"peanut butter and jelly" news and stories

Happy National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day!

The childhood brown-bag staple is a classic many adult Americans still hold close to heart. Though the first official record of the immortal PBJ combo was recorded in 1901, did you know that peanut butter, when it first made its appearance, was considered a specialty product? It was once served in upscale eateries paired with unexpected items, like pimentos, at New York's Ye Olde English Coffee House, or served with watercress at the Vanity Fair Tea-Room. According to Peanuts: The Illustrious History of the Goober Pea, "That peanut butter could be combined with so many divers products demonstrated that it was a relatively neutral platform providing a nutty taste and a sticky texture that bound together various ingredients."

As the price of the specialty item decreased and sugar was added, appealing to a younger audience, peanut butter became a national sensation in the early 1900s -- and it became a go-to filling for sandwiches, which increased popularity with the appearance of sliced bread in the late 1920s. According to Peanuts, "As a consequence of low cost, high nutrition, and ease of assembling, peanut butter sandwiches became one of the top children's meals during the Depression."

And the sandwich has stuck with its popularity -- to date, the average American boy will eat some 1,500 peanut butter sandwiches before reaching the age of 18!

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• If your plate is larger than 9 inches across, you're probably eating too much.
• Many Kansans are quick to turn their noses up at turnips, but it seems everyone wants locally grown sweet potatoes.
• A small-town barbecue-joint bartender made it all the way to the big time -- sort of. He went before Judge Judy in a carding case.
• A mom on a budget hits three grocery stores to find the best deals.
• One writer says the numbers don't lie when it comes to determining our national sandwich -- and he believes the clear winner is peanut butter & jelly.

I wasn't sure how to celebrate National Peanut Butter Day. I could put up a bunch of recipes that include peanut butter (and I will, after the jump), but I also wanted to ask one of the more important questions of all-time.

How do you make your peanut butter and jelly sandwich?

I mean, what type of bread do you use? What type of peanut butter? Do you spread the jelly on top of the peanut butter or on the other slice of bread? Do you cut it or eat it whole? What do you drink with it?

I use a soft but hearty bread, like a Canadian White or Pepperidge Farm (Wonder Bread is way too flimsy and lame). I use crunchy Jif, and I spread the peanut butter and jelly on separate slices. I eat it whole, with a glass of fat free milk.

Peanut butter recipes after the jump!

I've learned three things about making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches over the years:

1. Creamy and chunky are both great.
2. They taste terrible with a Diet Coke.
2. Never use Wonder Bread. It tears too easily.

November is National Peanut Butter Lover's Month. Here's a bunch of facts about peanut butter (did you know the average kid will eat 1500 PB&J sandwiches by the time they graduate high school?). Skippy has a bunch of crafts and games for the kids, while Jif has some interesting peanut butter recipes, including Peanut Butter Muffins and Chicken Peanut Mole.

Also check out PeanutButterLovers.com, a site for people who...well, you know, love peanut butter.

As we gear up for Slashfood's Sandwich Day, you better believe we have one sandwich on our minds. It is known as a classic pairing -- peanut butter and jelly. But what if you wanted a perfect pairing of wine for peanut butter and jelly?

It sounds strange, sure, for when is there ever an occasion that you'd be sitting down to a white-clothed table laid out with the finest silverware, crystal, and china holding a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? If you're in Chicago, you would have found the "PB&J" as part of the multi-course tasting menu at Grant Achatz's Alinea, a single peeled grape coated with peanut butter and wrapped in the thinnest toast wafer. And paired with it? Sercial "Charleston" Madeira from The Rare Wine Company. The Chicago Tribune's Food and Wine section this week has a selection of additional wines that pair with the classic sandwich.

Maybe tonight your special dinner "in" will be peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a bottle of 1997 Tommasi Recioto della Valpolicella Vigneto Fiorato.

More interesting wine pairings:
Wine to pair with popcorn and pretzels