Peanut, Peanut Butter
3-15-09

"Peanut butter is one of America's favorite foods. Found in about 75% of American homes, peanut butter is considered by many to be a staple like bread and milk". - excerpt from the homepage of peanutbutterlovers.com.

Start spreadin’ the news – March is National Peanut Butter Month. Peanut butter is one of our country's favorite staples, and I'm sure it's in your home as it’s mine. And if you didn’t already know, start spreadin’ the news March is "National Peanut Butter Month". You might be wondering why I'm focusing my attention on peanut butter. There are plenty of reasons, none of which has to do with the fact that March is National Peanut Butter month.

Recently, on a cold and stormy night, I was canvassing my cabinets thinking about a snack. Right in front, next to another of my beloved foods, pasta, there was an unopened jar of one of my absolute favorites. Yes, you've found me out. I'm a peanut butter freak. Often associated with kids and school lunches worldwide, peanut butter is receiving a lot of attention lately. Some of that attention is negative due to the salmonella recall. From what I’ve read it was isolated to a peanut plant in Blakely Georgia. Now it seems new safeguards and inspections have things back to normal. However for a while, peanut butter lovers everywhere panicked. Even my youngest son Phillip declined his favorite package of peanut butter crackers. I pack his lunch many days with this snack but recently Phillip brought them back. I was unaware my 9 year old follows the news so closely. Fortunately, the whole mess seems to have been resolved and it appears all our favorite varieties of peanut butter and related products are back on store shelves in abundance.

Peanut butter as we know it was discovered in 1890. An unknown St. Louis physician supposedly encouraged the owner of a food products company, George A. Bayle Jr., to process and package ground peanut paste as a nutritious protein substitute for people with poor teeth who couldn't chew meat. The physician apparently had experimented by grinding peanuts in his hand-cranked meat grinder. Bayle mechanized the process and began selling peanut butter out of barrels for about 6¢ per pound.

What’s funny about peanut butter today is how the old staple is winding up in as many gourmet restaurants as it is in my son Phillip's lunch bag.

The days of going out to lunch in business have long gone. Once in a blue moon, a client lunch will pop up. Eating at some of Philly's top spots is a rare treat. It's funny to see peanut butter making the move onto upscale menus. Chicken in a peanut butter sauce. Peanut butter noodles with chicken, beef, and sometimes pork.

Then I read about some off the wall uses for peanut butter. Peanut butter was used once by former Senator Barry Goldwater on a camping trip, not for snacking but for shaving. That’s right Mr. Goldwater thought peanut butter would make a great shaving cream. I’ll bet he was a hit among the squirrels on that trip. Removing bubble gum from hair, greasing a truck axle, trapping mice and rats are all just a few of the off beat ways peanut butter is put to use.

Peanut butter is hot. It's in. There are a variety of reasons we're eating an average of three pounds of the creamy stuff each year, according to the National Peanut Association. There are currently more than 30 public figures and celebrities who share a love for peanut butter and are members of the Adult Peanut Butter Lovers' Fan Club. They include former President Bill Clinton‚ Larry King‚ Jack Nicholson‚ Barbara Walters‚ Barbara Bush‚ Madonna‚ Billy Joel‚ Julia Roberts‚ Michael J. Fox and my fellow Temple alum and hometown boy Bill Cosby.

Let’s face it there’s loads of reasons to love pb. Besides tasting good, peanut butter is healthy. As a type 2 diabetic, peanut butter is a pleasure I can indulge that's very low carb, rich in fiber and high in protein. Peanut butter is on a lot of diets, and is popular with those watching weight, and eating healthy. Besides tasting good, and being good for you, peanut butter is inexpensive. There are a lot of varieties from the standard brands to the crushed-peanut-only, organic, all natural stuff.