I like peanut butter. Particuarly peanut butter toast. I know most people who hear this, think "Hey! This idiot has the culinary sense of a 5 year old." But that is not entirely true. I like peanut butter much more than Orianna.
Peanut butter is in my category of perfect foods.
It doesn't spoil. Well not around here anyway. I have never seen moldy or rotten peanut butter.
It can be eaten in fancy preperations--Thai food/deserts
It is loveliness on a spoon.
It is a nice balance of protein and energy (sugar).
I am sure there are more, but I don't feel like straining my brain. Martins, our local country store makes peanut butter. It is pricier than Jif and Peter Pan, but I love it. I dislike extra crunchy peanut butter intensely. Chewing on a whole peanut in the midst of a nice sandwich is tantamount to a piece of gristle in a filet mignon. Disturbing. After eating fresh ground peanut butter though, Jif seems TOO creamy. Fresh ground has this nice gritty texture that is fabulous. (Hmm...I never thought I could use gritty as a positive adjective.)
The variants on nut butters I currently have.
Jif and fresh ground
Nutella and fresh ground hazelnut peanut butter
Most of you have probably heard of the Elvis sandwich. I always thought it was a peanut butter and banana sandwich cooked like a grilled cheese. However, when I googled it I found that some recipes call for bacon. Bacon has been rearing its crispy, crunchy little head in deserts a lot lately (chocolate covered bacon anyone? Maybe sprinkled on your ice cream sundae?) so I decided to try it.
Despite my love affair with peanut butter, I doubt I will ever make this again. Maybe it is because it looks too much like grilled cheese, so my brain is expecting stringy meltingness. Or maybe it is the banana on peanut butter. Not a huge fan of that combination. I don't think this is a good recipe to become attached to anyway. It probably has more than half of my daily calories and all the fat I need for several days. But if you like peanut butter and bananas, give it a whirl!
Of course, it is easier to just toast bread and slather peanut butter on. With a glass of milk, peanut butter toast is my favorite breakfast. And favorite back up lunch... or supper. Currently I am partial to Martin's butterscotch peanut butter (peanuts ground with caramel butterscoth chips) and their hazelnut peanut butter. A drizzle of honey over regular peanut butter is a classic standby. A touch of nutella on peanut butter toast ups it to a desert. I am not sure you can really ruin peanut butter toast.
A transplanted American in Sweden says you can't even buy peanut butter over there. I feel for them. But I still have peanut butter, so it is hard to be too downhearted about it. Maybe I should make it my life work to bring peanut butter to all nations. Sort of like the peace corps.
When I was googling the Elvis sandwich, Wikipedia informed me that there are several specialized restaurants that only feature items with peanut butter. Why have I never known this? Check out the variations of peanut butter from PB Loco.
CHOOSE YOUR PB
Dark Chocolate Duo, Sumatra Cinnamon & Raisin, CocoaBanana, Chocolate-Chip Cookie Dough, Raspberry White Chocolate, Asian Curry Spice, Jungle Banana, Munchy Crunchy, or Dreamy Creamy
BREAKFAST BURRITO
Sun-Dried Tomato PB, Cheddar Cheese, Scrambled Eggs, Jalapenos and, or Bacon optional
Sun-dried tomato PB? Really? hmmm...
Some of their sandwiches
TROPICAL TWIST
Jungle Banana PB, Strawberry Jam, Coconut & Pineapple
MONKEY'S UNCLE
Cocoa Banana PB, Mandarin Oranges & Granola
CINNY NILLA
Sumatra Cinnamon & Raisin PB, Vanilla Cream Cheese, Apple & Caramel
And they serve salads with Asian curry peanut dressings. And have animal crackers on their menu.
I am sensing a peanut butter party coming up....
5 comments:
1. Leave Lindsey's age out of this. ;)
2. Mary doesn't like peanut butter either. When she was pregnant with Hayden though, she craved it, and when he came out, he ate it by the spoonful, just like you.
3. Extra crunchy anything is intensely disturbing to me. It's why I don't put nuts in cooking or baked goods (though I guess I don't mind them in zucchini bread or something, they usually get soft after baking). I guess they're fine on their own, but I don't want to be eating something delicious and come across a little piece of unexpectedly hard and foreign object. The gristle image you gave is a big reason why I became a vegetarian. There's nothing more disturbing to me than eating a nice burger and finding a crunchy bone in the middle. You might ask yourself, but how often did that happen? Entirely too often is the answer to that. Meat on the bone is a special kind of distress for me.
4. They definitely have peanut butter in Austria. It must just be the Swedes. Or Scandinavians. In Austria, they split their little kaiser rolls in half and put peanut butter on one half and jelly on the other and then eat them separately. My host sister said to me, "In America you put them together? I don't think I'd like that..." as if it was the weirdest thing ever.
I cannot believe Lindsey and I were ever friends with her hatred of peanut butter, I guess I can forgive that. I LOVE peanut butter too! Could eat it for every meal with milk and be happy. I have not had any of the homemade kind to speak of I like the Jif pretty well and Peter Pan especially with the honey added.
As for peanut butter in Sweden, it does exist. In Stockholm there is an American store that sells it but our local ICA had it as well. But they sold the small like half size jars for close to $3 a pop and that was 9 years ago. I used to have my parents ship it to me since I could get more for my money.
Geez now I want a PB n J thanks Bethaney :P
Your comment on liking it more than Orianna literally made me laugh out loud. You're much braver than I for trying Elvis's fave sandwich. I just can't get on board w/ bacon and peanut butter. I do, however, enjoy a good banana and peanut butter for breakfast frequently. Actually, today I had a peanut butter foldover for breakfast. I must have been picking up on your peanut butter love affair.And I really dislike Nutella. It just tastes gross to me. It might be better homemade, tho. Most things are. I'll be hitting up Martin's on my next visit to Moira.
The Parkers are big pb and bacon fans. Dad was the one that told us that when they started offering school lunches at St. Regis Falls, that was one of the things they served over and over. We didn't make it like a grilled cheese sandwich though. We did it the Parker way, not the Elvis way!
Hi Bet!
I think you should definitely start the Peanut Butter Corps. And if the Corps ever travels down to NYC, you should check out this shop:
http://ilovepeanutbutter.com/
Their White Chocolate Wonderful is my current favorite. Their All-Star Recipe Blog isn't too shabby either... enjoy!
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