refined taste

I don't know if you're a fan of crackers or not, but as far as crispy little baked goods go, Club crackers rank pretty high on the list. They've been a staple in my kitchen for a long, long time. They work especially well with egg salad or cheese of most any kind.

A few years back, the kids started asking if I would buy "The Good Crackers" next time I went grocery shopping. Sure! I assumed they meant would I just replace the good crackers we always have because they had all been eaten. So I brought home more Club crackers.

They never complained, but the next time I was Kroger-bound they asked again, "Please Mommy, would you buy The Good Crackers THIS time?" Sure, my sweet babies! What ARE the Good Crackers? But they couldn't tell me. "You know, they yummy ones!" So I perused the Ritz and the Cheese Nips and the oyster crackers, but decided on Wheat Thins (my personal favorite cracker . . . besides Matthew Shafer). Once home, I asked, "Are theeese what you wanted?" and I waved the yellow box in front of them with a satisfied smile. Two disappointed little faces told me I had not hit my mark.

Some time later I brought home a little sack of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish which cost roughly the same as a 16-oz ribeye. This time I was met with enthusiasm! Yes! Score one for Mommy! Goldfish crackers are practically CANDY to small children. They enjoyed feasting on them for several days.

More weeks passed, and on this occasion, the children were grocery shopping with me. As we strolled down the cookie/cracker aisle, the kids stopped dead in their tracks and stared at the floor. Heaven opened up. All the spot lights in the ceiling swiveled to illuminate the place at my children's feet, and angels began singing "Hallelujah".

"Mommy!!!! The GOOD crackers! Please, please, please!?"

And there, at their feet, were the Saltines.

The good crackers.