food
31 Days of Nuttiness
0March is a great month to go nuts! Y’see, it’s the 35th anniversary of National Peanut Month! So in honor of this, here are a few lesser-known nuggets about one of our favorite treats:
- Peanuts have been found in pre-Columbian sites in Zhejiang province in China dating from between 2100-1811 B.C.
- The Incans of Peru used peanuts as sacrificial offerings and entombed them with their mummies to aid in the spirit life.
- The first major use of peanut crops in America was as feed for pigs but in the hard times during the Civil War, both Northern & Southern troops began to rely upon the peanut as a food source.
- Using only his nose, mountaineer Tom Miller pushed a peanut 14,100 feet to the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado in just 4 days, 23 hours, and 47 minutes.
- Peanut butter’s high protein content draws moisture, often causing it to stick to the roof of your mouth. And the fear of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth is called arachibutyrophobia.
- "Mr. Peanut," the Planters Nut mascot, is based upon a sketch submitted by a schoolboy for the company’s logo contest. His drawing won 13-year-old Antonio Gentile a $5 prize in 1916.
- Although China & India are by far the biggest peanut-growing countries of the world, peanut butter is a distinctly American food product and most other countries never had it prior to the 1960s.
Be sure to check out the other food-related posts here on 2Dolphins.
What a Crock!
1As Rob mentioned a few days ago, the cooler weather we’ve had over the past few weeks has kicked us into “domestic mode” and we’ve been doing more cooking & baking. I’m even getting into the swing of things and, thanks to a recommendation from Ryan, we replaced our battered old crock pot just in time for some Fall cooking.
The Hamilton Beach Stay or Go 6 Quart Slow Cooker we bought at (dare I say it?) Wal-Mart is awesome! This crock pot was definitely made with traveling in mind with a glass lid that has canister-style clips to keep it secured, large grippy handles that keep your hands away from the hot stuff, and it even comes with a serving spoon that clips onto the lid handle. And of course, the crock removes for easy cleanup.
But what makes cleanup even more of a breeze are the ingenious Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners that Ryan also tipped us off about. These are very similar to the heat-resistant baking bags you use for turkey on Thanksgiving. You just line your crock, add ingredients, & cook as you normally would, but after you’re done, you simply toss the liner! No muss, no fuss. No cleaning. Genius! (Did Steve Jobs have something to do with this too?)
And as if it couldn’t get any easier, here’s one of our favorite, oh-so-simple crock pot recipes:
Dede’s Taco Soup
1 lb. ground beef
2 15 oz. cans beef broth
1 15 oz. can Mexican-style (a.k.a. Rotel) stewed tomatoes
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained
1 15 oz. can whole kernel corn with sweet peppers, drained
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
Brown & drain the ground beef, toss everything into the crock pot, & you’re set. You can dress this up with all sorts of extras like diced onion, shredded cheese, or sour cream, but we usually just serve with some corn tortilla chips.
September 2008 Blogtipping
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Lately, our West Texas weather has been unseasonably mild and we’ve had much more rain in the past several weeks than we normally get all Summer. These cool & overcast days have made it feel like Fall is arriving early and there’s just something about that which makes you feel like firing up the oven. Plus, as new parents, we’re trying to cook more at home anyway…
So this month’s Blogtipping is focused on cooking & recipe sites.
Now, these sites don’t have recipes for, as The Curmudgeon would put it: "Teeny, tiny portions of pigeon meat, set atop a brillo pad and covered by a contrasting caramelized ooze, resting next to a little dollop of white turnips or a slice of some vegetable you’ve never heard of." No, these blogs offer easy-to-make dishes that real people would enjoy containing common ingredients you’ll be able to readily track down — or may even already have on-hand.
As you may recall, "Blogtipping" is an chance for us to share 3 things we like — and offer a tip or constructive comment — about 3 blogs each month. So here are our picks for September:
Kalyn’s Kitchen by Kalyn Denny is a great blog that combines a love for cooking with a commitment to healthy, lower-glycemic food that fits within the South Beach plan. It’s definitely worth a look because of:
- The site is a great resource for all sorts of low-carbohydrate info & practical tips to help keep on track with that style of dietary goal.
- Lots of great low-carb recipes that are anything but lacking in flavor or variety.
- Simple & clean site layout makes it easy to navigate around.
- Tip: There’s so much content on the main page, it can be a little overwhelming, but it’s well worth taking the time to explore the sidebars.
The Pioneer Woman Cooks is just one section of an impressive & diverse website by Ree, a.k.a. Pioneer Woman, a transplanted Californian in dusty Oklahoma. Why do you need to check out her site?
- Step-by-step instructions with detailed photos makes even more involved dishes easy.
- The very active community of readers means there’s always other ideas & tips related to Ree’s articles.
- The recipes offered are tried & true, using mostly common, simple ingredients.
- Tip: There’s so much going right on this site, I can’t think of a single thing to add!
The Peanut Butter Blog is a fun, fairly new blog dedicated to peanut butter!
- Loads of great, easy recipes!
- Links to all sorts of fun & funky peanut & peanut butter -related food & accessories.
- You can subscribe via RSS feed to stay up on the latest stuff.
- Tip: Y’know I’m a big fan of peanut butter anyway, so I’m just eager to see even more posts!
Do you have a favorite food-related blog or website? Post a comment and share it with us!
Wrap It Up!
2I read a post on Melissa’s Sarcomical blog about an article by Neil Kramer who decided to seek immortality by coining his own deli specialty, a.k.a. “The Neilochka.” I wondered, could it be that designing a signature sandwich really is the recipe for fame & fortune? Well heck, I can do that!
Anyone who’s tried ‘em can attest that our 2Dolphins Tuna Wraps are awesome — although admittedly, I was a bit off the mark when I made this for Karen P. last month. (I was experimenting with chipotle mayo and got a little carried away!) So here’s the high protein, high fiber, kick-butt wrap that laughs heartily at other, lesser excuses for sammiches:
2Dolphins Tuna Wrap
1 pkg Albacore tuna (in the pouch, not canned!)
2-3 dollops of real mayo
2 spoonfuls of dill relish
1 finely chopped celery stick
Several liberal pinches of finely chopped parsley, green onion, and/or chives
Coupla sprinkles of red pepper flakes
Splash (or two) of Tabasco sauce
Serve with shredded sharp Cheddar cheese and Romaine or Green Leaf lettuce on a 10″ Mission Carb Balance Whole Wheat Tortilla.
So, what would be the ingredients of your signature sandwich and what would you call it?
Peanut Power
0Capping off the coverage of March as National Peanut Month, it seemed only fitting to mention Project Peanut Butter, a non-profit organization created by Dr. Mark Manary which has done extensive field trials in Malawi from 2001-2007 on fighting severe malnutrition using Plumpy’nut.
Plumpy’nut, Nutriset’s amazing Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) product, is based on a fortified peanut paste and offers an incredible 95% recovery rate for severely malnourished children. Project Peanut Butter operates the first local Plumpy’nut 
production facility in Africa and distributes this therapeutic food to malnourished Malawian children in more than 20 nutritional rehabilitation centers. Last year, the United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition, the World Health Organization, & UNICEF issued a joint statement that recognized Project Peanut Butter’s treatment protocols, in conjunction with Plumpy’nut, as the most effective method by which to treat severely malnourished children globally.
It’s estimated that half of all child deaths worldwide are caused by malnutrition. In fact, Joe Stirt’s recent Memo to Nick Negroponte notes that only 3% of the world’s 20 million malnourished children have access to ready-to-use food. While Joe’s post unintentionally connects with one of my main concerns about MIT’s overzealous One Laptop Per Child project (that being, do starving children really need a $100 laptop?), I believe his main point is that the cost of providing critically-needed nourishment for 3rd world children is practically trivial.
Yup, just $15 (a tax-deductible donation) allows Project Peanut Butter to offer a Plumpy’nut-based 4-week nutritional recovery protocol to bring a critically-malnourished child back from the brink.
$15 worth of peanut paste to save a child’s life? Peanut power, indeed!
Peanut Butter Jelly Time
0I just realized that no coverage of National Peanut Month could be anywhere near complete without mentioning Peanut Butter Jelly Time.
It’s beyond me how dancing fruit became synonymous with the Buckwheat Boyz’s crazy song about PB&J, but once you’ve seen this silly little video, you’re gonna have that lodged in your brain permanently!
Check out the Peanut Butter Jelly Time video!
Nutty Uses for Peanut Butter
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Keeping the ball rolling on my coverage of National Peanut Month, I thought it might be fun to toss out a few unexpected or downright wacky uses for peanut butter that I’ve come across recently.
If you thought slathering an apple wedge or celery stick with peanut butter for an afternoon snack was living on the edge, well, just hold on for some really far-out ideas:
- Let a tablespoon of peanut butter slowly dissolve in your mouth to cure hiccups!
- Having trouble getting your pet to take some medication? Most cats & dogs love the taste of peanut butter, so hide the pill in peanut butter and you should have no trouble getting them to swallow it!
- Remove stubborn wax stains on your car’s rubber or non-painted plastic surfaces by applying a little creamy peanut butter to the stain with a soft toothbrush. Peanut butter’s oils dissolve the wax and it’s just sticky & abrasive enough to lift the stain.
- Likewise, gently rub peanut butter in a circular motion on road tar or tree sap that’s gotten on your car then wash with sudsy water to rinse off any residue.
- Create a cheap & simple outdoor bird feeder by spreading peanut butter into the nooks & crannies of a pine cone, then coating with birdseed.
- To get chewing gum out of hair, clothing, or carpet, scrape up what you can, rub with an ice cube to stiffen, then rub a small glob of creamy peanut butter into the gum and wipe up the whole mess with a clean cloth.
- Make Chocolate & Peanut Butter Playdough for your kids to play with!
- You can even shave with creamy peanut butter! Reportedly, former senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona once did this while on a camping trip.
Nutty Nuggets
0Continuing with the celebration of Nat’l Peanut Month, I thought I’d offer up some interesting peanut info. If any of this helps settle a bar bet, well, ya owe me a brew…
Historically Nuts
The peanut is a South American legume with an ancient history. Peanut shells have been found in archaeological digs that date back to 2500 BC but it’s likely that they were being consumed even before then. Interestingly, none of the 4 main varieties of peanut (Peruvian, Spanish, Valencia, & Virginia) prevalent in the U.S. came here directly. Instead, the peanut took the slow boat, migrating either through Africa or the Orient to North America as a result of Spanish and/or Portuguese traders.
Historically, the largest grower of peanuts in the world had been India, but China began dominating production in the 1990s. By 2000, China was yielding almost 40% of the world crop, and India almost 25%, with the U.S. in 3rd place with only 6% of worldwide peanut production.
Peanut Trivia
- About 2/3rds of the worldwide peanut crop is processed for oil and peanut oil accounts for 8% of the worlds edible oil production.
- There are about 1,218 peanuts in a 28-ounce jar of peanut butter.
- An average of 2,860 pounds of peanuts are harvested from each acre of peanut plants and an acre of peanuts will make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches.
- Roasted peanuts were first sold at a P.T. Barnum circus in the late-1800s.
- The term "peanut gallery" was popularized in the late 19th century because those in the cheapest, uppermost seats in a theater could throw peanuts at people in the more expensive seats below.
- Alabama, Florida, New Mexico, & South Carolina all contribute, but the predominant peanut-growers in the U.S. are Georgia & Texas.
- The official state crop of Georgia is the peanut and that state produces almost ½ of the total U.S. peanut crop.
- About ½ of all of the peanuts grown in the U.S. for food use ends up in a jar of peanut butter.
- On average, Americans each eat 3 lbs of peanut butter per year. That’s about 700 million pounds, or enough to coat the floor of the Grand Canyon!
- Peanut butter’s high protein content draws moisture from your mouth. That’s why it sticks to the roof of your mouth.
- On May 15, 1963, U.S. astronaut Gordon "Gordo" Cooper ate bite-sized peanut butter sandwiches during the last Mercury space flight mission.
Go Nuts in March
0National Peanut Month is upon us! What began as National Peanut Week in 1941, expanded to a month-long celebration in 1974. And it’s probably no coincidence that March is also National Nutrition Month because the lowly peanut is quite the nutritional powerhouse!
While peanuts aren’t actually nuts — they’re legumes, related to peas, lentils, chickpeas & other beans — they’re loaded with healthful goodness, with almost 8 grams of protein per serving and feature lots of dietary fiber, vitamin E, niacin, folate, & manganese. They’re also a good source of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and two high-powered antioxidants: p-Coumaric acid & resveratrol, the highly-touted component found in red grapes & wine. In fact, peanuts pack in more antioxidants than either apples or carrots!
And you can easily get your fill of those healthful morsels by indulging often in what Lindsey Knerl calls The Poor Man’s Protein or what chef & writer Florence Fabricant refers to as "The pâté of childhood."
Yup, good ol’ peanut butter!
So, grab up a PBJ and lift a cheer for National Peanut Month!
November ’07 Blogtipping
0As you may have noted from our past Blogtipping posts, the concept behind this series is simple: On the 1st Monday of each month, we link to three unsuspecting blogs with three compliments & one helpful comment or idea for each author. Although most months these "tipped" blogs are grouped by topic or theme, my picks for November are a random mix of blogs that have nothing in common – except that they’re each well worth checking out:
AppScout by the folks at PC Magazine is a relatively new weblog that offers up new websites & applications. Mark B. intro’d me to this blog and I keep going back because of:
- Tons of sites & web-based apps to suit nearly any need!
- Frequently-updated content means there’s always something interesting.
- Subscribe via RSS to keep up with the latest posts.
- Tip: I’d like to see more free downloadable apps featured.
Future Designs by Tuvie is a new blog launched back in July ’07 that I like because of:
- Features innovative and often very-futuristic product concepts & designs.
- Very clear product photos make it easy to see the eye-popping gadgets & design ideas.
- RSS feed option lets you easily keep up with the frequently-updated content.
- Tip: The site’s design fits the topic nicely except that the logo graphic seems oddly very un-futuristic.
Mark’s Daily Apple from Mark Sisson serves up daily health & fitness insights with a side of irreverence. Mark’s tough but positive view encourages people to discuss, learn, & rethink assumptions. There’s plenty to like on his blog:
- Full-content feeds & newsletter subscription options make it easy to keep up-to-date any way you’d like.
- Practical & relevant tips to get more out of life.
- Newly-formed discussion forums allow you to share questions & insights with others.
- Tip: I can’t think of anything to add – this is a great blog that needs to be a part of your regular read list.
Now it’s your turn! Have a favorite blog site you’d like to share?
