I Feel Vindicated!

I have always enjoyed peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches. I like peanut butter, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato and cheese between two slices of white toast.

But when I tell people that I eat PB&M sandwiches, reactions range from "Oh, How disgusting" to "You're weird".

Then I found an article in Garden and Gun by Jed Portman, titled "A Forgotten Southern Sandwich". The peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwich! The picture in the magazine is even with my favorite mayonnaise, DUKE'S.

I did not know of the history of the PB&M sandwich, that it seems to have started in the 1930's during the depression and seems to have lost much of its popularity in the 1960's.

After doing a Google search, I found that there is a web site called "Three Hundred Sandwiches" and number 236, a peanut butter, mayonnaise and banana. The article starts with the sentence,"Somewhere, somewhere deep in the South, this is a delicacy."

I even found a FACEBOOK page for Peanut Butter and Mayonnaise sandwiches. Then I found someone was even suggesting using MIRACLE WHIP. "Oh, how disgusting, they must be weird"

Speaking of peanuts, when I go to a football game (War Eagle) my favorite snack food is boiled peanuts. I never could understand how something so easy to make could cost so much when you put it in a Styrofoam cup and sell it at a football game. So make your own.

I have been asked to do cooking classes on the basics; sauces, and stocking a pantry. According to the FDA, I live in a Food Desert. No public transportation, low income area, and major grocery stores are miles away. The neighborhood grocery store is seven miles away; a large chain grocery store is 16 miles away. So having a well stocked pantry is essential. From that pantry, you should be able to prepare meals that are tasty, healthy and easy to prepare. Of course, this pantry should reflect the needs for southern cooking. Fresh produce and dairy products will keep long enough to use but not necessarily essential for every meal. My pantry is supplemented with about 300 jars of canned good ranging from pickled vegetables to pepper jelly that my wife and I have enjoyed canning. Making sauces is where a cook can experiment with flavors, and colors that will compliment a dish. You can buy sauces already made but it will not be same as if you made it yourself. And if you make it yourself, you can experiment with the ingredients to suit your tastes. Mayonnaise is a good one to start with. Yes mayonnaise is a sauce, a cold sauce.