Thursday, April 2, 2009

What Did the Jelly Say To the Peanut Butter?

Answer: Stick with me and we'll go places!

Cookie Cutter Challenge announcement at the end...

Good morning, Highlowaha! It's Katie here ready to celebrate National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day with you! As someone who loves peanut butter- I have to say they certainly have gone places together and I am excited to share in this holiday with each of you. I also love that yesterday with Claudia we talked cookies and cookie cutters, and today we are talking PB &J! That's my kind of week if you ask me!

Before we begin our celebration of this national day, I feel it is important to understand the history of how PB & J sandwiches gained their fame in this country. For this history, I did a bit of quick google researching and this is what I found...
"Historians didn’t make reference to the sandwich until the 1940s. In fact, the first mention of the sandwich came during World War II, when peanut butter and jelly sandwiches became part of the US military rations.While soldiers enjoyed them abroad, word got out here at home about the concoction and with limited supplies of meats and milks Americans adopted the sandwich as a low-cost meal."
With that in mind, I would like to say that while I am not glad they had limited supplies for food during the war, I am glad that this amazing concoction was created! In the spirit of the day, I decided to also look around on the web to find a new recipe with PB & J that is a variation to the traditional sandwich. I found some PB & J bars that I think I may try to make today. I will share the recipe with you in hopes that you will find the time to make them and celebrate today, too!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter or margarine
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup grape jelly
1 2/3 cups peanut butter chips

1. Heat oven to 375F. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan; set aside.
2. Stir together flour, sugar and baking powder; cut in butter with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in beaten egg until blended.
3. Reserve half of the mixture; press remaining mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Stir jelly slightly; spread evenly over crust. Sprinkle 1 cup peanut butter chips over jelly. Stir remaining 2/3 cup of the peanut butter chips into reserved crumb mixture; sprinkle over top.
4. Bake in heated 375F oven 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Looking for other ways to celebrate this great holiday? How about posting in the comment section and sharing with us your favorite way to eat a PB & J sandwich? For me, it is extra crunchy peanut butter, strawberry jelly, wheat bread toasted, and cut into fours. I can remember being a kid and asking my mom to cut it into fours for me, and I still do it to this day as a 22 year old who brings her lunch to work with her! I'll never be too old for a PB & J sandwich!

Are you allergic to peanuts and you can't join us in the stories of PB & J sandwiches? How about just playing the song below, singing along, and letting the kids dance along to it! It's a hit with the 20-somethings, so I'm sure your kids will love it!


Cookie Cutter Challenge:
The winning cookie cutter from yesterday's post is the porcupine. However, as a small disclaimer: if Fancy Flours does not have 2 of the porcupine cookie cutters in stock, then we will default to the 2nd chosen cookie cutter which is the tow truck. In the off chance that they don't have two of those in stock either, we will go with choice number 3 which is the stegosaurus cookie cutter.

Signing off until tomorrow...

21 comments:

Heather said...

It has been a long time since I've had a PB & J...actually not THAT long..I basically survived on PB & J and baked Lays when I was expecting Lily...it was about the only thing that look appetizing in our cafe at Bellarmine.
How do I like mine? on the softest white bread that can be found...standard grape jelly and smooth peanut butter...not too much of either on the bread.


Katie as soon as Lily wakes up I'll play her that fun song...I'm sure she'll dance to it if she does I'll take a video...

Chaotic Kristi said...

Grape Jelly brings back unpleasant memories... so I get the wildest jelly/jam I can find... I like lime curd & smooth PB on a whole grain bread.... if I am home, I grill the bread first with real butter.....

Katie said...

Heather, I can't wait to see Lily dancing to this PB & J song! I always myself singing that song as I make a PB & J sandwich.

Chaotic, sorry to hear you had a bad experience with jelly. Truth be told- for a long time, I would not put any jelly on my sandwiches because I thought it was gross- so I ate plain peanut butter only! But, I'm back to using jelly again now!

Peggy said...

For me, Peanut Butter and Jelly was eaten in different stages of my life... as a kid... wonder bread, peanut butter and grape jelly.

In my twenties it was peanut butter with Smuckers Red Raspberry Jam.

Then when the kids were little, back to grape jelly.

Now, it's not a favorite on my gourmet pallet (or waistline), but a good spoonful of chuncky peanut butter with a 'few' chocolate chips, yummy... I'm set for a few months!!

sue said...

With some of my children they liked Peanut butter and fluff. I still like that sometimes.

b.k.root said...

I love PB and Jelly... I'm old-fashioned when it comes to PB&J. Just give me some Jiffy peanut butter and some strawberry jelly on bread, and I'm good to go.

I do like this concoction on English Muffins a lot, too.

Cheryl Houston said...

Fresh White bread, creamy smooth peanut butter, grape jelly and a glass of milk! YUM!! I do like mine cut but I'm not picky if it's halves, squares or triangles.

I will have to play the song later... you know... the whole work thing.

JB likes his sandwich with jelly but Drew is a straight peanut butter and bread man. We also love PB on bananas and apples! That was dinner just the other night! I'm such a great mom when it comes to dinner!

Heather said...

Cheryl, We are birds of a feather except the glass of milk on the side.

Margaret said...

I like extra chunky peanut butter and strawberry jam (not jelly) on white bread. Cut on the diagonal. Yum. I want one right now. It used to be with Kool Aid, but now I will settle for Fruit Punch Crystal Light.

lindsaymarie said...

Our cafe didn't have peanutbutter after that salmonella outbreak, they just got it back though, just in time for me to celebrate!

eknoxuk said...

My kids loved this! I have a friend's kids today too. So I told them it was PB&J day and they had fun listening and dancing, twice! We'll definitely be eating PB&J today and I might even do some more internet surfing on silly pb&j things.

Katie said...

Erica, I was watching a show the other night where the parents allowed their kids to paint pictures using pudding. Maybe allowing the kids to paint with PB & J? I know this could get SUPER messy, but might be fun!

Heather said...

Katie...was it Jon and Kate plus 8?

Unknown said...

The boys love that song!!! thanks for the video.
Matthew only likes peanut butter & honey. No jelly for him. We eat enough peanut butter, jelly, & honey to buy the super size versions at Costco (just got more yesterday)
Have a great day everyone!

Kat said...

I absolutely love PB&J! My combination is smooth peanut butter with strawberry jelly on whole wheat bread. With a glass of milk and some salty chips it is the best lunch ever.

Claudia said...

I feel I have to chime in as the token person allergic to peanuts and all forms thereof!

My substitute? Creame cheese and jelly on toasted wheat bread. Yum! The cream cheese melts perfectly into the bread if you act quickly enough. Diagonally cut, all the way.

Last night I watched Mission Impossible on the Food Network. One of the recipes was Peanut Butter and Jelly donuts. Here's how... Make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread. Dip it in milk then in a cinnamon and sugar combination and fry.

The campers raved about it.

Cheryl Houston said...

Claudia! Shut up! That sounds delicious! And fattening! And so good!

Molly said...

Hi:
My name is Molly Shotzberger and this is the first time I visited your site. I just wanted to say "thank you" to all of you who voted for me in the "Take the Cake Contest." And a special thanks to my daughter Sue who nominated me. I wish I could share my prize with all the women who were nominated - they all should be congratulated for the things they do every day to make the world a better place. Thank you ladies for being so special and sharing yourselves with others.
I froze my cake and will share it with some of my family who will be coming to my home for Easter dinner - and I will have the opportunity to tell them about your terrific web site.
A blessed Easter to all of you!

Claudia said...

Thanks for checking in Molly and letting us know you received the cake.

You are a role model to many!

Katie said...

Cheryl...I have to say from personal experience that the cream cheese and jelly is REALLY delicious! You need to try it! Thank you to the Beeny's for introducing me to it!

Emily said...

I have fond memories of peanut butter and jelly as a kid. Whenever it would snow my sister and I would head out to play with the kids across the street. When we came back in from the cold would be Pb&J sandwiches waiting for us. My neighbor had an interesting way of making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches...they included white bread peanut butter, butter, and then jelly. Sounds gross but as a kid I like to dip it in chicken noodle soup. But when my mom made Pb&j it was always peanut butter and fluff on white bread, cut in triangles...mmm sounds like lunch tom.