 years or so – not in some obsessive, Ahabian, fasion – probably no more than once every three or four years, in fact, but occasionally I’d think “Damn, those were good cookies – I wonder what they were?”
Tonight I decided to swing by the supermarket on my way home to buy dried peas, so I could soak them overnight and make soup tomorrow with the tail end of the ham (with nice meaty bone) my sister gave me the other day. Grabbed some celery and carrots and headed over to the dried legume aisle, which is with the ethnic foods for some really bizarre reason. (What, I’m the only Causcasian of mostly European descent who makes pea soup?) On the shelf with the Chinese foods was a pack of sesame cookies, “with toasted sesame seeds and honey.” For some reason – the fact that it was bright red, perhaps? – the package caught my eye. “Hey,” thought I, “those look like Harvest Cookies.” I picked up the package and examined it more closely. “Damn. Those look a lot like Harvest Cookies.”
Reader, I bought a package.
And yes, reader – they are just like Harvest Cookies.
And best of all, reader – Harvest Cookies are still extremely tasty, even without any chemical preparation for eating them.
Life is good.