I’m a creamy pb man myself. Not picky about the jelly, and I don’t understand the distinction between jelly and jam, if there even is a distinction. Milk is a given. As far as peanut butter and bananas goes, I find it best to just spread the peanut butter directly onto the curved yellowness and enjoy.
And if you’re going to talk about sandwiches that sound disgusting but aren’t, you can’t beat 3 fried eggs, chili sauce and chutney between 2 slices of bread. This actually comes from an episode of Red Dwarf, so I haven’t tried it myself, but I would be most eager to hear the results.
A hastily made, and munchie inspired conconction from the crazy hazy college days:
Lightly toast a cheap hamburger bun, generously apply chunky peanut butter to one side, lightly drizzle some cinnamon on that. To the other side, a friendly application of blackberry jelly. Remove from the freezer a Snicker’s bar, slice thinly, and drop sliced, frozen pieces between the slices.
I’m no culinary when it comes to this. I loves me some Smooth Skippy. Best when applied to a hearty wheat bread. The key however is proportion. You folks sound like the types who dabble the jelly on, I prefer a healthy glob of it on a fine, evenly spread sheet of PB, not too much or else it becomes overwhelming. A nice traditional Grape or Strawberry Jelly, I prefer the smoothness of Jelly over the seeds and chunks in Jam. Apple Butter has it’s place on a warm toasted version with extra coarse grained bread. A nice Rasberry or Blackberry preserve if I’m feeling somewhat epicurious.
The coup de grace, however, is the beauty that is the Fluffer Nutter. I’m amazed no one else has aspoused the kingliness of this treat. Add Banana for a true bounty of flavors in your mouth. Be careful though, if you like the bread toasted, I warn against doing after the sandwhich is made. That fluff turns to runny lava real quick.
Damn, I think I’m going to open a restaruant here in the loop that serves a variety of wonderful PB&J creations. Wish there was one I could go to today.
Jelly is strained as it’s made, producing a translucent product. You can look through a jar of jelly (if the light on the other side is strong enough).
Jam is not strained. It has mashed fruit in it, pretty much consistent in consistency throughout. It is definitely NOT translucent and is, in fact, completely opaque.
I love a nice, creamy PB (I like peter Pan or or Jif, HATE skippy) with my mom’s homemade raspberry or strawberry preserves on white bread. Serve with a nice, tall glass of cold milk.
Jelly is that jiggly stuff you feed to little kids before their taste buds develop (even if they do sell it next to the jam), and jam is made out of FRUIT! (I don’t understand you 'Merkins and your restaurants full of grape jelly. Yuk!) Marmalade is made out of fruit too, preferably Seville oranges, although lemons or ginger are sometimes good.
I prefer natural PB: just peanuts and maybe a little salt. For breakfast I’ll have two slices of toast, one with PB & marmalade and the other with PB & jam, most often raspberry. For lunch, I’d make PB & dill pickle or PB & crisp bacon, maybe either with hot sauce or peppers if I feel like it.
The PB and banana sandwich mentioned above is even better with PB on one side, banana in the middle, and marmalade on the other. Toast or grill if you want.
I eat more PB straight from the jar than I eat in sandwiches. Either way, here’s what I like:
Peanut Butter: Trader Joe’s. I’m particular about this. I want peanut butter, not peanut, sugar/corn syrup, and partially hydrogenated vegetable oil butter. Crunchy Unsalted for me, thanks.
But when I’m making a sandwich, here’s the rest of the package:
Jam/Preserves/etc: Best: my wife’s grandmother makes preserves of all sorts. Guava preserves, kumquat/calamondin marmalade, all sortsa good stuff. Very, very good:Parkesdale’s strawberry preserves. Also very, very good: preserves from Harris Orchards in southern Maryland. Today’s lunch PB&J has some of their peach/apricot preserves.
I’ve tried PB&B periodically, but it just doesn’t do that much for me. Honey’s good, but we generally have a nearly infinite supply of preserves around, so that’s the way we generally go.
Bread: any good bread will do. I strongly prefer breads (usually lightly toasted) that are more bread than air, but if it’s Wonder Bread or nothing, then Wonder it is.
The bread must be soft and white, the peanut butter must be creamy and the jelly must be strawberry preserves. No low sugar versions, please. The preserves must be cold and the peanut butter must be room temperature. That’s my PB & J!
PB&Honey sandwiches are good. Honey Roasted PB & Honey sandwiches are great. Cruncky Honey Roasted PB & Honey sandwiches with a cold glass of milk is downright orgasmic. I think I need more honey at home for this weekend.
Skippy creamy PB for me. I really don’t care what kind of jam or jelly goes with it, but people tend to look at you funny if you have a just peanut butter sandwich, so I’ll add some jam for form’s sake. I like a good hearty wheat bread. The soon-to-be-Mrs. lightingtool introduced me to Peanut Butter on freshly made pancakes, with real (lightly heated) maple syrup on that. The pb gets all melty, and it forms a bit of a barrier to keep the syrup from waterlogging the pancakes. Breakfast perfection.
Last time I flew back east to see my parents, I found Jiff pb on the shelf in their house (the horror!). I asked my Mom about it, and she said Dad wanted Jiff one week, so they switched from Skippy. I still can’t wrap my mind around casually changing brands of pb like some posters change their socks, but to each their own, I guess.
I can attest to glorious goodness of the above referenced sannich! It is soooooooo good!
I still can’t get over the PB and mayo thing though. That’s just…wrong…it just is.
Finally, I’m smooth PB fan myself. Chunky bits just seem to interfere with the “experience”. Especially if it’s an ooey, gooey, toasted PB & jelly or the toasted and then grilled concoction above.
#1**PB ** - Natural, smooth or chunky depending on how the spirit moves you at the store. When home, store upside-down in cabinet. After first use, return to cabinet right side up. After second use, return to cabinet upside-down. Repeat. Thus one is always “mixing” the oil. Cherry preserves. Only Cherry. With the big ol’ hunks of cherry. Refrigerate. Wheat Bread.
#2Single piece of wheat bread. Apply PB horizontally to top of slice. Fold over. Eat. Horizontally folder sandwiches are more filling that silly vertically folded ones. Consume with milk.
Super chunky peanut butter (major label).
Wheat bread.
Polaner all fruit (I suggest the black cherry)
Now all the peanut butter fans do yourselves a favor and buy a jar of Nutella (it’s in the pb&j section). Nutella is chocolate Hazelnut butter and a little goes a long way. Your welcome.
When I have PB&J, I’m not terribly picky. As long as it’s creamy PB and strawberry preserves on white bread, I’m happy.
Of course, sometimes I don’t have the patience or the veneer of civilization to actually make a sandwich. Don’t tell supervenusfreak, but occasionally I’ll just take a butter knife and the pb jar and go to town…
I love PB&J. My favorite way to eat it is to take a big ol’ Mission Whole Wheat Flour Tortilla, slap in the PB & J, and presto, you have a “PB&J Wrap”. Mmmmm. Although lately I’ve taken to slathering my PB & J on Nutrigrain Eggo toaster waffles.
Whatever the medium, though, the PB has to be “all natural” (i.e., no added sugar), preferably crunchy. I don’t like sugar in my PB 'cuz the jelly has plenty of sugar as it is.
Traditionally: Crunchy Skippy, Welch’s Grape jelly, Wonderbread. When I was a kid I loved crunchy peanut butter, but not so much anymore. Alas the peanut bits hurt the inside of my mouth. When we were kids, one of my sister and my favorite things to do was eat crunchy peanut butter off of a spoon. (We also liked white bread and mayonaise sandwiches. What the heck were we thinking?)
Now: I have recently discovered the numminess of All Natural Peanut butter and keep a jar at work to slather on a rice cake for a morning snack. I still like Welch’s grape jelly and keep some on hand, but I also like various less sugary jams. I have also graduated to whole wheat bread. And a tall glass of milk is the best chaser, still. When I am sick my favorite comfort meal is PB&J, Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup (has to be Campbell’s, no substitutes!) and a glass of milk. I get all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it. Ahhhh…
Chunky peaner burr (the chunkier the better).
Seedless blackberry jam (or strawberry preserves, or even orange marmalade).
Oroweat Honey-Wheat Berry bread.
