PB²&J

Peanut Butter and Jam (yes, "J" is for jam, NOT jelly. Jam is simply better) Sandwichs: How to make a delicious one.



When making a delicious PB²&J sandwich, bread is obviously an essential part of the sandwich.
Choosing your bread... Choose quality. Don't ever settle for some dried out, expired, crumby piece of Wonder Bread™. I know thats probably something one of my roomates would do, but its only cause they are nieve and poor. That is the difference between a being descriminating PB&J sandwich conesueir, and being a total prick. If you can find something baked within the last 24-48 hours, I recommend using that. I also advise against using white bread (unless of course it was baked in the last 24-48 hours.. freshness always takes priority.) Multi-grain and wheat breads and really tie all the flavors of peanut and butter and jam together quite nicely.

Once you have selected your bread (no end pieces please), Its time to apply the PB (peanut butter). Now this is what really can make or break your sandwich. Choosing your PB... First, you need to choose a brand of PB. Don't go generic. You'll regret it l8r if you do. The two brands I recommend is Skippy™ and JIF™ (although I'm a Skippy™ man myself.) Get creamy. Crunchy isn't even and option. Crunchy will kill your sandwich and dump it off the Brooklyn Bridge. Your sandwich will be "sleeping with the fishes" as they say. The PB MUST be evenly applied to one side of both slices of bread in a 2:1 ratio. This is what sets it apart as a PB²&J sandwich, as compared to a regular old PB&J. On the initial slice, you need to apply two thirds (2/3) the amount of total PB you want on the finished product. This can be tricky just trying to eye-ball and gage the amount of PB to put on it, unless you are a well practiced PB&J sandwich architect. If you mess up and put too much, thats okay, throw it away and start over. Making a PB&J is about making mistakes (and sandwiches) and learning from them. Once you've spread the PB on the initial slice, it is now time to commense the spreading of PB on slice number 2. You may be asking yourself why you would need to spread PB on both of the inner sides of your bread. And here is the simple answer. If you let your jam touch your bread, its gonna get soggy, and the only thing worst than a soggy sandwich is a soggy sandwich with dog poop in it. Spread the PB thin. Use approximately half as much PB as you did on the first slice, creating that glorious 2:1 ratio as described earlier.

Jammer time! (like Hammer time!, except its time to spread the jam, not listen to MC Hammer, although in theory, you could do both at the same time... something to contimplate while setting a constructive atmosphere for your PB²&J sandwich creating experience.)

Choosing the RIGHT jam...
I know, I know.. There are alot of choices to make when making a PB²&J sandwich, but when you are creating a work of art... Something you can really be proud of... There is NO cutting corners. The absolute best jams are ALWAYS home made. If you can get your hands on a jar of home made jam, regardless of flavor, you will enjoy your sandwich ten times more because of that little touch of home infused with your sandwich. But if your mom won't share a jar of jam with you, and making your own sounds like alot of work... there is an alternative. Yep, you guessed it, store bought jam. Smuckers™ is okay and relatively cheap, but its definetly not home made. I recommend raspberry. It has a little bit of a zing to it, which can really add alot to the experience. Strawberry is also highly recommended if you have a little bit of a sweet tooth like me. Don't get grape jam and DO NOT under ANY circumstances get anything from Smuckers™ "Goober" line (it has both the jam and the PB in the same jar, what an awful idea) or the any of the squeezable jams. Once you have selected your jam, spread that ish all up in here!!! (I like to spread it on slice two to make slices one and two a little bit closer in weight, just my personal preferrence.)

Putting your sandwich together...
Put the slice of bread with out jam on top of the slice with jam.

Now you have a work of art. A PB²&J sandwich. It's beautiful... and delicious.
Bon Appetite my friends!