Friday, July 9, 2010

PB & J


Do you like peanut butter and jelly?


I happen to ADORE a good old fashioned pb & j, but there are some odd balls out there who do not share my same affection. My sister is one of those odd balls. Thanks to a rather scarring pre school incident involving pb & j for lunch, followed by a spin on the tire swing, she hasn't eaten a peanut butter sandwich since she was 3.

She's 27.

And *I'm* the neurotic one?

Peanut butter makes my life complete. Plain and simple.

When Craig and I met, he would ONLY eat Peter Pan peanut butter, eschewing both Skippy and my favorite, Jif. He ate Peter Pan growing up and therefore it was the best. Hey, I ate carob brownies and frozen peas straight from the freezer as a kid, but that doesn't make me want to eat them now. I honestly had never met anyone so strongly opposed to non-Peter Pan peanut butter brands in all of my life. In the name of marital harmony, I bought Peter Pan. I even bought his favorite creamy variety, leaving my beloved chunky to collect dust on the grocery store shelves. Yes, I could have bought myself some chunky pb, but I'd eat it all way too quickly and then beat myself up over. I know my limits. It's best to have a communal peanut butter jar; that way I'm held accountable for my pb intake.

When Craig was in Kuwait, Peter Pan peanut butter was taken off the shelves due to a salmonella (or e. coli?) outbreak. Since he wasn't home and therefore unable to make retching sounds fun of my beloved Jif, I bought some. And do you know what? Once Craig returned home, he suddenly became a Jif lover.

Heh, heh, heh.

Since Craig's Jif ephiphany, we've also switched to the natural variety of Jif and/ or Skippy. Partially hydrogenated oil is the enemy, after all.

Anyway, my lunch yesterday was reminiscent of the contents of a grade school lunch box: pb & j, pretzels, carrot sticks and a nectarine. All I needed was a Hostess snack cake to complete the meal. Ooh, I love those chocolate cupcakes with the cream filling. You know, the kind where you can peel off the icing in one big layer, fold it in half and then in half again and shove it in your mouth.

I know it's silly to extol the virtues of the humble pb & j, but I just can't help it. Some times simple food makes you happy.




After I ate my sandwich and waxed poetically, I went on a little outing.

But first, I got a hankering for a fountain drink at one of my old favorites: Circle K. We don't have 7-11 in small town Florida, but we have a Circle K. Circle K has great fountain drinks. No Super Big Gulps, mind you, but perfectly acceptable fountain drinks.




This particular Circle K even has Diet Dr. Pepper available at their soda fountain.




Thirst Busters taste even better when they're paid for with money your mom gave you to buy some fish for your dad's dinner.



Busted.

Once my outing was over and my dad's wild, Atlantic cod had been purchased, I came home and made myself a snack.

There really aren't any appropriate words to describe the epic nature of my snack.

All I know is that I'm in trouble now.




How about you? Do you like peanut butter and jelly? If not, what's wrong with you?

Smooth/Chunky? Jam/Jelly/Preserves?

4 comments:

Sissy said...

I like chunky peanut butter and grape jelly. I am not really a pb snob and will eat about any kind, but I really only like grape jelly on pbj sandwiches. Hmm. My mom went through this phase where she made us eat the natural pb from the health food store and it was so thick I did not enjoy it at all. Ugh. I do like the almond butter, but don't like it as much as pb.

Alison said...

The good thing about the Jif or Skippy natural pb is that it's creamy like regular pb. It's not gritty. Natural pb from the health food store isn't very good. In my opinion, pb needs to be a little sweet and a little salty. Life is too short to eat unsalted pb. Similarly, unsalted crackers, chips and pretzels are completely pointless.

I love grape jelly. There is something very comforting about it. Like when you went to breakfast and used the jelly in those little containers with the label that you peel back. Toast with jelly reminds me of my dad. Random.

I love almond butter, too.

Have fun with you bathroom fixin'.

Marcey said...

I like smooth peanut butter, not too picky about the kind, and strawberry or boysenberry jelly mmm. I wasn't a fan of PB&J as a kid, but I discovered I need quick comfort food as a Mom!

Unknown said...

I like Skippy, but no jelly for me. However, PB made me sick when I was pregnant, and it still upsets my stomach, so I haven't eaten it in awhile. I also don't like fruit candy of any kind like jolly ranchers, gummy bears, or starburst. (I know you didn't ask about candy, but somehow jelly and fruit candy is connected in my brain.)