Between the Bread

Peanut butter and banana sandwiches and Elvis Presley are forever linked. The King's favorite appears on the diner menu at Graceland, and Peanut Butter and Co. in New York serves an Elvis sandwich that's a PB&B, plus honey and bacon. If you think that sounds decadent, sit down to the tale of Elvis and the Fool's Gold Loaf.

According to The Life and Cuisine of Elvis Presley, legend has it that in 1976, Elvis hopped a plane from Memphis to Denver and back in a single night just to get his jaws around a sandwich called the Fool’s Gold, served at the Colorado Mine Company restaurant in Denver. He'd been reminiscing about the delicious $50 sandwich when he decided to sate his friends' curiosity by flying them to Denver for a very extreme takeout order.

Serving eight to 10 people and containing more than 40,000 calories, the Fool’s Gold may be the most quintessentially American sandwich ever created. Here's why.

"Ooooh, sandwiches!" exclaims Scarlett Johansson in this clip from The Ellen DeGeneres Show, as Ellen presents her with a plateful of PB&Js on whole wheat bread. Apparently, in People's 2010 Most Beautiful People issue, Scarlett says that red lipstick and sandwiches make her feel pretty, so that's what Ellen gives her. Turns out, Scarlett may have just been eating a sandwich when the question was posed.

I can't really pull off red lipstick, but I'd be honored to receive a plate of sandwiches from Ellen (just not peanut butter, thanks, I'm allergic). In fact, I think Women in Red Lipstick Eating Sandwiches would make a good blog. Like a sister site to Dudes With Beards Eating Cupcakes.

• Enjoy (?) a post-Easter Peeps Fluffernutter — Serious Eats
• Make the peanut butter sandwich that won $25,000 — Lemondrop
• Why eating PB&Js is good for the planet — Atlantic Food
• Slow-cook a pulled pork sandwich with lemon slaw — YumSugar
• A return to Google's Five Borough Bistro — Scanwiches
• A penny-size sandwich for your thoughts — Insanewiches
• Hershel's East Side Deli knows its way around pastrami — Unbreaded

When I was about 7, my family took a vacation in Colorado and stayed at a condo-type place where we cooked our own meals. One morning, my mom went to make some frozen waffles and discovered we had no syrup. Her improvisation resulted in one of my favorite childhood sandwiches, what we called peanut butter and jelly waffles.

I wasn't a huge fan of PB&Js growing up — turns out, I had a slow-building peanut allergy — but the way those two spreads melt into the little squares of hot waffle is absolutely divine. I still make these, albeit with almond butter, but they aren't as good as mom's. I'm of the belief that our favorite, most cherished, and tastiest sandwiches are tied to nostalgia, so tell me: what's your best childhood sandwich memory?