Adam Weinstein
English 101-099
29 September 2007
Essay 1- Food Narrative
When I was younger, probably around the age four or five, I got really sick and had to go to the doctor. I was sitting on the cold table, when the nurses decided to stick a big needle into my vein and draw a sample of blood. The results showed that my cholesterol was high for my age. My eating habits were obviously discussed between my parents and the doctor. They explained to him that I was an extremely fussy eater. I never wanted to eat a big juicy hamburger, green salad, or fresh fruit. There was only one food choice that I wanted: a good ole’ peanut butter sandwich with no jelly. That is all I ever wanted to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The doctor suggested to my parents that they cut peanut butter out of my diet. But how does a person stop eating his or her favorite comfort food?
I am not really sure why peanut butter was my desired thing to eat. Maybe it was the peanut taste or the smooth and creamy texture. On the other hand, maybe I liked the fact that if you take a big bite out of a thick peanut butter sandwich it gets clogged in your throat and the only way to wash it down is with a large glass of cold milk. Another reason that I might have liked peanut butter sandwiches so much was the fact that my mom made them a lot because they were quick, easy, and cheap. My mom would always try to be creative when making my peanut butter sandwiches. When I would go on field trips in elementary school, she would make me a special peanut butter sandwich. She would add a handful of miniature marshmallows to the creamy peanut butter. I would bite into the sandwich and would taste a sweet fluffy surprise. If my mom did not feel like cooking a big fancy meal, we would have melted peanut butter sandwich night. This was my brother’s and my favorite meal when we were younger. All she would do is add more peanut butter then usual on our sandwiches and then stick the sandwiches in the broiler for about five minutes. There is nothing better than biting into crunchy bread, coated with warm melted peanut butter. The peanut butter would run down our faces and all over our fingers. My favorite part was licking all of the sticky peanut butter off my fingers and plate. We would always eat this before our soccer or baseball games so we would get plenty of protein. We would call them our “good luck” sandwiches. All I have to say is that peanut butter was the best thing ever invented.
I would like to tell you a few cool things about the history of peanut butter. There were a large number of people who helped make peanut butter to be one of America’s beloved foods. It started back in 1890. A man from St. Louis, named George A. Bayle, Junior, was on a mission to help people who had bad teeth and could not eat meat. They needed some kind of food item to give them their daily servings of protein. This is where he got the brilliant idea of grinding peanuts in a meat grinder, which made a thick gritty peanut butter. He put the gritty paste in barrels and sold them to his patients. Peanut butter, back then, was made from steamed peanuts instead of roasted peanuts and the peanut butter was not very good. It also did not have a very long expiration date because of being stored in big wooden barrels. In 1922, Joseph L. Rosefield churned peanut butter like butter to make a smooth and creamy texture. This process increased the shelf life of peanut butter. Peter Pan achieved the success of having the longest shelf life in the market in 1928. Skippy Peanut Butter was next in joining the competition by inventing crunchy peanut butter. Finally, a company named Proctor and Gamble created Jif in 1958. Today, Proctor and Gamble run the “world’s largest peanut butter plant” making 250,000 jars of peanut butter a day (History).
What would the world possibly be like if Mr. Bayle had not pulverized peanuts in the meat grinder so long ago? So many things in our world would be different. Would the King of Rock and Roll have had a weakness for jelly and banana sandwiches? What would choosy mothers have chosen if there was no Jif? Would we ever find out if you got chocolate in my peanut butter or I got peanut butter in your chocolate? Worst of all, what would I have eaten for my “good luck” sandwiches. What would have been my comfort food? I cannot imagine my life without peanut butter. Every time I eat anything with peanut butter on it always brings back good memories from my past. Therefore, you can see I was never really able to follow the doctor’s orders and give up peanut butter. There could be worse things than a little high cholesterol.
Works Cited
"History of Peanut Butter." Peanut Butter Lovers. Peanut Advisory Board. 2 Sept. 2007
<http://www.peanutbutterlovers.com/history/index.html>.
4 comments:
Maria Gagliano
I thought that this paper was very creative, and I enjoyed reading it. I liked the way you included a little bit of your own life story to grab the reader’s attention as well as introduce your food, the peanut butter sandwich with no jelly. I have never tried just a plain peanut butter sandwich, but after reading this I really wanted to try one (especially with a nice, cold glass of milk). The organization was very thoughtful, but I felt like I didn’t have a clear thesis laying out your paper. I loved how you added in the history of peanut butter.
You provide a good description of the peanut butter sandwich in your second paragraph, but I would like to see more. Although, I know what a peanut butter sandwich looks like, assume some people are clueless. Talk about the colors, explain the tastes, maybe even include a description on how to make the peanut butter sandwich (in the way you or your mom would make one). Expand on what your mom would do to surprise you (besides the marshmellows)… were your classmates jealous? Did she ever do cool shapes with the bread?
Also, watch that third paragraph that starts out with “I would like to tell you a few cool things…” Try and make that a more grabbing topic sentence because that is an interesting paragraph. Nice job on this paper… now I’m going to eat a peanut butter sandwich!
Kendall Lewis
I really enjoyed reading your paper. As I was reading it, it made me think of my childhood when I loved peanut butter sandwiches but, with jelly (never thought of eating a plain sandwich with just peanut butter and bread). I really liked how you added some background information about peanut butter itself. Showing the history of peanut butter added some information that most people probably never knew. I also liked the fact that you explained some instances when you used to eat peanut butter sandwiches as a child like before games and how you got special sandwiches with marshmallows on field trips.
One thing I think that you would improve is to be more descriptive about the actual peanut butter. Assume the reader has never had peanut butter before and explain to them the taste, texture, and smell of it. I also think you could tell the reader about the brand of peanut butter that you prefer like Jif, Peter Pan, Skippy, Smuckers, and even the type of bread that you like, white, wheat, rye, Italian, and so on.
This is a good paper. I like how you started off with going to the doctor when you were little and teling us what he said. Also i like how you tell us all the different ways your mom would make your sandwich. I have never thought of making peanut butter sandwiches any other way but those sound good. But i do think your paragraphs are a little bit choppy. you go from doctor, to different ways of sandwiches, to the history, to wondering what you aould do with out it. I think it was a good idea but just needs to flow a little bit better. Like the others said i think you could go into a little bit more description of peanut butter. I think you could work a little on the topic sentences and make them more attention grabbing. But i really liked the part in your last paragraph that talks about what would the king of rock and roll do, and what would choosy moms do....very creative!!
This paper was very creative. I liked how you incorporated the story about you going to the doctor. That is a very good way to pull the readers in and grab their attention. I also liked how you gave that brief history about peanut butter. In the second paragragh, try making it more descriptive. If your mom made more creative sandwiches, talk about them. Go into more detail about your "good luck" sandwiches.
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