# Goober Grape. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2019, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345 "2019-01-24T19:31:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/21 "2019-01-25T10:36:28Z")
Another vote for Goober Grape, straight out of the jar! Yum! One of my few pleasant memories from junior high days. :o ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/22 "2019-01-25T13:13:40Z")
To me, the definitive PBJ is with strawberry jam. And you have to put a thin coat of peanut butter on both slices of bread to hold the jam in and keep it from soaking through, so they have to come from separate jars. > [@](#): > > Quoth **Beckdawrek** : > > I like jam better than jelly, anyday. I make mulberry jelly from my mulberry tree every year. It’s not real good with peanut butter. It’s best on biscuits or toast. True, but most Americans don’t even know what the distinction is between jelly and jam (jelly is just juice, but jam has chunks of solid fruit). And mulberry jelly sounds like a lot of work for not much flavor-- They’re pretty much just generically sweet. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/23 "2019-01-25T13:23:28Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Smuckers “Uncrustables” frozen PBJ…sorta snadwhiches? Yeah. But they have a chocolate hazelnut version, which is basically po’ man Nutella. Eat 'em while still half-frozen for an almost ice-cream effect. However, they are basically a treat or dessert for me. The idea of handing one to a child and calling it “breakfast” is appalling. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/24 "2019-01-25T14:13:06Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Smuckers “Uncrustables” frozen PBJ…sorta snadwhiches? The good thing about them is they start out frozen; pull one out & it’s thawed when you want to eat it hours later but hasn’t had those hours to sog up the bread. Either to give to a school kid for lunch; they’re also big in the ultra (long distance) running community. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/25 "2019-01-25T14:36:10Z")
The main thing I remember about Goober Grape is how difficult it was to spread: peanut butter and jelly are so different in consistency the mix tended to congeal. Plus, is putting PB and J so hard to do in the first place? Much like microwaveable mac and cheese, you’re simplifying something pretty basic in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/26 "2019-01-25T14:58:15Z")
I’ve happily eaten PB&J sandwiches with apple cider jelly, which probably had a touch of cinnamon. I came in to mention the nastiness of purple ketchup, but I see that’s been covered… How about the attempt to combine candy with a sugary drink in the form of Orbitz? There was one girl in my sixth grade class who claimed to like the stuff; I never tried it for fear of choking on the candy blobs. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/27 "2019-01-25T15:11:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > To me, the definitive PBJ is with strawberry jam. And you have to put a thin coat of peanut butter on both slices of bread to hold the jam in and keep it from soaking through, so they have to come from separate jars. > True, but most Americans don’t even know what the distinction is between jelly and jam (jelly is just juice, but jam has chunks of solid fruit). And mulberry jelly sounds like a lot of work for not much flavor-- They’re pretty much just generically sweet. I use jam instead of jelly. Jam doesn’t have hunks of fruit it’s just way more flavorful. Preserves have the hunks. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/28 "2019-01-25T15:16:16Z")
Preserves is a general term which includes jam, jelly, and fruit butter. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/29 "2019-01-25T15:29:25Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > I’ve happily eaten PB&J sandwiches with apple cider jelly, which probably had a touch of cinnamon. > > I came in to mention the nastiness of purple ketchup, but I see that’s been covered… How about the attempt to combine candy with a sugary drink in the form of Orbitz? There was one girl in my sixth grade class who claimed to like the stuff; I never tried it for fear of choking on the candy blobs. You wouldn’t choke on orbitz – those balls were more gel than solid. Orbitz was awful, but NOT for the obvious reason of “it’s got chunks floating in that.” The balls were pretty much nothing. Instead, it was just a bad beverage. Cloyingly sweet and really artificial tasting, like a much worse version of one of those Frutopias or SoBes that were popular at the time. Man, beverages in the 90s were so odd. So many syrupy, fruit-flavored, non-carbonated drinks… ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/30 "2019-01-25T15:38:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Preserves is a general term which includes jam, jelly, and fruit butter. In US marketing terms, though, a product called jam will usually have fruit smashed or cooked down to a uniform-ish paste, whereas a product called preserves will usually have distinct lumps of chopped or whole fruit. It’s not a technical term, but it’s a pretty common distinction for grocery store products. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/31 "2019-01-25T17:37:38Z")
Brian Regan on PB & J in the same jar: [“I mean, I’m lazy, but…”](https://youtu.be/p12-f_opwL4) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2019, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/32 "2019-01-26T00:20:47Z")
Heh. A friend of mine went on a x-country ski hut trip with friends in Colorado (these ‘huts’ are actually very nice dwellings with wood stoves, solar power, beds, etc). Food is often a high point of the trip. All to share. Amazing what you can do with a dry salami, some spaghetti, olive oil, cheese and spices. Anyway, at the last minute he realized he needed to bring food (oops). Poor guy held the nickname of ‘Goober’ for many years. ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/33 "2019-01-26T21:17:46Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > The peanut butter poll reminded me of this product. It’s a mix of peanut butter and grape jelly. It is possibly the most inedible thing I’ve ever spent a $1.99 on. The kids insisted and it seemed like a good idea. Nope. Didn’t work out. At. All. > Anymore products like this? I remember this. At the time this came out I also had a bottle of peanut butter and mayonnaise mixed in the same jar. I rarely complain about food but this was truly horrific stuff. Can’t find it with my googling skills today but the internet does show that PB and M was a trendy thing back then. As I recall it wasn’t the combo that made it horrific its that neither the PB nor the M tasted good regardless of what they were combined with. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2019, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/34 "2019-01-26T21:46:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > …True, but most Americans don’t even know what the distinction is between jelly and jam (jelly is just juice, but jam has chunks of solid fruit). And mulberry jelly sounds like a lot of work for not much flavor-- They’re pretty much just generically sweet. The difference between jelly and jam is that, much like the quality of mercy, jam is not strained. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/35 "2019-01-29T14:09:38Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > You wouldn’t choke on orbitz – those balls were more gel than solid. It would have been a texture issue for me. Along the same lines, does anyone remember the “liquid candy” fad? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/36 "2019-01-29T14:37:47Z")
> [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](#): > > I remember this. At the time this came out I also had a bottle of peanut butter and mayonnaise mixed in the same jar. I rarely complain about food but this was truly horrific stuff. Can’t find it with my googling skills today but the internet does show that PB and M was a trendy thing back then. As I recall it wasn’t the combo that made it horrific its that neither the PB nor the M tasted good regardless of what they were combined with. Peanut butter and mayonnaise?!?!?! That doesn’t even sound like it could be appealing - and this from the guy who thinks (thought) peanut butter goes with everything. Hell, I used to eat peanut butter, bologna and cheddar sandwiches for cryin’ out loud. I put peanut butter on cornbread. But PB and mayo mixed? Not even I. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/37 "2019-01-29T16:13:37Z")
Agreed that peanut butter and mayo makes no sense whatsoever. If nothing else, they’re both fats. Fat and sugar, like PBJ, makes sense. Fat and fat doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/38 "2019-01-29T17:41:58Z")
I’ve heard mayonnaise is great for making grilled cheese sandwiches. You spread it on the outside, instead of butter, before grilling the sandwich. I’ve never done it but I’d be willing to give it a try. But I don’t see myself combining mayonnaise with peanut butter. And I remember Goober Grape from back when I was a kid. And it was terrible. The peanut butter was really dry and the jelly was runny, so they didn’t spread well. And the flavor was not that great. It was a poorly executed gimmick. I also remember Koogle. As I recall, it wasn’t as bad as Goober Grape but it didn’t replace peanut butter so it couldn’t have been all that great. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/39 "2019-01-29T18:00:54Z")
PB+J - I like goober fine - should be put on “Golden Honey” buns. PB+H - and here lately, I’ve been using “[Mike’s Hot Honey](https://mikeshothoney.com/)” (its honey infused with chiles) - its surprisingly good. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345/40 "2019-01-29T22:45:29Z")
I remember eating [Libbyland TV Dinners](http://gbnfgroceries.blogspot.com/2012/03/from-frozen-foods-dept-libbyland.html) when I was a kid. This website makes them sound horrible, but I recall kind of enjoying them as a squirt. EXCEPT… Each meal came with a packet of “Magic Milk Crystals.” I don’t remember all the flavors, but I think they were mostly fake, sugary fruit flavors like grape and strawberry and such. And to a kid raised on Nestle’s Quik, they were _disgusting_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goober-grape/828345.md?page=3)