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I have run out of peanut butter, but not jelly. [THREAD]
In America, the peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich dates to the late 19th Century. The ascendant version of this snack/meal has been circumscribed by bread.
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The 1928 invention of sliced bread — a.k.a. "the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped" — only solidified this ideal. Since then, those who choose to make "PB & J" sandwiches *without* bread have been marginalized and even ridiculed.
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But a close examination of the "bread norm" reveals that it is merely an assumption. And a faulty one at that.
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Consider "PB & J." I& #39;m not naïve; any abbreviation is bound to omit details at the margins. However, the implication about what is *essential* about this meal/snack is plain as day.
After all, it& #39;s not PB & J & B.
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After all, it& #39;s not PB & J & B.
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Close followers of this feed will already know that I am a vocal opponent of the "bread norm" — not as a PRACTICE, but as an ASSUMPTION.
Peanut butter and jelly from a jar, with a spoon, is no less PB & J than anything ever stowed into an American lunchbox.
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Peanut butter and jelly from a jar, with a spoon, is no less PB & J than anything ever stowed into an American lunchbox.
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Which brings us to the present dilemma: What if there is J, but no PB?
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Which in turn brings us IMMEDIATELY back to our old friend, History.
Jam sandwiches, a British invention, may in fact PREDATE the classic PB & J. It all began in the 1880s...
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Jam sandwiches, a British invention, may in fact PREDATE the classic PB & J. It all began in the 1880s...
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...When, according to The Guardian, industrialization and sugar-tax easing collaborated to produce conditions in which jam, formerly brewed "once or twice a year by rubicund farmer& #39;s wives from fresh ripe local fruit," was made widely available.
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Now what, you might be asking yourselves, does THAT have to do with PB & J... and your (my) supplies of same in the year 2020?
I& #39;m very glad you asked.
Thank you, for asking.
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I& #39;m very glad you asked.
Thank you, for asking.
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Close readers of this thread will recall that I am currently in circumstances where I have jelly, but no peanut butter.
I& #39;d like to thank those of you who have sent condolences.
To be sure, the state of my PB supply is not ideal.
(To put it lightly!)
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I& #39;d like to thank those of you who have sent condolences.
To be sure, the state of my PB supply is not ideal.
(To put it lightly!)
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