Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches

After heading off to college, eating went from being effortlessly delicious to annoyingly unsatisfying. The dining hall at the UofC was actually very good compared to most and, once you learned the system, you could put together a pretty well balanced meal. It would probably cost a fortune and take half an hour to acquire since you had to go to three different stations and wait in three different lines, but it could be done.

Yet no amount of ice cream or Bartlett cookies could make up for not having a kitchen of our own and the ability to eat what we wanted, when we wanted. In addition to just craving home-cooking, everyone missed something a little different. For me, it was a good old peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Sometimes you just want something simple and easy on the palate and the stomach. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are the perfect combination of sweet and salty flavors and provide the whole grains and proteins we need to feel satisfied after a meal.

I could have made myself a PBJ at the dining hall, but the peanut butter and jelly were in tiny little packets and didn't taste very good. Plus, the cost of a PBJ (since you were charged per tiny packet of PB) was exorbitant and left you feeling unsatisfied, even if the sandwich tasted good.

I am reminded of all of this by the fact that I recently discovered that my parents have no jam! Seriously, none. When we were kids we usually had both store bought jam and homemade peach preserves. Thankfully my parents still keep peanut butter on hand and had some honey tucked into the back corner of a cabinet.

I suppose that they have graduated out of the stage of life when small children demand simplicity in the kitchen, but seriously, does anyone ever stop liking peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? Perhaps your tastes develop and you begin to use a heartier bread, unsweetened peanut butter, and more grown up flavors of jam, but PBJ's never lose their charm.

Any variety will do: peanut butter and some 'berry' jam is always good (especially when the jam is made by Emily's family!), apricot or peach preserves give it a nice twist, and of course there is the much loved peanut butter and honey combination, which when topped with sliced bananas and grilled is an amazingly grown up treat. Mhmm. Yum.