PB

Peanut butter and I are old friends. We've been estranged the past couple of years, but lately we've been hanging out all the time.

Most especially with this menage a trois of Peanut Butter & Co flavors.

It's an East Coast company with a New York storefront, and really hard to find in my area. I've only found it in one local chain, Mollie Stone's. I'm near to the bottom of Cinnamon Raisin Swirl, and just purchased Dark Chocolate Dreams and White Chocolate Wonderful.

There's going to be some alternating going on. .

who am I kidding, there's going to be a spoon with a little of each one in the forseeable future!!!

Have you had PB&Co peanut butter before? What's your favorite flavor?

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Peanut butter is a very personal thing I'm discovering. Ray will only eat the sweet and smooth pb stylings of Jiffy and Skippy. Taste tests by Cook's Illustrated (which are thorough and pretty reliable) have shown that these two are actually preferred by many people.

They are homey and nostalgic, the peanut butter of our childhood. I find it quite forgettable today, a casualty of an evolved palate. It's the stuff to use when there is no other option, not for voluntary selection for adorning oats or slathering on banana.

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Take this sandwich.

This is the PB&J from Los Gatos Gourmet. It's a sophisticated pb&j made with Koeze Cream-Nut All Natural Peanut Butter, and strawberry AND blueberry jams on Acme pain de mie bread. The peanut butter is salty and not very sweet, a perfect balance with the sweet jam.

My earliest peanut butter memory is the pb balls Mom made for snacks when we were really small. Some concoction of peanut butter, sugar, and flour, I remember the smell of the dough as we rolled them into balls and stored them in the freezer. A power ball of protein and calories to consume after roaming up trees and down the greenway.

This morning, a spoonful of White Chocolate Wonderful on top of pumpkin oatmeal is calling my name. It's calling rather loudly, so I must leave you now.

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