Thursday's Thoughts: Peanut Butter

Thursday's Thoughts: a taste of what I'm thinking

It's National Peanut Butter Day!  Once I get peanut butter on the brain I can think of little else.  Get ready for some peanut butter randomness.

1. Peanut butter and jelly is always the top sandwich combination, but I've come across a few more interesting combinations over the years.  Some go for peanut butter and pickle sandwiches while others kick it up a notch with jalapenos.  I also know someone who grew up eating peanut butter and lettuce sandwiches.  Another friend of mine ate grilled peanut butter sandwiches (which are amazing), but then she dips them in ketchup.  Other odd pairings include mayonnaise, potato chips, marshmallow creme, tomato, bacon, onions and olives.

2. I put peanut butter on my smores more often than not.

3. Presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey's favorite sandwich was "peanut butter, baloney, cheddar cheese, lettuce, and mayonnaise on toasted bread with catsup on the side."

4. It takes roughly 540 peanuts to make a 12 ounce jar pf peanut butter and 770 peanuts to make a 16 ounce jar.

5. If you haven't made your own nut butter yet, such as peanut butter, you are seriously missing out.  It's ridiculously easy and obviously addicting.

6. Peanut butter has a super short shelf life in my pantry.  However, while cleaning out my grandma's cupboards I found an open jar of old peanut butter.  It had a consistency similar to beeswax.

7. Peanut butter is often used in mouse traps.  It would totally work to trap me too.  If I were a mouse I'd want to go that way.  Death by peanut butter.

8. The average American eats 3 pounds of peanut butter each year.  What, that's only 3 jars over the course of an entire year!  Clearly I make up for that, and then some.  I don't even want to know how many pounds of peanut butter I go through in a year.

9. A few of the more unusual or unexpected peanut butter flavor combos I've tried here:
Peanut butter, blueberry and chocolate chip
Peanut butter and basil
Peanut butter, basil, banana and chocolate chip (and trial number two)
Peanut butter and chai tea
Peanut butter and nutmeg
Peanut butter and pumpkin
Peanut butter, jalapeno and chocolate chip
For a full list of posts with peanut butter (including some normal ones), click the peanut butter tag on the right side bar.

10. In the early peanut butter days peanut butter was considered a delicacy.   It was served at upscale locations with pimento or watercress.

I could write all day about peanut butter, don't even get me started on my own favorites or things I'm dying to try.  If you're looking for more peanut butter trivia here's some from the National Peanut Board and The Food Timeline.

Happy National Peanut Butter Day.  Enjoy!

Food for Thought: "Everything in moderation...including moderation." -Julia Child