friday feast: peanut butter poems wanted!

~ jama

 

Happy November!

It’s Peanut Butter Lover’s Month!

 

 

Not that I need an excuse to spread it on extra thick or anything. Why, just this morning I had a nice slice of lightly toasted multi-grain bread slathered with 365 All Natural Creamy Peanut Butter and Hawaiian Sun Guava Jelly. Don’t  you love the way peanut butter melts on warm toast, making you lick the corners of your mouth after biting into it? Mmmmmmm!

If I’m feeling extra naughty, I’ll forego the jelly and spread on some Nutella. Then there’s my peanut butter and apple mid-morning snack, the late afternoon Reese’s PB Cup or PB on celery pick-me-up. Sigh. I blame my addiction on my dad, who always seemed to be snacking on cocktail peanuts while I was growing up. Sound familiar?

via Ultimate Cookie Jar

What about peanut butter cookies? Alas and alack! I married a man who does not like them. Len took PBJs or fluffernutters to school for lunch every day and he somehow (very strangely) associates peanut butter cookies with that (the average American boy eats approximately 1500 PB sandwiches before the age of 18). To this day, I’ve never seen him eat a PB sandwich or a PB cookie, though he loves PB on Ritz crackers. Go figure.

It’s interesting that adults actually eat more peanut butter than kids. Aside from being a great source of plant protein, dietary fiber, Vitamin E, niacin, and cool minerals such as iron, calcium and magnesium, peanut butter simply calls up a host of happy childhood memories. Want a cookie?

(click for recipe at Clockwork Lemon

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
by Edwin Romond

My mother made them from memory
giving me my own memory of winter
in our kitchen, the salty aroma
of peanut butter cookies from the oven,
and the torture of waiting for them to cool
on the window sill overlooking Albert St.
in the Eisenhower 50s of my childhood.
I remember her mixing brown sugar,
butter, and spoons of Skippy. She never
checked a cookbook and they tasted
like no other cookies tasted. “I just know,”
she’d say if I asked her how she did this
then she’d wrap them in foil and sing
along with Perry Como on our radio.

(rest is here)

Love mine with chocolate chips (via Toffuti Break)

* * * * *

♥ LET’S CELEBRATE WITH A PEANUT BUTTER POLL AND MORE PEANUT BUTTER POEMS! ♥

Some of you may remember when our favorite mustachioed poet, Charles Ghigna, shared his own peanut butter poem at the Father Goose blog, and those of you who’ve seen the wonderful Poetry Friday Anthology know about Robyn Hood Black’s charming mouthful, “Snack Rules,” which Joy Acey shared here. Proof positive that poets love peanut butter!

Charles came up with a fun suggestion: to offset all the ridiculous political polls we’ve been inundated with recently, why not do our own PEANUT BUTTER POLL?

Yes, inquiring (and hungry) minds want to know!

1) What’s your favorite brand — and even more intriguing — creamy or chunky?

  • Check off your fave brand in my sidebar poll or tell us in a comment.
  • Tell us whether you prefer creamy or chunky in your comment.
  • You don’t have to be a poet to participate in the poll.

2) If you’d like to help us spread it on even thicker, write your own peanut butter poem:

  • Send it to me anytime this month: readermail (at) jamakimrattigan (dot) com.
  • I’ll post all peanut butter poems on November Poetry Fridays as I receive them.

For the record, Father Goose Charles likes Peter Pan. Supposedly, East Coasters prefer creamy, while West Coasters like chunky, and women and children like creamy while men like chunky. Is it true? Can’t wait to hear about your preferences and feast on your poems!

* * * * *

♥ IN A NUTSHELL♥

  • Two former U.S. Presidents were peanut farmers: Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter.
  • Other famous peanut butter lovers: Elvis, President Bill Clinton, Julia Child, Larry King, Jack Nicholson, Tom Selleck, Kim Basinger, Barbara Walters, Olympian Bonnie Blair, Barbara Bush, Dan Rather, Madonna, Cher, William F. Buckley, Billy Joel, Julia Roberts, Bill Cosby, Jerry Seinfeld and Michael J. Fox.
  • Americans eat about 3 pounds of peanut butter per person each year, totaling about 500 million pounds… enough to cover the floor of the Grand Canyon.
  • It takes 772 peanuts to make a 16.3 oz jar of peanut butter.
  • In George Washington Carver’s 1916 Research Bulletin called How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it for Human Consumption, he included three recipes for peanut cookies calling for crushed/chopped peanuts as an ingredient. Peanut butter was not actually listed as an ingredient until the 1920’s.
  • What about those famous criss-cross tine marks that characterize peanut butter cookies? Earliest PB cookies were rolled out thin and cut into shapes. First recipe that mentioned marking them with a fork was published in the Schenectady Gazette on July 1, 1932.

 

* * * * *

Donna at Mainely Write is hosting this week’s Roundup. Do you think she likes creamy or chunky? Enjoy all the poetic goodness being shared in the blogosphere,   send me your peanut butter poems, and help me SPREAD THE WORD!! 🙂

Cookie Coda:

A peanut sat on a railroad track,
His heart was all a-flutter.
The five-fifteen came rushing by–
Toot toot!   Peanut butter!
~ Anonymous

——————————————-

This post is also being linked to Beth Fish Read’s Weekend Cooking, where everyone is invited to share their food-related posts (fiction/nonfiction/cookbook/movie reviews, recipes, photos, musings, etc.). Put on your bib and join the party!

——————————————-

Copyright © 2012 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

80 thoughts on “friday feast: peanut butter poems wanted!”

  1. I’m nuts about this post!

    Earlier today I had a toasted peanut butter sandwich. I was celebrating Peanut Butter Lover’s Month and I didn’t even know it.

    Like

  2. Great peanut buttery facts! I prefer crunchy peanut butter and my favorite brand is Jif. My Dad sings a peanut butter song all the time –

    “OH a peanut sat on a railroad track
    with a heart all full of flutter.
    Along came a railroad train – TOOT TOOT
    Peanut Butter! ”

    I don’t think it is an original song, but it’s funny 🙂

    Like

    2. It takes one to know one. You’re NUTS! 🙂

      Don’t you live on the East Coast? You’re supposed to like creamy PB! Does your Dad like chunky too?

      Like

    1. Love your healthy lunch — and you’re absolutely right. There’s truth to the saying that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. I’ve fed our squirrels peanuts too and usually throw my apple cores out for them. Looking forward to your poem :).

      Like

  5. Great poem! My Mom makes peanut butter cookies like that, she used to send them to me whenever I went away from home.

    I prefer creamy and like Jif. 🙂

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  6. I prefer crunchy peanut-butter, while my husband prefers creamy. But then, every now and then, we switch preferences. We’ve learned to develop a taste for the no-sugar added versions (which end up making the taste in pb cookies even more intense). There is a local pie shop that makes pb and jelly pie. I enjoy the bit of tartness that the jelly brings to a pie that is delicious, but often too sweet. I had homemade peanut butter ice-cream this summer… and had to restrain myself. It was just lovely.

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    1. I’ve never had peanut butter ice cream. Sounds delish!

      Like that you and your husband perfectly complement each other with your preferences, but sometimes switch :). I also tend toward the no-sugar, no trans fat added brands. The 365 is a pain to stir, but I like the flavor of just peanuts and salt.

      Like

  7. Hmmm. Chunky or smooth? I really like both. It depends on my mood. If I’m really hungry and need more oomph to my meal, then it’s chunky. If I feel mellow and don’t mind it melting down my fingers from the toasted English Muffin…then smooth. But either way, it definitely HAS to be natural and unsalted! I love the taste too much to put sugar and salt in it. Smuckers and Teddie Natural Unsalted are my favorites. Now let me see about a poem. Ugh! It’s too late to eat a slice of toast and PB.

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    1. You are a PB purist! Just peanuts for you :). I haven’t seen the Teddie brand here in Northern Virginia, but I’ve tried Smuckers All Natural. I seem to crave a little salt in my PB. You’ve just reminded me that I have English Muffins in the freezer. Think I’ll have one today. Any excuse to eat melty PB! Thanks for commenting!

      Like

  8. GAH! I just spent 15 minutes pinning all the recipes before coming to comment. I LOVE creamy peanut butter, but it is very expensive here. My mother sent me some last year in a care package, and I made peanut butter blossoms (and lots of PBJs). My husband won’t touch the stuff, but he did like the cookies. But chocolate chip peanut butter cookies? Why didn’t I think of that! Just put PB on the grocery list, ridiculous price and all!

    I am IN for the peanut butter poem! Love everything about this post.

    Oh…and I do enjoy the slight creepiness of coming over here and seeing my latest poet already in the sidebar….it’s like they’re stalking me…

    Like

    1. Something weird and psychic is definitely going on! Will S. asked to be featured this week so I posted his pic several days ago — before I knew you were interviewing him!

      What brands are available where you live? I imagine not having PB in the house all the time would only increase your cravings :). Funny how your husband likes the cookies and mine doesn’t.

      Chocolate and PB are just so beautiful together — whether in candy, cookies or pie. Have fun with your baking!

      Like

  9. I LOVE peanut butter cookies and a cup of milk. I love Cooking Light’s Sweet and Salty cookie recipe.
    I got lucky enough to get an ARC of a book that’s coming out on this history of peanut butter (Creamy and Crunchy) and I can’t wait to read it.

    I love your peanut buttery post.

    Like

    1. Oh! That recipe looks good. Wonderful things happen when you add sea salt to baking recipes :). Must look for that new book. Thanks for the heads up!

      Like

    1. I’ve been wondering why there seems to be more peanut allergies these days than when I was growing up (in the dark ages). Were they just not diagnosed as such, or is there something about the way peanuts are now grown and distributed?

      Join the Jif Club. You have lots of company. 🙂

      Like

  11. LOVE this post! The poem brings back my own memories of baking with my mom…and me baking with my own kids. (Yes, I’m the one who goes crazy in the kitchen with Christmas cookies each year!) And yes, Charles Ghigna and I know a good PB when we see one – I’ve loved Peter Pan PB since I was knee-high to nuthin’.

    Here’s my PB poem…only spent about 20 minutes on it, but I kinda like it!

    Ode to Peanut Butter

    I love when you’re creamy
    So smooth and so fine,
    Or when you are chunky –
    I‘m glad you’re all mine.

    I love how you’re salty
    A little bit sweet
    So richly delicious,
    A wonderful treat!

    I love you on crackers
    I love you on bread
    I love you with breakfast
    And right before bed.

    There’s only one small thing
    I’m not keen about…
    Da way dat you thtick
    To da woof of my mouf.

    – © 2012, Matt Forrest Esenwine

    Like

      1. For sandwiches and eating out of the tub (which of course I’d NEVER do…) it’s definitely creamy. For cooking or baking, I prefer chunky. (Yes, I’m very particular!)

        Like

  12. I don’t have an original PB poem to share, but I do have a favorite one by Shel Silverstein. 🙂

    I grew up on chunky Skippy. My BIL has recently converted me to JIF (either chunky or creamy) as far as national brands, but the PB I actually eat most often is the fresh-ground-nothing-added stuff my health food store makes. And that’s just because a) it’s what was allowed when I was on the special diet and b) it’s a little bit cheaper than store offerings.

    I think my absolute favorite is Crazy Richard’s natural PB – it has a nice salty tang – but I don’t indulge myself very often because of cost.

    Every morning I have a muffin made with PB, with a dollop of my PB on top for good measure. 😀

    Like

    1. Oho! PB muffins! I think I need to have breakfast at your house. Thanks for the link to the Silverstein poem. Now there’s a diehard PB lover!

      Crazy Richards? Wow, love the sound of that. Don’t think I could find that here. I also grew up on Skippy, discovered Peter Pan as an adult, but so far haven’t gravitated toJif.

      Like

  14. Your posts never disappoint! I think I’ll have some yummy Haitian peanut butter with my breakfast!

    Like

  15. Oh, those Peanut Butter Blossoms (though I didn’t know there were called that) are my favorite holiday cookies. They are really the only holiday cookies one needs, in point of fact.

    I am sad to say we don’t make lots of peanut butter cookies in the Danielson household, since I’m the only one who is a fan.

    We buy Smuckers natural pb, and we even ordered an old-fashioned peanut butter stirrer for it, since that does the job well. Funny how the natural peanut butter has, say, three ingredients, and it costs more than the other brands with all kinds of nonsense included.

    Like

    1. Yes, that “all natural” thing seems to cost more on most food items. Shorter shelf life, bigger price. Sorry to hear you’re the lone holdout on PB cookies in your house. Surprised your girls don’t like them. Do they like PB pie? I know you do 🙂 . . .

      Like

  16. Yum! Yum! Yum! I enjoyed taking your poll the other day, and this post is definitely a keeper. Peter Pan was what Mom bought growing up, so that was my fave. And, I’m a woman who likes chunky PB – but I preferred creamy as a kid. Thanks so much for the shout-out for my PFA poem. Sending you hgggs nnnd kssesss with a mouth full of peanut butter.

    Like

  17. I’ll gladly give those PB mice a home, Jama! Peanut butter of any description is tricky to get here in the UK, but this post makes me think I ought to make the effort to scout some out (preferably the kind that’s crunchy and a little salty, and that needs a little stirring).

    Like

    1. The mice are all yours! They don’t seem too difficult to make, though you’d need red and green M&Ms as well as long skinny red vines. Hope you track down some PB close to home. I don’t remember it being a rarity when I lived in England . . . but maybe I just didn’t seek it out then (sacrilege).

      Like

  18. Homemade peanut butter cookies–swoon! I love peanut butter but don’t have it too often. I’ve started using powdered PB2–it’s roasted peanuts, defatted and then dehydrated. You reconstitute it and there you have it. It’s not as good as the real thing, but it usually gets me through the craving. I wonder how it would be in cookies…it came with recipe cards, but I usually just make some and dip apple or banana slices in it:>)

    Like

  19. Jama, I love your whole post! The poem is wonderful. I was right back in the kitchen with my mom. The last line is a killer; “hiding my fear of the first taste of good-bye.” So true. And the peanut on the railroad track was part of my childhood, too. Thank you!

    Like

  20. Oh, my. Those candy bars look amazing. I love natural peanut butter and almond butter is only for decadent days, it is *that* good. We like peanut butter on apples, on celery with raisins (bugs on a log), and on graham crackers with chocolate chips. It makes sense to have an entire month devoted to PB.

    Like

    1. I need to try PB on graham crackers with chocolate chips! Hadn’t thought of that combo before. Almond butter is so good. it needs to have its own month :).

      Like

  21. I prefer chunky PB; my husband prefers smooth. So we buy smooth… 🙂

    I will admit that, for sandwiches, the smooth spreads more easily. (Even if it isn’t as tasty!)

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  22. My favorite brand is Naturally Nutty. They have amazing flavors and all kinds of nut butters, but my favorite is Butter Toffee Peanut Butter. It has flax seeds and hemp seeds in it to add to the crunch and the healthiness.

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  23. Grew up on creamy Peter Pan, then graduated to no sugar, no salt creamy natural peanut butter. Now I can’t eat peanuts. :((((( But Sunbutter still melts on my toast in the morning. Yum!!!

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  24. Even though I ate a peanut butter sandwich every day from first grade to eighth grade (we Catholic school kids had to brown bag it), I still enjoy a good peanut butter & strawberry jam sandwich. I am the only one in my family who likes crunchy, all the guys like creamy, so I have to keep a jar of each on hand.

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  25. Hurray for peanut butter! We always have both smooth and creamy on hand to please all tastes – also almond butter, and Sunbutter. It’s been far too long since I’ve added Nutella…

    Like

  26. Creamy, all natural peanut butter for this East coast girl. Why add sugar and even cooking oil to something so perfect as pure peanut butter? I was in love with the Valencia Peanut Butter with Sea Salt from Trader Joe’s for the last year or so.. until the recent recall pulled it off the shelves. I’m still mourning over that. 😦

    In a pinch, I make my own nut butters right in my food processor.. usually peanut or almond. I usually eat my nut butters with bananas. Sometimes I have nut butter and bananas on whole wheat bread. Best workout snack ever.

    Like

    1. Haven’t had PB with bananas in awhile. Need to put on some Elvis and indulge :).

      The recent PB recalls are definitely troubling. TJ’s was only one of several brands.

      Like

  28. Wow, you’ve gotten so many responses! I like creamy and crunchy. Is that allowed? When I was a kid, I was crunchy all the way. Will see if I can write you something 🙂

    Like

  29. What a delicious peanut buttery post! I do like peanut butter cookies and sandwiches, but I don’t eat as much of it as I did as a kid. I may be inspired now, though…

    Like

  30. It’s not naughty to use Nutella instead of jelly! It’s a necessity! In fact, I’m 100% neutral to the brand and smoothness/creaminess of the PB as long as there is an equal proportion of Nutella on the bread, toast, or waffle!

    PB cookies made with chunky PB were my brother’s fav – my mom alternated making those with my fav Toll House. Mmm…!

    Like

  31. I grew up in a Crunchy Peter Pan house.

    Now, we buy a Missouri-made natural peanut butter called EastWind. My husband prefers smooth and it is better for recipes, so that’s what we buy. Plus, I have to be careful with PB — too easy to eat too much fat. I would find that all the harder if we kept crunchy PB around.

    I generally treat PB as an ingredient rather than a condiment. My favorite recipe is peanut sauce for stir fry.

    If I really want a peanut butter sandwich, I usually mix PB with nonfat strained yogurt in the food processor to boost the nutrition and reduce the fat. It also makes the spread less oily and more creamy so that I’ve actually grown to prefer it.

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    1. Yum, peanut sauce for stir fry! Never would have thought to mix PB with yogurt. You are like the mad scientist in the kitchen mixing up all kinds of new concoctions. 🙂

      Like

  32. Pingback: 2012 Poetry Friday Archive « Jama's Alphabet Soup

  34. Joe and Dorothy Kennedy’s KNOCK AT A STAR give the original ditty as:

    A peanut sat on a railroad track,
    His heart was all a-flutter.
    The five-fifteen came rushing by–
    Toot toot! Peanut butter!

    By Anonymous

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  36. Pingback: friday feast: two smooth talkers, a chunky hunk, and a hot salsa mama « Jama's Alphabet Soup

    1. Great idea — I have lots of frozen bananas and never thought to use them in smoothies. There’s only so much banana bread you can make. 🙂

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  38. Pingback: Peanut Butter — An Overeater’s Tips | Joy's Book Blog

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