National Peanut Butter Day

Whether you prefer crunchy or creamy, on toast, with jelly or eating it straight out of the jar, peanut butter is one of America's favorite foods. More than 3 pounds per person is consumed in the U.S. every year - that's enough to cover the floor of the Grand Canyon!

The very first peanut butter was created 3,000 years ago when peanut growers combined it with cocoa. The Spanish took the peanut back to Europe in the 1500s and it spread around the world after that.

Modern peanut butter can trace it's beginning to 1890 when a St. Louis physician wanted to find a way to find a way for his elderly patients to eat peanuts because of their high protein count. He turned to a food processor who whipped up some barrels of peanut butter. By the early 20th century there were a few manufacturers of peanut butter, but it still faced one problem - it spoiled easily. In 1922 Joseph L. Rosefield patented a process to keep it fresh longer. The brands we know today, Skippy, Jif and Peter Pan, all had their start then.

To celebrate National Peanut Butter day on January 24th, check out the websites and books relating to all things peanut butter-y!

From the Catalog:

-- Peanut Butter Comfort: Recipes for Breakfasts, Brownies, Cakes, Cookies, Candies and Frozen Treats Featuring America's Favorite Sandwich Spread by Averie Sunshine.

-- Peanut Butter Planet: Around the World in 80 Recipes, From Starters to Main Dishes to Desserts by Robin Robertson

-- The Ultimate Peanut Butter Book: Savory and Sweet, Breakfast to Dessert, Hundreds of Ways to Use America's Favorite Spread by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough

-- 101 Things to do with Peanut Butter by Pamela Bennett

-- Creamy & Crunchy: An Informal History of Peanut Butter, The All-American Food by Jon Krampner

From the Web:

-- Peanut Butter Lovers - This website includes recipes, nutrition information and fun facts from the Southern Peanut Growers.

-- Homemade Peanut Butter Recipe - Food Network's Alton Brown shares his recipe for making your own peanut butter.

-- 10 Ways to Use Peanut Butter - This website shares some hints on what to look for when buying peanut butter and also shares different ways to incorporate it into your diet.

-- Classic Peanut Butter Cookie recipe - This is my go-to recipe from Better Homes and Gardens.

--Post by Tracy

Pi in the Sky

Pi -- symbolized π -- is a mathematical concept. Take any perfect circle, measure the circle's diameter (the distance of a straight line through the middle of circle) and the circumference (the distance around the circle). Then divide the circumference by the diameter.

The answer you'll get -- roughly 3.14 -- is the answer you'll always get. Pi is an unchanging constant, true of every (perfect) circle regardless of the circle's size. Pi is also, interestingly enough, an infinite number: while we generally round off at 3.14, the actual number of pi is 3.14159265358979323 ... and so on.

March 14, being 3/14, is National Pi Day. So we've rounded up some resources about pi (the number) and pie (the rather tastier treat). Be sure to celebrate this day as you best see fit.

(We like key lime ourselves.)


PI: 

Read about pi (from the Catalog):

Non-fiction:

-- Pi: A Biography of the World's Most Mysterious Number by Alfred S. Posamentier and Ingmar Lehmann.

-- The Joy of Pi by David Blatner.

-- Pi-Unleashed by Jörg Arndt and Christoph Haenel.


Fiction:

-- Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool - This YA read features Early Auden, an unusual kid who is reading through the number pi like it's the best story he's ever heard.

-- Life of Pi by Yann Martel - Tired of his full name, "Piscine Molitor Patel," the book's hero soon comes to style himself "Pi" ... in tribute to the irrational number.

-- Contact by Carl Sagan - This sci-fi novel uses pi as a story-altering plot device.

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Read about pi (from the web):

-- Pi Day - The holiday's website.

-- A Brief History of Pi - from the San Francisco Exploratorium.

-- 100,000 Digits of Pi - Courtesy of the University of Illinois.

-- The Pi-Search Page - What to see where your birth date shows up in the infinite numbers of pi?  Use this search engine to look through the first 200 million digits!

-- Pi Land - Some fun with pi.

News about pi (from the web):

-- Friday is Pi Day - It's an official national holiday!  A look at some of the nation's celebrations of Pi Day. (USA Today)

-- Calculating Pi for Pi Day - An Associate Professor of Physics calculates pi using everyday objects. (Wired.com)

-- Pi Day: An Infinite Number of Ways to Celebrate - A collection of features celebrating Pi Day. (NPR)

-- See a Man Recite 1,010 Digits of Pi. From memory. (Washington Post)

American Pie Council: Check out the official website of the American Pie Council, who is celebrating Pi Day. Be sure not to miss their fantastic activity packet!

PIE:

Read about pie (from the Catalog):

-- Pie: 300 Tried-and-True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie by Ken Haedrich

-- The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

-- Pies and Tarts: How to Make More Than 50 Scrumptious Pies and Tarts by Carla Bardi

-- Martha Stewart's New Pies and Tarts: 150 Recipes For Old-Fashioned and Modern Favorites from the editors of Martha Stewart Living

-- Simply-- Gluten-Free Desserts: 150 Delicious Recipes for Cupcakes, Cookies, Pies, and More Old and New Favorites by Carol Kicinski

-- Crazy About Pies: Irresistible Pies For Every Sweet Occasion by Krystina Castella

Read about pie (from the web):

-- How to Make a Pie From Start to Finish - from TheKitchn.com.

-- Pie-Making 101: How I Overcame My Fear Of Crumbling Crust - from NPR.org.

-- Perfect Pie Recipes and Tips - from Epicurious.com.

-- How to Make a Pie Crust, Step by Step - from AllRecipes.com.

-- The Pie Academy - from the author of Pie (see link above).

-- Pie Making Tips - from The American Pie Council

Watch videos about making pies:

-- How to Make Apple Pie - from AllRecipes.com

-- Apple Pie Recipe and Video - from JoyOfBaking.com

-- Joyce Maynard's Homemade Apple Pie - from Curious.com



-- Post by Ms. B and Tracy