Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Samoas

Coconut is of the devil. Just ask my college roommate. I used to remind her often. It became a thing where she responded, often when it had nothing to do with anything, "That's because you don't like coconut."

Anyway, I used to maintain that belief wholeheartedly. It could just burn in the underworld right along with onions as far as I was concerned. Unlike onions, however, it was the coconut's texture that was at fault.

My college cafeteria made these delicious little macaroon thingymabobers and they were to die for. So, as I popped them like peanuts, I decided that coconut was of the devil in all matters except bite sized macaroons. Even coconut deserved a little gray area. Life is just not always black and white.

My husband was approached by a girl in our church selling Girl Scout cookies. He bought two boxes. Unbeknownst to him, I was approached by a different girl in our church. I bought four boxes. (You can tell which of us has the greater sweet tooth, no?) So, with a total of six boxes in our house we won't be buying cookies for awhile. Troy bought a box of Tagalongs because he knows they are my favorite and he knows I won't buy them because they are a total rip off. You get like three cookies for the same price as several dozen trefoils (which I will always think of as "Scotties"). He also bought a box of Samoas, for himself. I gagged as is often my reaction to things covered in coconut coming into my house. I bought two boxes of Thin Mints, a box of "Scotties" and a box of...Tagalongs. I know. I was horrible. I looked at that little order form and I could not resist the pull of those peanut butter patties. So now we have two boxes of cookies that I can easily consume in one sitting. Don't make the mistake of thinking I'm kidding. My mom and I did it once. But the Tagalongs are not the subject of this post.

I just frolicked around in the pantry a bit looking for a small sweet snack. The box of Samoas was open. I was desperate. Also, aside from the desperation, I wondered when, if ever, I'd actually tasted one. I pulled the box down off the shelf. I looked at it. I pondered it. I opened it. I held a coconut covered cookie in my hand. And then I shoved it into my mouth.

WHY HAVE I BEEN MISSING OUT ON THESE FOR ALL THESE YEARS? It was just like those stupid macaroons. You could barely taste the coconut and, if you could get past the texture (I could!) the cookie was amazing. What does this mean for my future? Do I need to reevaluate where coconut comes from? Does it actually come from tropical places and not hell as I previously believed?

And you know what else, I've been cooking with onions more. They still have to be fully cooked for me to appreciate them on any level but what is going on? Are my taste buds changing? Is it old age? I am, after all, only 18 months away from thirty. (Wow. I only just now realized that fact and I do not like it.) Anyway. Protect your Samoas. Someone who's spent a lifetime not knowing what she was missing is on the loose.

15 comments:

  1. for me its totally the texture of onions. They were the food that could burn in the underworld until I found that I really like the flavor of them. I totally think my brain has grown up enough to be able to cook with them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I, too, was scared of coconut. Maybe that's why my mom's favorite candy was Almond Joy and Now&Later's- her kids didn't like them and wouldn't steal them! And lest you offend, to be PC you must now call them Caramel DeLites so you don't upset any Samoans. Love your writing- praying for your little family.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I thought that the fact we ate an entire box was our little SECRET!!! Did you seriously just post it on your blog for the entire world to read? Oh well, they were good and if you lived here, I'd be tempted to invite you over for a repeat. Love you even if you can't keep a secret.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love coconut, but that's really beside the point, which is that I REALLY love Somoas. Once when Matt and I were in college one of the Marine's in ROTC was selling girl scout cookies for his daughter. Matt told me he'd ordered a box of thin mints and some peanut butter something or other and I was like "WHAT ABOUT THE SAMOAS!?!?!" and then proceeded to have a total fit.

    A few weeks later the cookies arrived and Matt was told that in addition to his original order he had like 8 boxes of Samoas to pay for. Apparently the marine had heard my hissy fit and proceeded to order the cookies on Matt's behalf, knowing full well that Matt would pay for them all rather than endure another of my temper tantrums. YUM!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Im glad you've discovered the wonderfulness of Samoas!
    I brought a few to school with me for a snack today, and my students were overjoyed to find out that I had the same snack as three of them did.

    ReplyDelete
  6. But it says "Samoas" on my box. I know this because I had to check the box before I wrote the blog. Up to this point I had always referred to them as Coconut Yuckies (or some other equally mean name). I checked in to the Samoa v. Caramel delite debate and discovered the there are two distributors for Girl Scout Cookies. One distributor calls them Samoas and the other calls them Caramel delites. There is more info here: http://andrewsinclair.org/archive/samoas_v_caramel_delites.htm

    But maybe I'll just start calling them "The Cookie Formerly Known As Coconut Yucky."

    ReplyDelete
  7. hahahahahaha

    i feel the same way about samoas, but they have been my favorite forever.

    you wont stop craving them ever.

    welcome to the get your paws off me samoas club!

    ReplyDelete
  8. SAMOAS ROCK! sadly now that i live in africa I can no longer get them. But they are by far the best girl guide cookie ever!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ok... so I laughed out loud at the "But that's because you don't like coconut" because I had TOTALLY forgotten about that... and it really made my day!
    Can we go back to college for a while? I mean... I love my life now... but it would be super fun to go back for a bit!
    Glad you are expanding your taste horizons... not about onions though!

    On another note... I have had three major taste awakenings in my life... things I hated and now love... Clam chowder, sour cream and bell peppers... your taste buds do change... as they die you can tolerate more foods! Haha!

    ReplyDelete
  10. My dear sweet Lori welcome to the dark side :) Jeremy wants me to mention I have plenty of those sinful things sitting in the other room

    ReplyDelete
  11. My tastebuds have changed too! I used to hate onions as much as the next girl (and by that I mean my college roommates :) )... but in the last couple of years I have started to like them quite a lot IF they're cooked really well. I now cook with them all the time. It's crazy. (Still don't like them raw.)
    Of course, I always liked coconut... Glad to hear you're coming around to it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. They are even better if you freeze them first. Just a helpful hint when you're choking them down. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. A few things:
    They are called Carmel Delights here.
    Your tastes buds do indeed change (approximately every 7 years, but you might not know it until you try something)

    AND:
    You should try them frozen.
    Oh yeah, you should.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Frozen IS yummy! Samoas and Thin Mints always had a hallowed spot in our freezer when i was a kid.

    Oh, and when my Auntie PMS comes to town, I betcha I could eat you under the table with cookies. Let's try it next month! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Agreed! I love the smell of coconut & anything that has the FLAVOR of coconut, but if it has ACTUAL coconut on/in it, barf!

    But Samoas are tolerable and I'm sure it has alot to do with all that chocolate & caramel.

    ReplyDelete