Remember Hydrox? AKA "kosher Oreos?" Well, after a long hiatus, these chocolate sandwich cookies are back for a limited time in honor of their 100th anniversary. The Kellogg Company, which produces Hydrox, have launched an "America's biggest Hydrox fans" essay contest, with a grand prize of a trip to New York and a six-month supply of cookies. The contest ends July 14; see Hydroxcookies.com for details.

Personally, I'm thrilled. Growing up in a Jewish, though non-kosher, house, there was always a jar of Hydrox in the pantry. My mother, a native New Yorker, simply preferred the soft, appealingly grainy creme and firmer cookie of her own childhood snacktimes to the slightly larger Oreo. Eventually I too came on board. Now, with Hydrox gone, I sometimes try to substitute various "organic" sandwich cookies and Trader Joe's Joe Joe's. But they're never the same!

Are you an Oreo person or a Hydrox person? I guess I should change that to "were" because the Hydrox cookie is no more.

Now, this might not be news to everyone, since it happened in 2003! But Kellogg's was so low-key about it that a lot of people simply didn't realize it (besides hardcore Hydrox fans, of course). The Wall Street Journal investigated and found out that it was discontinued five years ago after the company realized they couldn't compete with Oreos. The interesting thing is that several people still say they see them once in a while, in stores and on airplanes.

I have to admit that I'm an Oreo person, and I think the reason why I never bought Hydrox was because I just thought they were a knockoff and tasted like Oreos. Now I wish they'd come back so I can try them again. Supposedly the cream in the middle was less sweet?