Tuesday, January 12, 2010

that’s how my jelly rolls…

So you know right off the bat what this post is to bring to you, here’s a preview.  (Oh, and this is a bit tongue and cheek – in more than one way! :)

pbjIt’s the age old question: Grape or Strawberry Jelly?  Chris and I have a theory on this debate.  And really, it’s a debate in our house.  Our theory states that your personal preference for grape or strawberry on your delightfully spread peanut butter bread goes back to the days of ole – the days when Mom made your pbj for you.

When Mom pulled the jam out of the refrigerator, be it a jam jar that was canned over the summer or a glass jar of Welch’s from the market, was it strawberry or grape?  Or, gasp, did it come from that disgusting goob stuff that was peanut butter and jelly mixed together?  (Ok, for this purist, that mixture makes me gag when I see it in the store…really.)

You already know our preference for Skippy Natural (all natural, no gunk, no separation, and oooooh, so yummy).  But know I am about to reveal our jelly preferences.  Chris is (drum-roll please) a grape lover.  I, the strawberry fan.  And, yes, it came to our mothers.  We asked, and it aligns with what they made us. 

My other theory is that people that are from more rural regions of the states prefer strawberry jelly because that is what their mom’s canned and “put-up” summer after summer and the more urban-ites like grape.  But that’s a sub-theory.  No need to fully examine that one at the moment.

So here is what we pose to you…

       please help us solve our dispute.

Take a minute, hit the comment button and tell us -  what jam do you prefer? :)  Because then maybe, just maybe, we’ll have an answer.  But I’ll keep on giving my kids the choice – I mean, it is a democracy, right?  And they should have the right to experience the heritage of their father despite the fact that I am the one making the sandwich….and that’s how my jelly rolls.

12 comments:

Bryan said...

A little rhyme time -

Strawberry, all the way.
Grape, well' that's just gay.

B

Knocker Boys said...

Strawberry!

Oh, and I totally agree with you about the gross goob stuff. Eww.

Angie said...

Thanks, Bryan, for the inspiration....I too shall express myself through poetry......

Strawberry makes me happy,
Grape makes it taste crappy.

Anonymous said...

First of all, no choices when I am making the samiches!! All for one, one for all! You get what I pulled out because it is easier that way. Besides, if you don't mandate the use of all jellies equally you end up with a half used neglected jar that cements its own lid on in protest to the discrimination. To further complicate my answer, it depends if we are talking about Jam or Jelly. If it is Jam I choose Strawberry. Jelly, give me grape. That being said, for the purpose of your investigation, Strawberry Jam wins out. And yes, that is what my mother "put up" in the summer.

Daryl L.

Mom Mom Smith said...

Well, the strawberry lovers have insulted our American GI heroes and thousands of Americans!! :)
See the history below and notice what they used when they made the largest p&b sandwich...the best jelly of course!

Food historians have seen nothing written about the peanut butter and jelly sandwich before 1940. What we do know is that GI's in WW 2 were given rations of both peanut butter and jelly. When they returned to the states after the war peanut butter sales and jelly sales both soared. It would seem most likely this would be the birth of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

The first PB and J sandwich was probably made with grape jelly, as that is the most common form of jelly.
1. 89% of U.S. households consume peanut butter
2. By age 18, most people have eaten 1,500 PB&J; sandwiches
3. 62% use white bread in the sandwich
Now That’s a Sandwich
Oklahoma’s Gov. Frank Keating, holding paddle, declares the Oklahoma Peanut Commission’s (OPC) peanut butter and jelly sandwich the largest in the world, as First Lady Cathy Keating, Lt. Gov Mary Fallin, OPC mascot “Goober” and OPC Executive Secretary Mike Kubicek look on. The made-from-scratch 900-pound sandwich, which covered more than 60 square feet, contained 350 pounds of peanut butter and 144 pounds of grape jelly.
The sandwich drew a crowd in excess of 25,000 to the Governor’s 6th Annual Septemberfest. The “World’s Largest PB&J” broke the previous record sandwich set in 1999 by almost two and a half times!

Knocker Boys said...

Wow! People are passionate about their jelly (or jam). I hope there are a lot more comments on here. :)

dana said...

Well Dale is all about Strawberry, And I grew up with grape, but truthfully I am a Blackberry or rasberry girl, Grape jelly is cheap and that is what we had, although I am not a big PB fan. Dale Loves strawberry and i just bought him some actually. So are you saying Ghetto people like grape? LOL That would be a true statement from a girl from the LBC!

emily said...

I hate the little seeds in the strawberry jelly - so I'm a grape gal. I appreciate fruit flavors more when they taste more like sugar and less like fruit.

Flamingo said...

Cracking up over the passions shared regarding the jelly! Sorry grape lovers but strawberry rules with me too. There is 6 in my house and all would vote for strawberry minus one who doesn't eat jelly:)
as far as the subtheories....i grew up as a country girl and my hubby also grew in the boonies...and both had homemade strawberry jelly:)

i do have to say that i always assumed grape jelly was just a bunch of corn syrup with grape flavoring...do they seriously even use grapes in it? :)

El Capitan said...

My favorite companion to peanut butter is apple butter. But for your scientific research project, I would have to choose strawberry.

Carol said...

Gotta go with strawberry, especially when it's homemade-love strawberry jam!

Josh and Becky said...

The Naylor family gives 2 votes for strawberry, even though we never have it in the house. Our kids prefer grape but that may be because that is all I serve them. Josh grew up with homemade strawberry jam but I grew up with Welch's grape jelly.