The Art of the Sandwich

Blame Bite Me Houston. A simple comment this morning on Twitter about sandwiches turned into all-out war, with people choosing peanut butter over friendship, jelly over love. Mike Cortez (the man behind Bite Me Houston) stated this morning: "There should be a law that peanut butter and jelly sammiches should only be made with white bread."

We had to agree. When it comes to non-meat-based sandwiches, we are frighteningly picky. We aren't picky in any realm of food other than sandwiches, but at least it appears we aren't alone. For us, the only acceptable non-meat sandwiches are constructed thusly:

Peanut Butter & Jelly: Crunchy peanut butter (Peter Pan brand), grape jelly (Smuckers brand) and white bread. No other jelly flavors are acceptable. Jam is not acceptable. Creamy peanut butter is only acceptable if we are on a desert island.

Peanut Butter & Banana: Crunchy peanut butter, half of a banana (the other half is served on the side), honey and wheat bread. White bread won't stand up to all the ingredients here, and is only to be used for PB&Js, nothing else.

Stating the law of PB&Js did not lead to agreement, happiness and brotherly sandwich love. Instead, within seconds, controversy had erupted from all sides: "Peter Pan above all others? Whaaaat?" "Strawberry hater." "I'd like to call shenanigans on @she_eats' PB&J rule. Jam is fine, so is strawberry jelly. Fool." "Fail. Raspberry jelly only. With creamy Jif. 'Tis all about how we are raised!" "THAT IS BULL. THIS FRIENDSHIP IS OFF. ENJOY YOUR GRAPE JELLY, MOTHER EFFER."

Wow. Harsh.

With arguments brought from all sides, we decided it would be interesting to see what our readers think. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are cloistered, sacred objects from our youth. To disparage them with condiments that our mothers (or fathers, or grandparents, or babysitters) would have never applied to those two pieces of bread seems heretical to us even as adults. For some people, the thought of apricot jam or whole wheat bread is as anathema as putting dill pickle chips on top of their Oreo cookies. (P.S. This is really good; we suggest you try it.)

So what is your preferred means of constructing a peanut butter and jelly (or peanut butter and banana) sandwich, readers? Let's see what you and your sandwiches are made of.