Tagalongs

Cookies are very important.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

In the world of Girl Scout Cookies, there are really only two kinds that actually matter.  Tagalongs and Thin Mints.  There are a few out there who also pay homage at the purple altar of the Samoa, but I don't think those people have souls.  Coconut is an abomination.  I'm pretty sure it's a texture thing.  A texture and horrible taste thing.  Certainly we can all agree that these three varieties evoke the strongest response in the general population.  I was going to point out that this is probably because these three flavors come in boxes that are the secondary colors, but when I turned up my lights all the way, it looked like my Tagalong box was more red than orange, which is too bad.

Back to the cookies.  I grew up knowing only my mom's cookies.  These are undeniably the best cookies in the world and the only reason I had friends growing up.  As such, we had an unwritten law in my house that banned all commercially made cookies from crossing the threshold.  Oreos are not cookies.  They make great dirt cups and are welcome as a garnish, but they are not cookies.  The exceptions to this rule were Girl Scout Cookies and the cookies from the Meijer bakery.  I don't think we ever bought the Meijer cookies, but it was acknowledged that they tasted good.  Oh.  And the no-bake cookies from the bakery in Pigeon, Michigan.  But we're going to count those as homemade and a class of all their own.  Nothing as good as those cookies has ever been even thought of.  You could tell me that they are made out of lard (which they might be), and I would simply ask for another one. And although these are not large cookies, I don't think I've ever seen a person eat an entire Pigeon no-bake in one go.  Such an action is shunned.  There are a limited number of no-bakes at any given time, and it is every person's duty to make them last as long as humanly possible.  You don't know when you'll see one again.  What you do know is exactly how many parts of a no-bake you, and everyone else, has consumed.  Food of the gods.

This was supposed to be about Girl Scout Cookies.  The point is that cookies are more of a delicacy than something you mindlessly snack on.  Each cookie is an experience.  It takes forever to eat a cookie.  Now, Thin Mints, though very yummy, are not very exciting.  I think they may be one of the only kinds of cookies where I can polish a few off without much thought.  You stick them in the freezer, you take them out of the freezer, and you try not to scarf through a whole sleeve in one go.  They're thin (hence the name), they kind of crumble if you try to break them, and they're not very complex.  Still good.  But the Tagalong.  First of all, you only get 15 to start with, and if Dad gets to them before you, you are screwed.  So you have to make them last.  You have to savor them.  Personally, I like to deconstruct food that probably should be eaten whole.  This includes foods such as soft tacos from Taco Bell, swiss cake rolls, and Ferrero Rocher chocolates, just to name a few.  It also includes Tagalongs.  I am a firm believer that the parts are greater than the sum of its whole, and therefor a Tagalong should be consumed chocolate, peanut butter, and then cookie in order to be truly enjoyed.  That's my view of the matter.