I'm definitely seeing a trend.

Yep - we're losing the simple things in life. The latest sign that variety is the spice of corporate greed was fired from the Nabisco cannon last week.

The company announced that they would be offering their popular Oreos in two new flavors, due to debut Feb. 3.

Nabisco came up with the popular sandwich cookie back in 1912, and we've been sliding them apart, dunking them in milk and otherwise enjoying them ever since.

I don't snack much on sugary stuff anymore, but I might have to make an exception for the new varieties.

Cookie Dough Oreos just look like they'd be yummy. But hey - everything with cookie dough tends to be that way, am I right?

But the one that really got my attention is the Marshmallow Crispy Oreo. You heard right - an Oreo that tastes like a Rice Krispies treat.

I grew up snarfing Oreos - well, actually the store-brand sandwich cookies, since our family rarely bought anything with an actual name brand on it.

And I didn't seem to mind - they seemed to fill the void and at the time, and as long as they had sugar as an ingredient, they did the trick.

I really don't think that they could come up with a flavor that will trump the good ol' black-and-white Oreo. For me, that was a part of growing up. Maybe for kids these days, a marshmallow crispy cookie will be one of the main things they remember from their youth. Nabisco is counting on it.

I bet you will be astounded to know the flavors that Nabisco has come up with over the years. I counted more than 40 flavors on a couple of different websites. Here are a few of the highlights:

Lemon (introduced in the 1920s), Strawberry Milkshake, Green Tea, Blueberry Ice, Creamsicle, Cool Mint, Rainbow Shure Bert, Banana Split, Berry Burst and Birthday Cake.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Double Stufs, which were great for those of us who just couldn't get enough of the creamy filling. But I was not aware that they actually came out with some "Double Delight" flavors in the mid-80s. These had two fillings in one cookie: Peanut butter and chocolate, coffee and cream, orange and mango, raspberry and blueberry and (in China only) grape and peach.

Hmmm... Grape and peach don't come to mind when you think of flavors that go together. Maybe they know something we don't ...

I guess there are worse things in the world than corporate greed, but none come to mind.

But, hey, we're the schmucks that tend to grab this stuff off the shelves and haul them home and inhale them.

And besides: milk's really not all that tasty just by itself. At least after you've had it with an Oreo.

Jerry Hitchcock once assembled and consumed a 10-inch high stack of Double Stuff fillings between two chocolate cookies, and vowed life wouldn't get any better. He was wrong. You can attempt to reach him at 664-8176, Ext. 2017, or via email at jhitchcock@cdapress.