Sobey's Oatmeal Cookies

By Kevin Williams

When my niece told me she was headed to Canada - Prince Edward Island, specifically - I told her she had one main mission: bring me back some Sobey's oatmeal cookies. And being the resourceful 15-year-old that she is, she succeeded in her mission.

SIGH, perhaps most people would think these are bland. These aren't the soft, chewy Archway oatmeal type cookies. These are small, hard round oatmeal cookies. But they DO pack a nice oaty flavor. Still, I can't help but think the cookie's taste is most about nostalgia than anything else. I remember when I was about my niece's age, taking a trip to Canada with my grandparents. While there, we'd go into Sobey's, a large Canadian grocery chain, and grandpa would stock up on Sobey's store-brand oatmeal cookies. I think he discovered them quite by chance but grew increasingly gung-ho over them. And I'd try them and also find the cookies quite tasty. So any time we were near a Sobey's, grandpa would stop and come out with several packages of Sobey's oatmeal cookies.

My grandpa was a reserved, quiet man and that made it tough to find common ground of things to talk about, but we bonded over those cookies.

So now whenever I am in Canada, I make it a point to head to Sobey's and get some of these oatmeal cookies. The packaging has changed but the cookies, I think they are quite the same. Same strong, delicious oaty flavor. I'll eat some extra for you, Papa! (we never called him Grandpa, always Papa)