Saturday, May 1, 2010

PB & J(ust about anything)

I have always loved peanut butter. My last two years in high school as a vegetarian, I brought a peanut butter sandwich to school every day. (No jelly: I didn't want to bread to get soggy.) Later, when I was broke one summer during college, I experimented with peanut butter and dorito sandwiches. (Good jelly was out of my budget; I needed that money for beer.) When I gave up being a vegetarian, I dabbled with peanut butter and bacon. (Don't knock it til you've tried it.) A few years ago I introduced my friend Bettina to peanut butter and banana sandwiches when we were hiking through the jungles of Costa Rica. (I like to think she's spread the craze around Germany since her return.)

Crunchy, creamy, natural, decidedly not natural -- I love peanut butter in all its forms. (Well, except the low fat variety. I mean, come on.) Clearly I have been supporting the peanut butter manufacturing industry for some time.

On the bikeable feast, I've been working local ingredients into the peanut butter sandwich experiments. Blueberries right off the bush on my way through Concord, NH. Homemade kumquat jam from Jen's mom in Catalina, AZ. Steamed cabbage at Yochi's in Eugene, OR. (Okay, actually I didn't eat that one, but Yochi swears it's delicious.) With honey, with nutella, with the classic raspberry preserves or apricot jam. On sprouted bread, bagels, pita pockets, croissants, even those little melba toasts.

Today, in a moment of misguided fervor, I tried my first peanut butter and avocado sandwich. Um. Yeah. It was lacking in a little something, namely the ability to detach from the roof of my mouth. A water bottle and a half later, I've finished swallowing and decided it's high time to solicit some new ideas. I mean, variety is the spice of life, no?

This is where you come in, readers. I know you're out there -- I've been peeking at the google analytics stats every so often -- and I need your help. I'll be picking up food supplies soon for the next leg of the journey. Your assignment: send in a recipe for your favorite peanut butter [& something] sandwich. Actually, you know what, it doesn't even have to be peanut butter, just a sandwich that's tasty and relatively easy to assemble on the road. In fact, it might be nice to have a PB&J reprieve. When I get to New Orleans in about a week, I'll see what's been submitted and choose a winner, to whose home I will send a little cajun care package....

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

9 comments:

  1. OK this is not my favorite,, but Gary does like PB with Mayo and sliced raw onions

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  2. PB and honey! Can we enter more than once? ;^)

    -Sean

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  3. A favorite of mine in college was PB and raisins-protein and iron all in one tasty whole wheat package! Carrots dipped in creamy peanut butter is pretty good too!

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  4. Seriously - you're going to be in New Orleans. You should be eating a "Po'boy" - see how many different versions you can go through. They're certainly local - and they're cheap!

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  5. Peanut butter and nutella sounds like heaven...I think you should give that another try.

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  6. A few other entries that came via other formats (e mail and facebook) include:

    Diann of Coyote Run Farm (Lacona, IA):
    PB & lettuce, PB & sliced apple on bread or whatever, PB & cheese, or PB & fresh spinach

    Dennis of 47 Ranch (McNeal, AZ): Whole grain bread (toasted litely) with Monterey Jack cheese, avacado, alfalfa sprouts, and of course fresh ground peanut butter

    My mom: peanut butter and peaches -- yum!

    And the winner is... my mom! (I didn't include a "no relatives" disclaimer, and before accusations of bias or bribery or a rigged competition start coming in, it has nothing to do with the fact that today is mother's day. But happy mother's day to all you lovely moms out there.) Runners up: peanut butter with honey, with apples, and with raisins -- all tasty and easily packable.

    Note: peanut butter and pickles is something I may some day try if I am pregnant. Heck, I tried fried pickles in Houston. Not bad. Not good, exactly, but not bad. However, peanut butter and mayonaise I hope to avoid for the rest of my life. (Sorry, Gary.)

    Thank you for all of the suggestions. The rest of you should keep your eyes on the postbox, too. I have a soft spot for those willing to put their ideas out there. So I'm a softie. And I'm keeping the USPS in business.

    Martha and Talkswithnumbers, please e mail me your mailing addresses. I have everybody else's contact info. (Jen, yours is going to your parents' place as I don't have an address, ahem, for you in South Africa. Which reminds me, I need to get myself a po boy TOMORROW.)

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  7. That's it! You posted the answer on your own blog! Peanut butter and Pickled Pigs Lips! Oh, please give it a try... ! At the very least, try saying it 5 times fast! Truly a delicacy I would have to avoid myself! Thanks for sharing it though.
    Nancy

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  8. I am issuing a moratorium on pickled pigs lips in connection with anything coming anywhere close to my mouth. :p Pickled beets, pickled walnuts, pickled watermelon rinds, even pickled eggs, but pickled pigs lips are where i draw the line....

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Thanks for your comment! Just making sure this isn't spam.... Thanks for your patience. :)Ibti