Pickle

Ingredients
1 jar of large, mild pickles (e.g. dill pickle, pickled carrots, pickled cabbage)

1. Refrigerate jar if cold pickle is desired, at least overnight, or for longer.
2. Open jar, by holding glass portion firmly in one hand, grasping lid in other hand and twisting lid counterclockwise. Use kitchen towel to grip jar and/or lid if condensation makes surfaces of jar slippery or if lid is too tight. If lid is difficult to open, it may be loosened by gently tapping around its edge with a butter knife or edge of a heavy spoon. Take care not to shatter glass while tapping.
3. Place lid clean side down on counter top or hold against side of jar with one hand.
4. Hold open jar in one hand. Using fingers of other hand, reach into jar and retrieve single pickle.
5. Consume immediately in two to three bites, repeating steps 4 and 5 as desired.

Recipe serves 1

Photo credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marik0/ / CC BY 2.0

Cheese and crackers

Ingredients

1 box of crackers

1 wedge of hard or medium-hard cheese

1. Open box of crackers using method described for cereal box in breakfast cereal.

2. Place 3-4 crackers per person for a snack or 15-20 crackers per person for a meal on a platter or individual plates.

3. Extract cheese from paper or plastic wrapping by unwrapping cheese and removing from wrapping.

4. Using a knife, cut cheese into long flat pieces, then cut those pieces into shorter pieces that will fit somewhat neatly on a cracker. (see notes on cheese pieces, below)

5. As cheese pieces are ready, place on prepared crackers.

6. May be held at cool room temperature for an hour.

Recipe serves 1-12

Notes on cheese pieces

When making cheese and crackers, proper sizing and shape of cheese pieces relative to crackers is important.

Pieces do not have to be exact shape and size of cracker, but ideally one dimension of the cheese shape will match or slightly exceed one dimension of the cracker shape (see photo above). Cheese pieces that are noticeably smaller or larger in every dimension than crackers are to be avoided. Cheese pieces that are excessively uniform in shape are to be avoided as well.

When pairing a cheese and cracker for the first time, taste first piece of cheese and cracker together to determine if amount of cheese relative to cracker is overpoweringly salty, or is too scant, leading to a dry and flavorless experience. Vary thickness of cheese slices until desirable combination is achieved.

Photo credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lobsterstew/ / CC BY 2.0

Bowl of Soup

Ingredients
1 can of soup (select brand that is ready to eat and does not require addition of water or milk. Information is generally on back of can)

1. Open can using ring pull, if present. Otherwise, use can opener's blade to pierce lid of can, then, applying pressure by squeezing handles of can opener together, turn can opener's crank to open can.
2. Empty contents of can into bowl, taking care to keep edge of can close to bowl. May be done in a dry sink or on top of a towel or paper towel to catch spillage. If contents of can are gel-like, a spoon may be used to scrape remaining contents into bowl.
3. Place bowl in microwave and, using microwave pad, set microwave to cook for 4 minutes on high.
4. Start microwave.
5. While waiting, rinse spoon, if used in step 2. You may rinse can and place in your recycling container (optional).
6. After 4 minutes, remove bowl from microwave. Contents and bowl may be very hot.
7. Consume immediately.

Recipe serves 1-2 depending on size of can

Photo credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marstheinfomage/ / CC BY 2.0

Peanut Butter Sandwich

Ingredients
1 jar peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
1 or 2 slices store bought sandwich bread, pre-sliced

1. Unscrew lid of peanut butter jar, and pierce protective foil and paper wrapping with a butter knife.
2. Using the knife as a wedge or lever, lift protective wrapping, then grasp lifted portion of wrapping firmly with fingers and remove remaining wrapping, exposing peanut butter. (first two steps should be skipped if jar of peanut butter is already open)
3. Using butter knife, scoop about one heaping tablespoon of peanut butter and place on center of one slice of bread.
4. Spread evenly on bread with knife, running flat of knife periodically against edge of bread to remove excess peanut butter stuck to the knife.
5. Fold slice of bread in half for a higher peanut butter to bread ratio, or place second slice of bread on top of peanut buttered bread so that peanut butter forms a layer between two layers of bread.
6. Consume immediately or wrap in paper or plastic to consume later. Keeps for 8-10 hours unrefrigerated.

Recipe serves 1

Variations

Once one has learned to make a peanut butter sandwich, there are many delightful variations that may be attempted. Here are just three:

"PB&J" - Spread a thin layer of fruit jelly on second slice of bread before putting it on top of first slice of bread. Jelly and peanut butter should touch. Jelly makes bread soggy, so this variation must be consumed immediately.

"Peanut butter and banana" - Take sliced banana (recipe will appear on this blog at later date), and arrange slices evenly on top of bread with peanut butter (after step 4). Proceed as original recipe, taking care to press down firmly on top slice of bread. Consume immediately.

"Ham sandwich" - Omit peanut butter. Instead, place slice of ham on top of first slice of bread, and then top with second slice of bread. Consume within 4 hours.

Photo credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33755808@N08/ / CC BY 2.0

Chocolate Bar

Ingredients
1 bar of chocolate (varieties include milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate. Avoid baker's chocolate)

1. Loosen paper wrapper from chocolate bar by sliding index finger between layers of paper, shaking from side to side to tear or detach glued portions.

2. Unfold or tear foil covering off chocolate bar.

3. Break piece of chocolate off, using pre-existing grooves as a guide.

4. Eat piece immediately upon breaking off, or give to another person nearby.
5. Repeat breaking pieces of chocolate off and eating until bar is entirely consumed. When remaining chocolate is too small to break easily, entirety of remainder may be eaten. Alternatively, stop and wrap remaining chocolate with foil and paper and store in a cool dry place.

Recipe serves 1-6 depending on size of chocolate bar and appetite for chocolate

Photo credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/evert-jan/ / CC BY 2.0

Breakfast Cereal

Ingredients
1 box your preferred cereal from the store
1 carton milk (may substitute soy milk, rice milk, nut milk, hemp milk)

1. Open box of cereal with fingers, using knife or scissors to assist in opening internal plastic bag, if any.
2. Pour desired amount of cereal into waterproof bowl (porcelain or glass is ideal).
3. Open carton of milk.
4. Pour sufficient milk to barely cover cereal into bowl, taking care not to hit pieces of cereal at a bad angle causing unexpected and messy splashing.
5. Serve immediately and consume cold.

Recipe serves 1

Photo credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/crayoncauldron/ / CC BY 2.0