Holiday Time Capsules

Do you rummage through time capsules this time of year? I do. One is mom’s Better Homes and Gardens cookbook with handwritten recipes on pages from a letter-writing tablet - creased and greased by multiple referrals over the years - stuck within its pages.

Some holiday favorites are complicated and time-consuming and warrant digging around in the backs of cabinets and bottoms of stoves for just the right pans before heading to the grocery to buy all the ingredients.

So why is my mind fixated this morning on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?

That’s a side effect of opening a time capsule. One never knows down which pathway a thought will head and how many times it may detour before it parks and a new one takes off.

It was a favorite find in my red plaid lunch box and always a fun snack. Those two ingredients were always spread onto sandwich bread. (Biscuits were for butter and jelly or butter and molasses).

The most important aspect of mom’s PB&J’s (which we never called them, by the way) was that she thoroughly mixed the jelly into the peanut butter before spreading the tasty conglomeration onto the bread.

My elementary mind liked that. It meant both slices of bread would feel the same to my hands and my tongue. If spread separately, the bread on the jelly side would feel soggy and sometimes the jelly would slide out.

Mom’s way was best, especially if I was making one for myself and had to clean up my own mess. Yuck. And that invention that came along…selling the ingredients pre-mixed? Double yuck.

Mixing the two together always works better with a fork. I can still make an oozy mess trying to do that with a spoon. Strawberry jam works in a pinch, but grape jelly blended into Peter Pan smooth peanut butter makes for the perfect walk down memory lane.

I hope you enjoy your holiday strolls!