Crossing the streams

 So, back when the earth as starting to cool and I was growing boy, I ate Oreos. 

Let me rephrase that: I. ATE. OREOS. A lot of them. In my adolescent prime, I would put them away as if they were potato chips. But when I started acting as described in 1 Corinthians 13:11, Oreos came off the menu. Oh, I would continue to buy a small packet on New Year's Eve for a few years, just for tradition's sake, but I eventually stopped that, and besides an occasional nibble at an office pot-luck, America's favorite crème sandwich cookie faded in the rear-view mirror. All of the modern permutations on this classic cookie -- cinnamon, carrot cake, waffle and honey, watermelon - watermelon?! - apple pie, pumpkin spice, fudge-covered, and all the rest -- came and went without tempting me in the slightest.

Until now.

Oreos plus Ritz! There was a bit of a to-do about this on the Internets and I immediately fell into the "I gotta try this" camp instead of the "What the hell are they thinking?" camp as soon as I saw it. Unfortunately, in my excitement, I did not notice that it was an on-line giveaway only, and by the time I course-corrected, they were all gone.

Only one thing to do: it was DIY time. I stopped at Starvin' Sam's, our neighborhood gas station cum mini-mart to get a small supply of the raw materials. I felt lucky to find a packet of Ritz peanut butter sandwiches, because I wanted the full factory-applied peanut-butter-spread experience for more verisimilitude. The Oreos came in a larger package than I had wanted, but I am sure the extras won't go to waste.

The first step was to separate the Oreo sandwiches - and having had long experience with the unscrew it method, this was the work of moments.

I was a little concerned with regard to the Ritz sandwiches, since I did not know the exact adhesion strength of the peanut butter spread. I readied a paring knife in case I needed to do a little cookie surgery, but as it turned out the unscrew it method worked just fine.

After the mismatched pairs were prepared, all that was left was assembly. I was worried when I noticed that the snack-pack Ritz crackers were a little smaller than the standard size, but it was close enough for government work.

Well, they looked passable, but the proof* of the pudding is in the eating. So I did. Eat, I mean.

And I gotta tell ya -- they were great! (I had two, just to make sure.) The salty savoriness of the Ritz half blended perfectly with the chocolate and creme Oreo half. Peanut butter and chocolate going well together is a cliché at this point, and the inclusion of the buttery Ritz and sweet Oreo filling in the mix only added more layers, which all worked well together.

I was fortunate in that both packets had really fresh, crisp cookies -- not only was the flavor combination exceeding pleasing but the whole thing had a great, complex mouth-feel as well, with the slightly cakier chocolate wafer blending with the crunchier cracker as I chewed.

So, we're going to put this one in the W column. Some of those Oreo variations may be pretty wacky, and this combination may have been a publicity gimmick, but dang, it sure tasted good.

*BTW, "proof" in this saying might mean something other than what you think.