Tonight, I found myself craving peanut butter. This doesn't happen very often. My cravings are usually more ornate and require more than 3 ingredients, a trip to the local grocery store and at least 20 minutes in the kitchen. Today, as I was watching a random episode of "Friends" for the 30th time (I don't have cable in my room) I got a craving for a peanut butter sandwich. Not pb+j but just white bread, lightly toasted with a smooth layer of JIF's peanut butter and honey. It was absolutely heavenly. I got to thinking about peanut butter and what a staple it is in everyone's cupboards and that led me to some fun memories. I can't simply just enjoy a sandwich - with me, everything requires a detailed thought process that I must share.
I feel like almost every American kid has had a peanut butter (and jelly) sandwich and we all have our preferences. Some like it crunchy, some like it creamy (me!), some of us like our peanut butter sandwiches with bananas, some with grape jelly, others with strawberry. A combination I've never tried is peanut butter with orange marmalade. That one might be interesting. When I was younger, I didn't really have an appreciation for the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was always a disappointment in my lunch bag when I realized mom had run out of deli meat for the week and resorted to peanut butter and jelly. It was even more annoying when the accompaniment was the sugar free strawberry jam my father always used on his toast every morning (sugar free because he was diabetic). The worst was just peanut butter by itself. That was always a heartbreaker.
But, when I was actually eating the sandwich, it always ended up being okay. Actually, not just okay but great. The combination of the peanut butter and jelly (grape jelly, if I was lucky) went well with the capri sun I always had - lotsa sugar! Somehow, I would manage to have globs of jelly plop down onto my lap, which I would try to wipe off with my hand, resulting in a sticky mess. My mom always wrote goofy notes on the napkins she would include in the lunch bag and for some reason, I always felt guilty using them to wipe my mouth (or my pants) but never had a problem chucking them into the garbage can on my way out to recess without a second thought.
Its funny how something as simple as a peanut butter sandwich can evoke such fond memories. I miss being 9 - I miss the days when mom packed my lunch, when I actually got recess every day, and when my biggest issue was trying to grasp the concept of prime numbers.
Tonight, I definitely enjoyed my sandwich - just peanut butter and bread at 10:00 PM on a weeknight.
Ok, so this post was a bit random and I'm not quite sure where I was going with it but I just thought I'd share some of my thoughts from tonight. I know what you're all thinking - Aneesa needs a life! Or a hobby, or a pet, or...dare I say it? A man??
Stay tuned next week for my ode to oatmeal - another staple American product that is often taken for granted.
