national day of peanut butter // january 24

I’m not sure why we need a national day dedicated to, well, anything, or why January 24 was selected as the day in which to celebrate peanut butter, but it’s fun so we’ll go with it.

While many countries don’t get the North American affinity for this spread and it’s potential to cause highly allergenic reactions, you have to admit this is one versatile condiment! I’m hard pressed to think of another that can comfortably pull up a seat at the breakfast, lunch and dinner table and stick around for dessert and snack time.

In college a friend and I had a theory that peanut butter went with pretty much anything. So we put the theory to the test.

We were not disappointed.

The most surprising discovery? Peanut butter + green pepper. Weird, but it works.

So in honor of National Peanut Butter Day, here’s a mini round-up of four recipes with peanut butter as the star:

Next week, I’ll post one of my favorite recipes with a peanut butter-based sauce that pairs well with Asian cuisine and that I use most often on a crunchy raw salad.

What are your favorite peanut butter based recipes? Favorite peanut butter memories from childhood? And…crunchy or creamy?