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.)

While I occasionally enjoy an omelet when eating out at breakfast places (eggs benedict or biscuits and gravy are really my breakfast weaknesses), I'll admit, I kinda have a bias against them. I'm not sure if its because I've had my share of disappointing omelets (*ahem* more on that in a bit...), or because I hate making them, or because I tend to think of them as bachelor food... Did I lose you on those last two? Allow me to elaborate.

I'll do the last one first- When we were dating (and probably before we were dating, I just didn't know about it then) Kyle's "bachelor food" of choice was the omelete. A little unusual, as the stereotypical single-guy foods of choice are frozen dinners, pizza and beer, but if you think about it, an omelete is an ideal meal for one. It's cheap, fast to make, easy to vary by adding different fillings, and it's easy to make a single serving.