Pumpkin and Spice

Peanut butter is, for American children, at least, a comfort food without peer. It's sweet, salty, creamy, gooey, and nutritious. Unless you had a nut allergy, odds are it was a lunchtime staple when you were growing up, be it on a classic peanut butter and jelly (apricot preserves have always been my "jelly" of choice) or a fluffernutter (peanut butter and marshmallow goo? Yes, please!) or even just plain on a spoon. To this day, a bowl of Campbell's Chicken Noodle with a PB&J ranks a close second to grilled cheese and tomato soup as my favorite soup/sandwich pairing.

No discussion on peanut butter is really complete without addressing the subject of peanut butter cookies. There are so many variations on the peanut butter cookie that it's difficult to say with any authority what the "best" way to make one is. Some people like them crispy, others prefer chewy, with nuts, without nuts... Well, I'm going to throw this out there, feel free to disagree if you like... I make a pretty damn fine peanut butter cookie. They get my brother's stamp of approval, and he is to peanut butter cookies what a sommelier is to wine, so they have to be decent. And, one of the best things about them is that they are easily customizeable to your cookie tastes. (I'm not claiming these cookies are revolutionary, just that they are a good, solid cookie recipe- one of my trusted go-to recipes.)

I'm going to get a bit mushy for a second. My "little" brother (he's 24 years old- not so little anymore) is in the Army and is stationed in Iraq. He's a good guy, and I'm super-proud of him. We're only two years apart, and have always been close and I feel like the older we've gotten, the better friends we've become. (He was my "maid of honor" at my wedding- way before that turd of a Patrick Dempsey movie, I might add.)

Here we are, waiting in line at the Haunted Mansion and at my wedding. He cleans up pretty well.