Trivia and Facts About Peanut Butter
Peanut butter goes back to many countries and times Dating back over 100,000 years ago, a fossilized peanut was discovered in the Republic of China . For centuries, peanuts have been crushed and ground into paste to be used in cooking. Africans made peanut stew as early as the 15 th century, and the Chinese have used peanuts in sauces for hundreds of years.
In the United States, Civil War soldiers dined on peanut porridge, but peanut butter didn't really make the scene in America until the late 1890's. Although Dr. George Washington Carver developed 300 uses for the nutmeat, shell and foliage of the peanut. Peanut butter was invented in 1890 by a St. Louis physician seeking an easily digestible, high protein food for some of his patients who couldn't eat meat because they had bad teeth. Friends and relatives of the patients found they liked the new health food so well that by the early 1920's it had become a staple food throughout the nation.
About the same time, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, cereal pioneer, began to experiment with peanut butter and eventually patented it. A Kellogg employee even began selling hand operated peanut butter grinders in 1897 and it was in 1904 when this yummy gooey treat went mainstream when it was introduced and the Universal Exposition in St Louis.
Seventy percent of all peanut butter sold is smooth and the remaining thirty percent chunky. A good source of protein, two tablespoons provides 10 percent of the Recommended Daily Allowance; it also contains 25 percent of the daily recommended requirement of vitamin E, as well as niacin, folic acid and fiber.
Eighty three percent of all Americans purchase peanut butter. By the time an American graduates from High School, he or she will have eaten 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Their consumption equates to more than 700 million pounds of peanut butter annually, or enough to cover the floor of the Grand Canyon.
Approximately 52 percent of the American peanut crop is used for peanut butter, 21 percent for confectionery items and 23 percent for salted peanuts.
It takes 540 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter. Runner peanuts are the preferred nut for peanut butter making since they are uniform in size making them better for even roasting.
The growing season for peanuts ranges from 120 to 175 days in Alabama, Florida and Georgia-- three states that account for more than two thirds of the US peanut crop The planting season begins in April with harvesting in September and October. An acre of peanuts can yield more than 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches, the most popular ones for kids to take to school.
Peanut butter is excellent for removing chewing gum from clothing and hair.
Peanut butter sticks to the roof of your mouth because of a process called hydration of the peanut protein The high level of protein in peanut butter draws the moisture away from your mouth as you eat it, just like a sponge soaks up water.
And finally peanuts aren't really nuts they are legumes, in the same family as beans and peas. But even though their physical structure and nutritional benefits resemble legumes, their use in diets and cuisine more resembles nuts.
yay for peanut butter!
said sensei when he chinged this write up:)
Sources:
American Peanut Coalition:
www.go-peanuts.org/facts.htm
Facts and trivia about the USA:
www.funfacts.co.uk/unitedstates.html
Peanut Butter Heaven:
www.dofa.com/
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