Peanut Butter & Jelly

Lucy is down at the beach with her brother and sisters until tomorrow. I thought all her loyal readers deserved to have at least a small article so I decided to write about something I really do know about, peanut butter and jelly.

I started out as an amateur letting my mom do all the work. I have steadily advanced to the journeyman PB&J status. I still depend on Lucy to bake up some home made whole wheat bread; but, other than that I hold my own with the spreading knife. The best way to enjoy the flavor is to lightly toast the sliced bread until golden. The bread should be limber as opposed to stiff or crusty. I prefer plain over crunchy peanut butter; but each to his/her own. The store brands; Peter Pan, Jiff, Skippy are okay, a little on the thin side or you might get lucky and have the stuff we crank out at church which is close to perfection. ( just a slight plug there for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ) As soon as the toast comes out slap some peanut butter on it and let the natural heat melt it. This is to be an open face slice rather than sandwich style so that the flavor reaches your tongue quicker. Follow this with your choice of jelly; my preference would have to be blackberry, jelly or preserves depending on the angle of the sun coming through the window, the relative humidity and the alignment of the planets.

If you can’t get Lucy to come over and bake you a loaf of fresh whole wheat bread then you might try some of those heavy weight store bought varieties, Oro-Wheat and Nature’s Grains come to mind as having reasonably good texture; but it needs to be the heavy stuff, the regular sandwich slice is almost a total waste of effort. I’ve even had peanut butter and jelly on left over garlic bread from the spaghetti dinner the night before; it took a little getting used to but it really was pretty good. Garlic bread, or any of the pre-buttered varieties need to be nuked in the microwave for 12-15 seconds rather than putting it in the toaster; butter leaking down the sides would be a disaster.

For a quick meal on the run when a call comes in before you are ready to enjoy a leisurely breakfast, make it sandwich style and eat it while driving down the street, keeping it level so as not to drip any jelly. The preferred beverage would have to be chocolate milk; Ovaltine for you health nuts. Now, go out and practice your technique and be creative. ( Lucy will be home soon, I promise ) TF