Peanut Butter Cookies

What kind of American kid doesn’t like peanut butter cookies? I was concerned when Luca spat his out the other day and acted as though I’d tried to feed him a hunk of tree bark (which actually, I could totally see him eating). I can accept many things. Throwing your water bottle repeatedly on the floor and then expecting it to be promptly returned to you, chewing up food, only to then remove it from your mouth and hand it to me magnaminously as though bestowing precious jewels. Gross, but fine. Inserting mysterious objects into the every conceivable orficice in stereo. I can live with that (but only because it’s 2011 and I’m not quite sure why we even still have a stereo.) But not liking peanut butter cookies would not be okay. I already live with two people who don’t like chocolate (“Papa and I prefer white chocolate Mommy”), so I don’t think I can tolerate any more freakish dessert inclinations.

Luckily, Luca has since come around and decided that peanut butter cookies actually pretty excellent. I made a batch this week to take to culinary school tomorrow. Most of the people in my class are from Spain, but those who aren’t often bring in treats from their native countries. I imagine that they all expect me to show up with a bunch of Happy Meals when it comes time to share my own cultural culinary traditions. On the contrary! I have decided to bring peanut butter cookies because they are undeniably American and undeniably yummy.

I took one over to my Catalan friend Oscar this morning though, and he told me that although the flavor was good, la verdad was that they’ve got a bit too much fat for him. Too much fat? Isn’t that kind of the point of a peanut butter cookie?

Then he launched into the typical Spanish spiel about the glories of the Mediterranean Diet. And yes, I know all about that, I’ve heard it before (many times actually). Even so, how can a guy who comes from a country where it’s perfectly normal to deep-fry an egg, complain about “too much fat”?

I’m wonder what they’ll make of them in class?

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-Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell