misc thoughts on food

pickles. i used to hate pickles. i always picked them off my burger and gave away the ones that came with my sandwiches. i could never shake the thought that i should like them. i love cucumbers and vinegar and salt (loooove salt and vinegar chips). and pickles are basically just cucumbers soaked in salt and vinegar. i also associate pickles with sauerkraut and i eat that stuff right out of the jar. a few months ago i decided to eat the kosher pickle that came with my sandwich and the jewish deli. and it was delicious! i keep a jar of little kosher pickles in my refrigerator now and pull them out for snacks. the best part about pickles is that i don't immediately think of them when i want a snack. so when i open the frig to see what i have in there, i'm always pleasantly surprised to see the pickles and remember that i now love them.

oatmeal / raisin / walnut / choc chip cookies i'm on a continual quest to perfect my cookie recipes and i discovered a fantastic one last week. smitten kitchen eliminates some of the sugar found in the quaker oat recipe and only uses brown sugar. i made the recipe as listed with about 1/4 bag of choc chips. the best part about these cookies is that they're crispy on the outside and soft / gooey /chewy on the inside. i even convinced my "i hate raisin" coworkers to try them and they declared them "the best cookies i've ever made". but they say that about every new recipe i try. i think it's their strategy to get me to bring them new baked goods every week.