You can talk about your Moon Pie or your Peeps or your Circus Peanuts. Not for me, not now nor never. My nostalgia is for Pink Peanut Patties. I didn't realize they were a regional treat until my family moved out of the region. Which is Texas, of course.
I found myself thinking about the pink peanut patty as I was preparing the post on peanut clusters. The right peanut makes a big difference in peanut clusters. Ask my friend who bought raw peanuts by accident. I never have a use for raw peanuts, although I know there are peanut brittle recipes that call for them. But there was the time I made pink peanut patties at home.
Pink peanut patties must be made with raw peanuts. The recipe I used was a good one. My mother had saved it from a Dallas newspaper, which she'd seen on a trip to visit relatives. The DIY pink peanut patties turned out OK, if small. I made them at Christmas and shared them with my sisters. The men in the family wouldn't touch them and my children didn't like them either. This Wikipedia entry shows a strong resistance to the allure of this gourmet treat, as well.
Does today's pink peanut patty live up to my childhood memory? I'd say it does. Once I helped a woman from Texas with some genealogy research at the public library where I worked. She was in town for two or three days, using our materials. I can't recall any unusual service that I rendered but she wanted to show her gratitude in some way. I said I really missed the pink peanut patty, something I couldn't find in the Midwest. She didn't know what I was talking about but she asked for my address anyway. A week or two later, I got a box of about two dozen patties.
If there ever was a candy that needed a freshness date, it's the pink peanut patty. There's a fine line between delicious and "It's not worth it." Since nobody in the family would help me with this lady's generous gift, I was on my own. I did my best. I froze the rest.
I found myself thinking about the pink peanut patty as I was preparing the post on peanut clusters. The right peanut makes a big difference in peanut clusters. Ask my friend who bought raw peanuts by accident. I never have a use for raw peanuts, although I know there are peanut brittle recipes that call for them. But there was the time I made pink peanut patties at home.
Pink peanut patties must be made with raw peanuts. The recipe I used was a good one. My mother had saved it from a Dallas newspaper, which she'd seen on a trip to visit relatives. The DIY pink peanut patties turned out OK, if small. I made them at Christmas and shared them with my sisters. The men in the family wouldn't touch them and my children didn't like them either. This Wikipedia entry shows a strong resistance to the allure of this gourmet treat, as well.
Does today's pink peanut patty live up to my childhood memory? I'd say it does. Once I helped a woman from Texas with some genealogy research at the public library where I worked. She was in town for two or three days, using our materials. I can't recall any unusual service that I rendered but she wanted to show her gratitude in some way. I said I really missed the pink peanut patty, something I couldn't find in the Midwest. She didn't know what I was talking about but she asked for my address anyway. A week or two later, I got a box of about two dozen patties.
If there ever was a candy that needed a freshness date, it's the pink peanut patty. There's a fine line between delicious and "It's not worth it." Since nobody in the family would help me with this lady's generous gift, I was on my own. I did my best. I froze the rest.