Chewy Goodness

On a whim, I purchased oatmeal cookies on a recent trip to ye olde grocery store.

I am reminded of the oatmeal cookies that I used to purchase from the school cafeteria, particularly if I could buy a nice, fresh one on a morning break. They were roughly twice the diameter of the one above (which is I posted in my hand for context). They were big. And tasty. Certainly a notch above these store bakery cookies although these aren't bad by any means.

When I made my order, the ladies would ask if  I wanted soft one or a hard one. There was never a doubt in my mind — soft and chewy every time.

Apparently, some prefer the harder kind, which I find difficult to fathom. And yet, I am married to a woman who prefers crunch. Until I began to regularly eat lunch with her in my retirement, I didn't realize this odd proclivity, or at least not to its full extent.

It is almost as if crunchy is a taste for this woman o'mine. Whatever the exact taste, if an item is crunchy it stands a good chance of being certified AOK by Sue. Scarcely a lunch goes by without carrots and celery. While, I will reluctantly take a few bits of celery, I don't even want to go near a raw carrot. I don't think it is so much the crunchiness, but I can't abide the taste of an uncooked carrot.

Celery doesn't taste bad, but it is hardly mouthwatering, at least to me. But I swear that, to Beloved, celery almost induces mouthgasms.

Oddly enough, she likes pasta soft, even though we are told that is best cooked al dente. Don't ask me to explain. And I'm not sure she can either.