jama rattigan's alphabet soup

mood: hungry

photo by enzo & lulu.

Hey, you're just in time! Would you like an apple slice with peanut butter? It's my favorite snack. (Don't worry about peanut butter breath. We're all friends here.)

Besides, there's very good reason to indulge: November is National Peanut Butter Lovers Month (not to be confused with National Peanut Month, which is in March). No, today it's all about creamy goodness and spreading it on thick, with the help of Shel Silverstein and Kenn Nesbitt. What? You've polished off all the apple slices already? Not to worry.

We've also got these (once I took an entire box to my college dorm and instantly became very popular):

photo by Bob.Fornal.

Don't you love how peanut butter and chocolate are such natural friends? You probably make some of these during the holidays:

photo by jennymarie5.

Or these:

photo by Stoodle.

I've always wondered why pb cookies are marked with the crisscross pattern. Who invented that, anyway?
       
          photo by simply...gluten-free.

When it comes to pb, I'm very nosy. What kind of jam or jelly do you like on your sandwiches? (I love me some raspberry and blueberry.)

photo by erandell498.

And how do you feel about marshmallow fluff? I'd never heard of it till I met Len (same as rice pudding). Aren't fluffernutters mostly a New England thing?

photo by kimberlykv.

Time for a poem:

I'M GETTING SICK OF PEANUT BUTTER
by Kenn Nesbitt

I look inside my lunch box,
and, oh, what do I see?
A peanut butter sandwich
staring glumly back at me.

I know I had one yesterday,
and, yes, the day before.
In fact, that's all I've eaten
for at least a month or more.

(Rest is here.)

I hope you don't mind my asking, but do you have arachibutyrophobia? That's fear of peanut butter getting stuck to the roof of your mouth. If so, better skip the next poem:

PEANUT-BUTTER SANDWICH
by Shel Silverstein

I'll sing a poem of a silly young king
Who played with the world at the end of a string,
But he only loved one single thing --
And that was just a peanut-butter sandwich.

His scepter and his royal gowns,
His regal throne and golden crowns
Were brown and sticky from the mounds
And drippings from each peanut-butter sandwich.

His subjects all were silly fools
For he had passed a royal rule
That all that they could learn in school
Was how to make a peanut-butter sandwich.

(Rest is here.)

Mamautizschuk!

*takes a swig of cider*

Okay, enough of the polite peanut butter poetics. We've got some serious polling to do. We can talk all day about jelly, fluff, cookies, or apples, but when push comes to shove, there's only one really significant question.

Creamy or chunky?

Before you answer, consider this: usually more women and children prefer creamy, while men go for chunky. Also, more people on the East Coast prefer creamy, while they are ga-ga for chunky out West.

Are you typical? If you live in the middle of the country, I imagine you throw caution to the wind and pig out on enjoy both. ☺

Whatever your preference, here's your homework for the weekend:

Recipe for Black Bottom Peanut Butter Pie by Pillsbury.com.

DID YOU KNOW?

Peanut butter was first developed by a St. Louis doctor in 1890 for his patients who had bad teeth.

Americans eat 700 million pounds of pb every year (that's enough to coat the bottom of the Grand Canyon), and it's found in about 75% of American homes.

One acre of peanuts will make 30,000 pb sandwiches.

The high protein content of pb draws moisture from your mouth, making it sticky.


photo by vzonabaxter.

(At the time of this posting, today's Poetry Friday Roundup host is a mystery. Will update when info is available.)

ETA: Elaine at Wild Rose Reader has generously agreed to host the Roundup today. Thanks so much, Elaine!

"If you don't mind smelling like peanut butter for two or three days, peanut butter makes darn good shaving cream." ~ Barry Goldwater

"Man cannot live by bread alone; he must have peanut butter." ~ James A. Garfield

Copyright © 2009 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.