Happy National Peanut Day! September 13

 National Peanut Day

No secrets here, we LOVE nuts! A secret you may not know is that we are located in the heart of Peanut country! Our city is actually known as the Peanut Capital of the world! We have a festival every year with pageants and a parade as well. We LOVE peanuts! To celebrate National Peanut Day, I want to share some of our fun landmarks with you and a little peanut trivia!

Our town came together and put special landmarks all over the area. They are fun ways to represent and remember area events. You will notice that they are all giant painted peanuts!

Those are just a few of the more than 60 painted nuts around town. If you ever visit, you should see how many you can snap a photo with.

Did You Know?

• There are enough peanuts in one acre to make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches.
• Peanuts are the #1 snack nut consumed in the U.S., accounting for two-thirds of the snack nut market.
• Two peanut farmers have been elected president of the USA – Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter.
• Astronaut Alan Shepard brought a peanut with him to the moon.
• Rumor says that there’s enough mental stimulation in one peanut to produce 30 minutes of serious thinking. That may or may not be true, but peanuts are a good source of protein and the B vitamins, nutrients that help prevent “brain fatigue”.

 Let me share a well loved recipe with you for Peanut Brittle. Simple and easy...as well as a Southern favorite.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups shelled raw peanuts
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Preparation:

1. Microwave first 3 ingredients in a 2-quart glass bowl on HIGH 5 minutes, using an 1100-watt microwave oven. (Microwave 1 more minute if using a 700-watt microwave.)
2.  Stir in peanuts. Microwave 3 more minutes in an 1100-watt oven (add 1 more minute in 700-watt oven)
3.  Stir in butter and vanilla. Microwave 45 seconds in an 1100-watt oven (add 1 more minute in 700-watt oven) or until candy is the color of peanut butter.
4.  Stir in baking soda (mixture will bubble). Working quickly, spread hot candy in a thin layer onto a lightly greased baking sheet using two metal forks.
5. Cool completely and break into pieces.

I prefer my peanuts to be chopped up and I use a Food Chopper to do that. If you plant your own peanuts and want a little help harvesting them, then we have a handy bag that frees up both hands for you called the Gardener's Hollow Leg.

  Both of these products and so much more can be found right on our website www.lawn-gardening-tools.com