How to Make a PB&J… Seriously

I recently heard that one great way to test not only your writing skills, but also your technical writing skills, is to write step by step directions on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I am currently a Fellow in the Major League Hacking Fellowship and working with the GitHub Docs team, so there are lots of opportunities for writing instructions and explanations. I figured this would be a fun challenge to exercise some “technical” writing muscles.

The following instructions include the steps for a normal and a toasted peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Background
First off, for those of you unfamiliar with the glorious sandwich for which this blog post is written, you are in for an exciting ride. In order to understand the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, it is necessary to explore the history of the sandwich. John Mantagu, The Earl of Sandwich, is credited to have had created the handheld meal in the 18th century. It is said that he was participating in a 24-hour gambling event, so instructed his servant to place some meat in between two slices of bread so he could eat his meal with one hand while having the other free for his game. The first known usage of the word “sandwich” showed up in the 1760s. Since then, it has become not only a staple of fast foods, but has also created a blank canvas for many culinary artist to display their work — grilled sandwiches, fried sandwiches (Monte Cristo), po’ boys, hamburgers, flatbread sandwiches, vegetarian, chicken, catfish, ham, turkey, etc., — all of these sandwiches owe their beginners to a man who needed one hand free for his cards.

It wasn’t until 1901 that the first peanut butter and jelly recipe entered the market. Created by Julia Davis Chandler and published in the Boston Cooking School Magazine of Culinary Science and Domestic Economics, the recipe did not instantly rise in popularity but later became a staple meal during the Great Depression, as peanut butter provided a high-protein, less expensive meal. It still wasn’t until World War II that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches burst out onto the scene. Thanks to it’s easily portable, shelf stable, and high-protein qualities, these sandwiches made it onto the U.S. Military rations menus. When soldiers came back from the war, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches went home with them and settled themselves in to a permanent spot on family menus. Parents appreciate how easy they are to make on a hurried day, kids love that it’s an item they can make for themselves, and everyone enjoys the sweet and savory taste. It’s a win for everyone!

Peanut Butter and Jelly — The Original
This is the recipe for the non-toasted peanut butter and jelly. The additional steps needed to make this sandwiched a toasted delight are further down.

Step One:
Retrieve your ingredients. Gather your peanut butter (crunchy or smooth), your favorite jelly (or grape, if that’s all you have available), and your bread (white bread, wheat bread, oat bread, whole grain, it’s your choice!).

Step Two:
Remove bread from package, breadbox, bag, etc.,. This can be bread you bought at the store, fresh bread from a bakery, or, even fresher, bread you baked yourself. If the bread is not pre-sliced, carefully take a knife (preferably a serrated bread knife if you have one) and slice the bread horizontally against the length of the bread. (If you have trouble with horizontal and vertical concepts, imagine your bread is on the face of compass and lay the length of the bread east to west and slice the bread north to south.) Set the bread on a plate, side by side.

Step Three:
Using a knife, carefully remove your preferred amount of peanut butter from the jar and spread it evenly across the face of one of the slices of bread. Place the slice down on your plate with the peanut butter side up.

Step Four:
Using a spoon, remove your preferred amount of jelly from the jar and spread it evenly across the face of the other slice of bread.

Step Five:
With the jelly slice of bread still in your hand, carefully line it up over the peanut butter slice so the edges line up and place the bread, jelly side down, on to the peanut butter slice (that should be facing up from step three).

From this point, you can go ahead and enjoy your sandwich or take the optional steps below.

*Optional* Cutting the Sandwich:
With the two slices of bread stacked on top of each other, you can cut use your knife to cut the sandwich diagonally from one corner to another corner to make neat triangles, or straight up and down to make weird rectangles.

Peanut Butter and Jelly 2.0 — Toasted

For this delicious version of a toasted sandwich, we begin by following steps one and two above. The only real difference lays between steps two and three. So after selecting and/or slicing your bread, you will now insert said slices into the slots of a pop up toaster.

Depending on how toasted you like your bread, adjust your settings for anywhere from 1–4 minutes on the pop up toaster. Once the bread has toasted and popped up, carefully remove the hot pieces of toast and continue with the above original recipe starting with step three.