Sometimes It Takes Me a While to Follow-Up. Kinda.
A really long time ago I mentioned that my dear sweet husband, despite being really good at many things, really sucks at making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It's true, and I still stand by those words. He and I ended up in quite the debate over the topic, so I decided to do the only logical thing and ask the internet: Where does the jelly go? Should it be spread directly on top of the peanut butter or does it get a slice of bread all to itself?
I learned a very valuable lesson from that little poll. There are WAY too many people making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches wrong. While the jelly should be placed directly on the peanut butter so as to avoid any absorption by bread, it seems that 61% of poll participants do not understand the important things in life. They're all doing it wrong.
OK, so, I'm doing it wrong, too.
See, it turns out that there was a previously unknown-to-me method to the madness. It's GENIUS. The peanut butter goes on both slices of bread, and a lovely goop of jelly goes in the middle. I have since made a sandwich in exactly that manner and I declared it a work of art. Perfect. Spectacular. Truly the right way to do things.
Anyway, the reason I never posted the correct answer to the question was because I was curious to know: What would Alexis do? She has witnessed incorrect sandwich making methods her entire short life and only recently set out on her own. I wanted to know what path she would select. It took a while, but I finally managed to capture Alexis' response to the debate.
Without any prompting from me, here are the steps to creating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, according to Alexis:
1. Slap two pieces of bread down. (The plate is apparently optional as I had to make that minor suggestion.)
2. Peanut butter. Lots and lots and lots of peanut butter.
3. Clean the knife. Make sure to do it in a manner that will cause your mother to cringe.
4. Show your mother why she keeps finding crystallized peanut butter in the jelly jar. (Sorry I blamed you, Mr. Husband.)
And now for the moment of truth . . .
THAT'S MY GIRL!
5. Slap some jelly right on top of the peanut butter. YEAH, BABY!
6. Crush your mother's spirit.
HOW COULD SHE? I have to think that little shout-out to Dad was because she needs to keep him on her good side if she wants him to continue being her fruit snack dealer.
7. Slap the bread slices together as your mother goes off to cry The Ugly Cry because she has failed to teach you how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich the RIGHT way.
Alexis, the peanut butter goes on both slices of bread. Next time, get it right. Otherwise, I'll have to continue making my own sandwiches.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Reader Comments (22)
I just can't believe she is old enough to make her own PB&J. Have I really been reading your blog that long?? oh man.... Anyway, can't wait to try these out someday, I don't really get good PB&J at school, they have sucky bread.
ingrate! seriously!
but you can't go by me. a peanut-allergic kid turned me into a peanut-butter-first-and-then-get-another-clean-knife-to-scoop-the-jelly mom. that way, we didn't contaminate the jelly (which he COULD eat) with stray peanut butter (which he COULDN'T).
we all have to make sacrifices.
My kid won't touch jelly so the problem is never an issue for me. The kid is some kind of purist. Put jelly on peanut butter? You must be insane! (at least according to him.)
My kids don't like PB&J anymore! The horror! But they can make a mean cheese sandwhich :)
Yeah, so it's"sandwich" but you knew that :)
Pfft. BB won't eat jelly. "It's slimy!"
But I like your peanut butter on both and jelly glooped in the middle idea. Might try it with LB.
Peanut butter and jelly? Ugh! Shudder! I have never been able to understand why people ruin good peanut butter by putting (yuck) jelly on it. At least I see you're using something other than grape jelly, which is an abomination all by itself.
Proper companions to peanut butter include, but are not limited to:
- nothing else
- honey (try one of the dark honeys)
- zesty garlic dill pickles (try it with a drop of tabasco, it's lovely) (honest! it's good!)
- sliced banana (good, but perhaps not worth the work)
I've heard that PB with a really mild vidalia or mayan-sweet onion is good, but I've never tried it myself.
And for a change, there's always ants on a log, i.e. a celery stalk filled with PB and garnished with raisins.
Meant to add to the last comment:
The right way to eat jelly is on melted cheese on toast. Start with toast, slice some extra sharp cheddar on top, put that in the toaster oven (*) just long enough that the cheese starts to melt, and then dab a bit of jelly on top. Blueberry or strawberry is best.
(*) If you don't have a toaster oven, the microwave sortof kindof works for melting the cheese.
@Karl - here's another weird but wonderful complement to PB ---> cheddar cheese! YUM! I love it. I eat it that way more often than with jelly.
And my husband agrees with you (and apparently so does my kid). PB should be by itself. My husband once took his mother to task for sending a PB&J to school for him - "why did you ruin my sandwich?"
I stayed out of the original controversy because I can't even remember the last time I made a PB&J sandwich. But after reviewing the evidence, I have to agree with you. I never liked it when the jelly soaked through the bread. And I love the double-sided PB ploy. Perfect solution.
I've made it all ways. One that is most delicious, even if it looks like vomit, is to mix the peanut butter and jelly and THEN spread it on the bread. Perfect combination of both.
I love the shots of Alexis with her tongue sticking out. That's some intense concentration.
I like peanut butter, and I like jelly, but I have NEVER liked them together. Most of the time it was turkey or bologna or salami sammiches in my lunch bag, but on the days where we were out of lunch meat at home, it was peanut butter and butter for me.
I guess I'm a genius because I thought you put PB on both slices and the jelly in the middle too. It's the only way to keep the jelly from getting into the bread when you pack a lunch and eat it later. Alexis however, is a true diplomat, putting jelly on both sides. How cute!
I was a PB on both slices kinda guy for a while, and still recommend this method if the sandwich is to be stored for a while/transported, as it obviously prevents the jelly from sogging up the bread. But, if I am making a sandwich to consume immediately, I like apply PB to one slice, jelly to the other, then assemble. I like the way the texture of the bread "grabs" at the jelly to help pull it off of the knife.
It's awesome that she can make her own sandwich! Just a shame she had to shred her mother's heart in the process. ;-)
Love her sweater! (And the tongue out in the last picture during assembly.)
Oh, and I meant to add: None of this matters with Abby right now - she used to like PB&J quite a bit, but lately, she just likes jelly bread. NO PB for her! Hopefully she'll come around soon.
I've recently been told that I should toe the line while offering my points of view so I will do that here. Although my side of this argument is floating around the internet somewhere.
What you need to do is toast that sammich like you're making grilled cheese. Butter up the outside and plop in onto a nice hot skillet. Once that peanut butter is all ooey gooey and the jelly was warmed up you'll be searching for a nice ice cold glass of milk to drown your food induced joy.
True story.
Also, ATTA GIRL ALEXIS!
She is TOO cute.
I hate mixing the PB&J in the jars. The Great Indoors has a solution to this that my husband WILL actually use. It is a spatula with two ends - one brown, one purple. Brown for the PB jar - purple for the jelly jar. GENUIS!!! We put them in all of our families stockings this past Christmas!!
these pictures need scrapbooked. seriously! They are way too cute!
Peanut butter on both sides?!?! Brilliant.
Love these pics!!!
Hilarious! So cute!
I 86 the jelly altogether and have passed this tradition down to my children. I also do not put it on both sides. That induces gagging. * insert 4th grade lunch table memory*
xoxo
supah
She has it a leetle right: she's putting *something* on both pieces of bread. Unfortunately, it's the jelly.
Also, am I the only person who will eat pb sandwiches and jelly sandwiches, but not pb & j?