I've been telling my sons little things I want them to know. It's sort of like teaching The Meaning of Life, but it's all on the scale of daily minutiae, which is something I understand better anyway. Like with cooking...it's the side dishes that make the meal.

Take for instance peanut butter and celery sticks. I know it doesn't sound like much but it can add just the right touch. It's got a texture element. And sound--it has a nice crunch that reverberates inside and outside your head as you chew.

The celery is refreshing (as long as you serve it cold and you haven't let it get old and rubbery in the fridge...limp celery is not a good thing) and the peanut butter adds just a touch of sweetness. I don't recommend it with Italian meals, but it's good for a traditional bit of pot roast, or a standard chicken pot pie type of thing.


Here's my recipe:

Take a couple of ribs of celery, wash in cold water and trim ends. (I like saying that...ribs of celery.)

Cut ribs into three inch lengths.

With table knife, spread peanut butter in the celery grooves.

Arrange into subtle but appealing pattern on a colorful plate.

Serve immediately!

My son Case believes the best way to eat a peanut butter celery stick is to lick out the peanut butter and leave the celery stick behind. I think this misses the point. I've seen and tasted some variations. Cream cheese and celery sticks. Pimento cheese and celery sticks. None of these possibilties interest me.

I have read a recipe which suggests that once you have the peanut butter spread onto the celery, you can press raisins into the peanut butter. This variation is called Ants on a Log.

If you do this, you are trying too hard.