Love is a jelly sandwich with the crust cut off. That's "just jelly" incase you're wondering. I haven't been able to convince T.J.B., my oldest son, to try it with peanut butter. Even though he's almost done with 5th grade and loves the way peanut butter and chocolate taste together. He's not completely Anti Peanut Butter like his younger brother, A.T.B., who doesn't even like peanut butter in cookies.

As delicious as Just Jelly is, there is something wonderful about the way the flavor of smooth and creamy peanut butter mixes with an ample amount of grape jelly on whole wheat bread. I'd forgotten how much I liked PB & J until earlier this month, when I packed a sack lunch for myself on more than one occasion. You see, I've been on a peanut butter and honey kick for several years now. But PB & H isn't used as Sandwich Shorthand. It's a Lesser Known combination.

I'm in the habit of skipping the heel when I take bread out of the bag. I eat 'em eventually but only because they are there and someone has to eat 'em. I don't eagerly anticipate that extra crusty slice of bread the way my Grandma T did. The heel was her favorite part. Another reason I think of her, as I cut perfectly good crust off bread each day, is because she didn't tolerate waste or Picky Eaters. She always encouraged her children and grandchildren to Try New Things so we'd be able to politely eat whatever was served wherever we went. She was Queen of Unique Food Combinations too.

Years ago when T.J.B. first started eating Toast For Breakfast he'd remove the crust himself. It didn't take me long to realize that wasted more of The Good Part than if I just cut it off ahead of time. Now it's such a habit occasionally I forget and cut the crust off my toast too. When he was little I saved the Cut Off Crusts in a bag. Once it was full we'd walk to The Duck Pond and feed the few ducks and Gaggles of Geese that congregated there. I stopped saving the crusts when a fence went up letting us know it was for Duck Pond Residents Only.

These random bread, crust and sandwich thoughts often swirl through my head as I get breakfast and school lunches made on Busy Weekday Mornings. I still feel guilt from my grandma every time I throw the crust away too. My Sweet Talkin' Son knows how to butter up his mama though, and ease that guilt, by saying, "Mom, it tastes extra good when you make it." That'd be the Lack of Crust and the Love.

© 2011 Janean Baird, Turquoise Tangles