This is probably the dumbest epiphany I’ve ever had, but hey, it’s Christmas. Enough with the serious stuff (for now)….

When I was a kid, I loved these things:

If you’re Asian, there’s a good chance you’re familiar with these snacks. If you’ve never had them, they’re called “egg rolls,” but they’re nothing like the deep fried pork-and-vegetable rolls you get at Chinese restaurants. No, these are cookies, plain and simple. Rolls and rolls of sweet flaky, buttery goodness. I used to eat them straight over the tin, because they’re so crumbly and messy.

Well, just now, I was rummaging through our leftovers, and I started picking through this tin of shortbread left over from our Christmas party:

Since I was too lazy to grab a plate or napkin, I ate a few cookies straight over the tin, and that’s when a wave of nostalgia hit me. All of a sudden, I was an eight-year-old kid again, scarfing down half a tin of egg rolls. And then I realized the nostalgia didn’t just come from the act of eating the cookies. It hit me because the two snacks are the exact same thing.

Egg rolls are… shortbread cookies.

Shortbread cookies are… eggrolls.

Two completely separate snacks, from two countries on opposite sides of the world, and they’re exactly the same.

So there you have it. Baked flour and butter are universal for delicious.

See? I told you it was a dumb epiphany. Now, back to my shortbread.