It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

No one would call my husband sophisticated and that's why I love him.

He's complex in some areas and deceptively simple in others - he loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and this causes some angst from me as I am a housewife and one of my daily jobs is to make my man his lunch and while I aspire to fancy multi-layered sandwiches with exotic cheeses, hearty breads and spreads, he'd happily eat PB&J on white bread every day for the rest of his life.

Now, you may be thinking, big deal! Well, here is a confession - jelly makes me cringe. The stuff is otherworldy and the texture gives me the heebie jeebies. Truly.. it's a scary, quivering mass.

Now, I love me some jam (but never with peanut butter - both should stand alone except in this amazing recipe I found for PB & Jam bars! I'll post it below) but every day that I have to spread that jelly stuff over bread, I die a little inside.

so... because I love him, I make the sacrifice.

Here is the recipe:

Barefoot Contessa's Peanut Butter & Jam Bars

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (hey, get some Watkins Vanilla from me!)
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature (I use large and it works)
2 cups (18 ounces) creamy peanut butter (Ina recommends Skippy, I use Jif)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (18 ounces) raspberry jam or other jam
2/3 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch cake pan. Line it with parchment paper, then grease and flour the pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until all ingredients are combined.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.

Spread 2/3 of the dough into the prepared cake pan and spread over the bottom with a knife or offset spatula. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Don't worry if all the jam isn't covered; it will spread in the oven.

Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown.

Cool and cut into squares.

A Girl & Her Panini Pan - A Love Story.

This was from Feb 12, 2008:

sigh. Mmmmm. I am currently enjoying a very tasty and satisfying unconventional breakfast.

Hubby is on a biz trip and I'm stuck here for three days (I don't drive, not that I'd go anywhere anyway) but I like being alone and these trips rejuvenate me. I can stay up late, take two naps, eat whenever and just do my own thing. (Ok, I do that when he is here.. but... well...)

I went and got groceries and filled the house with good stuff... you know what it's like when you have so many yummy things to choose from that it makes meal time tough... so yesterday I made chili and since it was in the crockpot I just had it for lunch and dinner - it seemed the most logical choice.. but I was obsessed with the knowledge that herein lay the makings of my perfect panini - I made a special list and gathered the ingredients with care .... sourdough bread, fresh portobellos, sliced mozzarella, fresh ground sea salt and pepper ..... I couldn't wait until lunch... I'm having the panini for breakfast and it's fantastic.

There is something so simple and so elegant about a panini - the crusty, buttery outside and the gooey, tender inside. The sound it makes when you bite into it.

It's old world and delightful.

I have my TOHE Panini Pan/Press and I can't tell you how much I love it. I like that I use it on the stove over gas vs having it be an electrical item. It sits beautifully displayed on a back burner all the time.. it's cast iron with an enameled exterior. It's so heavy you need two hands to move it and it would defiantely be a candidate for a deadly weapon - if you had the biceps to yield it.

I love the sound of the sizzling butter when you place it in the pan, the warmth of the rising heat, the steam that seeps along side the press as you create the perfect sandwich... it might be slightly darker in one spot, a little flatter in another ... not perfect in sight, but in taste.

if you are a meat eater, I can only imagine what fantastical ham & cheese would emerge from this wonder ..... can you imagine a reuben?

I know... I'm in love with a pan. But I challenge anyone to eat a sandwich from it and have them not have the same exact reaction ..... even the dogs are sitting here, begging.