A belated welcome to Juice readers

If you’ve wandered in here recently because of the Juice article, welcome! This blog is seriously random, but generally revolves around conservative politics, parenting, natural living, attachment parenting topics, homeschooling, crafting, business ownership, My Family Drives Me Insane (though much less of that now), pregnancy, homebirth, etc. Expect a detailed birth story in October or November. I talk about boobs sometimes. There’s a lot of rambling that’s really boring to read.

The article in Juice was great, I thought. Seriously, if you’ve thought about blogging, give it a shot!! My sister recently started a blog and has loved it. She posts once or twice a week, just stuff from her family or friends. No deep thoughts, no philosophical ramblings (which I am prone to), just life. She’s developed quite the readership, starting with just people she knew, then moving out from there. There’s something weird and wonderful about blogging.

If you’re just looking for more Des Moines-based blogs,I Des Moines is starting a list.

Vacation

Let’s talk peanut butter

I was browsing through this week’s Juice (because I’m in it and had no idea until several people mentioned it to me – that interview was a looooong time ago!) and was quite disappointed to see this comment on page 39.

(and what we’re over) Natural peanut butter. I tried to give it a chance, but the texture is too grainy. You have to keep it in the fridge, so it doesn’t spread. Also, it doesn’t taste good.

Um, what?

I seriously cannot imagine anyone sampling the locally-made nut butters and walking away disappointed. My favorites are honey roasted peanut, and cashew butter. (I don’t have a favorite producer.) They have so much more flavor than Jif or Skippy or whatever else Hy-Vee has on their shelves. And grainy? Hm. I haven’t noticed, but I tend to get chunky style, maybe that makes a difference? (I detested chunky style peanut butter until I tried the natural variety.)

But then I wonder if “BM,” the author of the snippet, had tried the mass-produced natural peanut butter. I will admit, my first foray into natural nut butters was Skippy’s Natural Peanut Butter. And, well, that jar ended up in the garbage after about two uses. Yuk. It was grainy. It lacked flavor. It was gross.

Then, the first time I ever walked into the Metro Market (now closed), I sampled some natural peanut butter from one of their vendors. It was like a little party in my mouth. Our family went through that tub in less than a month. (And when I say “our family,” you should know that Wally was not eating solids yet and Randy really doesn’t consume peanut butter.)

Since then, I’ve tried nearly every variety produced locally, as well as the Maranthana brand, available at Campbell’s. Yum, yum, yum. Maranthana is not bad, but I do prefer the local ones.

Let’s address the specific concerns raised by BM. (I know I could flip to the front of the publication and track down who BM is, but I’m really too lazy.) 1) Grainy. I think that’s more a factor of whatever brand he/she has tried, as certainly not all natural pbs are grainy.  2) needs to be refrigerated. True. Trade-off of not being pumped full of nastiness that keep the oils from going rancid.   3) hard to spread. Yes and no. Take the stuff out of the fridge a few minutes before you want to use it if you’re using it on bread. I personally always eat mine on toast, so what I do is plop a glob on the hot toast, let it sit for a minute, and then spread it after it’s had a chance to melt a bit. mmmm.  4) doesn’t taste good. Obviously a matter of taste, but I think this has more to do with choosing the wrong stuff!!