Price: $7.69 Koeze Cream-Nut Natural Peanut Butter
I learned how to make Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches from my friend Pam when I was 10 years old. We used to walk to her house for lunch in 5th grade, and make ourselves sandwiches and watch "Underdog" until it was time to go back to school. Pam's mom, like mine, only bought all-natural brands and whole wheat bread, but in spite of this handicap Pam knew the secret to the perfect PBJ: the layers of peanut butter and jelly must each be as thick as the slices of bread they were spread on. On Sunday mornings you could take this slab of heaven, dip it in an egg-milk mixture, and fry it in butter for the most decadent French Toast in the world.
Brought to our attention by a staffer who missed Koeze's Peanut Butter from her Michigan home, we now wonder how we managed so long without it. The Koeze Company of Grand Rapids makes only one peanut butter, somewhere between crunchy and smooth, lightly salted, from Virginia peanuts they roast themselves. The recipe, and the grinding equipment, haven't changed since the company was founded back in 1925. Hey, when you get it right the fiirst time, why mess around? Yet another pantry staple.
Epilogue: The irony of this story is that Pam and I grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, just a hundred-plus miles away from Grand Rapids, yet it wasn't until I moved to Vermont that I heard of Koeze's. Our moms would even have approved of the brand.
Size: 20oz
