For National Peanut Butter Day (January 24th), we baked a peanut butter cheesecake. We’d always relied on this Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake from Philadelphia Cream Cheese, but today’s cheesecake took a different route.

 
See below for more peanut butter holidays. You can bake both cheesecakes and decide which you prefer.

> The history of peanut butter.

> The history of cheesecake.
 
 
RECIPE: PEANUT BUTTER CARAMEL CORN CHEESECAKE

The recipe was created for Frigo Cheese by Emily Ellyn, Retro Rad Chef.

We are not typically keen on frozen whipped topping, but for peanut butter cheesecake, we’ll make an exception.

Ingredients For The Crust

[1] Whether this recipe or any other cheesecake recipe, you can generate excitement with garnishes from caramel corn to peanut butter cups (photos #1 and #2 © Frigo Cheese).

[2] Today’s recipe is half cream cheese, half whole milk ricotta cheese.

[3] This chocolate peanut butter cheesecake is all cream cheese. Here’s the recipe (photo © Philadelphia Cream Cheese).

[4] There are three peanut butter puff breakfast cereals that you can use for the crust. First up: Cap’n Crunch (photo © Quaker Oats | Pepsico).

[5] The big brand name in peanut butter cereal: Reese’s (photo © General Mills).

[1] Homemade peanut butter is an elevated taste experience. It will last for several weeks in the fridge (photos © #1, #2 and #3 © Hello Fresh).

[2] You can make your favorite flavored peanut butters easily. Here, it’s honey.

[3] Some people want to spread it on bread; others enjoy it on a spoon, straight from the jar.

[4] You can also make almond butter, cashew butter or other favorite (photo © Murray’s Cheese).

Have you made peanut butter at home? Have you seen it being made fresh at health food stores? Well today, National Peanut Butter Day, is an occasion to get out the food processor and process whole, shelled peanuts into delicious peanut butter. It really does taste better than the jarred varieties.

The only challenge is that after you’ve first made it, some of the oil will separate out to the top. No biggie: Just stir it back in.

Or, try this technique we’ve read about:

Store the jar upside down, then shake for 20 seconds before opening it. This enables the oil to rise back up through the peanut butter and essentially mix itself.

This recipe is shared with us by Hello Fresh, which comments, “We’re just here spoon-feeding ourselves homemade peanut butter, wondering why it took us THIS long to make it from scratch.”

Almonds, cashews, or pistachios will work equally well in this recipe.

> The history of peanut butter.

> Check out the full list of peanut butter holidays below.
 
 
RECIPE: HOMEMADE PEANUT BUTTER

It couldn’t be easier to make your own peanut butter. In fact, it may be a fun task for a kid old enough to use a food processor (or one who’s ready to learn how).

This is a sugar-free recipe, but you can add a sweetener of choice.

See the notes below.
 
Ingredients For 1-1/2 Cups PB

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the peanuts in a food processor or blender and pulse a few times until just-chopped. Scrape the sides, then run the food processor or blender continuously for one minute.

2. SCRAPE the sides again, and process for another minute. Keep repeating until the mix becomes soft, creamy, and spreadable.

3. ADD the salt, oil, and optional sweeteners and/or spices, pulse a few more times, and transfer to a storage container. Store for several weeks in the fridge.
 
Notes

 
 
MORE PEANUT & PEANUT BUTTER HOLIDAYS

There are plenty of reasons to cry, but chopping onions shouldn’t be one of them, says Sunions. Sunions, America’s first tearless and sweet onions, are back in season with a fresh crop now available on grocers’ shelves. They’re available nationwide through March, while supplies last.

Sunions are a product of more than three decades of farming, research, and development to create a no-tears onion*. Sunions are not genetically modified (non-GMO), but have been developed through all-natural cross-breeding technique.

The brand promises that each onion is certified both tearless and sweet before shipping to retailers.

Any cook who has sliced into an acrid onion can appreciate a tearless one. When regular onions are cut, they release volatile compounds responsible for making your eyes tear up.

Over time, breeders have been able to identify volatile onions using gas chromatography. They naturally isolate and breed only the onions that would cause fewer (or no) tears when cut.

Sunions are the invention of Rick Watson, a plant breeder working for the chemical company BASF. He began working on the innovation in the late 1980s.

BASF supplies the seeds for the onion. They are sold to growers who then produce the onions and sell them to retailers.

But growing these onions requires special attention and an investment of time. Only top-level growers can purchase the seeds [source].

The onions were first grown in the U.S. Nevada, Utah, and Washington proved to have the perfect soil and environment (terroir†). The result: sweet, delicious, tearless.
 
 
SUNIONS ARE RIGOROUSLY TESTED

Sunions are unique in that their rigorous testing process ensures a consistent flavor unlike anything else on the market. They actually grow sweeter the longer they’re stored, whereas other onions grow hotter and more pungent.

Storage decreases the volatile compounds to create a tearless, sweet and mild onion.

With Sunions, the onions go straight into storage after harvesting.

While in storage, the onions are ​then triple-tested​ ​for​ ​peak​ ​flavor​ ​and maximum​ ​tearlessness.​ Sunions must pass three separate tests for flavor, crunch, and tearlessness, to determine their ship date.

Then, they’re off to a retailer near you: Aldi, Food Lion, H-E-B, Meijer, Publix, Sam’s Club, Sprouts, and Whole Foods, among others.

For more information and a complete list of where to buy, here’s a store locator.

Get yours before they’re gone for the season!

Head to IHeartSunions.com.

 
 
OUR TOP 3 USES FOR RAW ONIONS

We cherish sweet onions for the way they increase our raw onion enjoyment on:

 
What are your favorite ways to use raw onions?
 
 
THE HISTORY OF ONIONS

________________

*The intense flavor and acrid odor of onions are caused by substances called thiosulfinates, which are created when enzymes called alliinases, contained in the onion’s cells, interact with proteins that are also present in the onion. These reactions take place only when the onion’s cells are ruptured by slicing. The result: the strong-smelling enzymes are released to offend your eyes and with most people, your nose.

†Terroir, pronounced tur-WAH, is a French agricultural term referring to the unique set of environmental factors in a specific habitat that affects a crop’s qualities. These include climate, elevation, proximity to a body of water, slant of the land, soil type, and amount of sun. These environmental characteristics give the wines produced from these grapes a unique character.

[1] Sunions, tearless and sweet onions (photos #1 and #2 © I Heart Sunions.

[2] Slice and chop as many onions as you like with zero eye irritation.

[3] Red onions are popular because of their color, but are often bitingly acrid. Head for the Sunions instead (photo © Idaho Potato Commission).

[4] Use diced Sunions to garmish almost anything. Here’s a tutorial on how to dice onions (photo © Healthy Seasonal Recipes).

Brew a cup of Cupid’s Cup (photo © Adagio Teas).

“How do we love tea? Let us count the ways,” says Adagio Teas about its Cupid’s Cup herbal tea blend. Cupid’s Cup combines hibiscus, strawberry, and vanilla flavors to brew a cup that’s tangy, sweet, and creamy.

Is it a love potion? There are no guarantees, but it is a caffeine-free tea that’s delicious hot or iced.

And, it’s a zero-calorie Valentine’s Day gift.

A pouch of loose tea is free with purchases of $49+ and is $15 on its own. Mark your calendars: This offer begins February 2nd and ends February 14th while supplies last.

Also check out Adagio’s pink and red teaware for your valentine, plus two additional valentine teas.

For more about Cupid’s Cup, head to Adagio.com.
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF TEA
 
> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEA

Fortune cookies may not be authentically Chinese, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun making them at home for the Lunar New Year. For the Chinese New Year, a.k.a. the Lunar New Year, which begins on February 1st, why not make fortune cookies at home?

In addition to making tastier cookies than you get at restaurants, you get to write your own fortunes.

National Fortune Cookie Day is July 20th, but why wait until then?

In addition to the Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day is coming up. You can probably come up with some choice Valentine fortunes.

Here’s a recipe to make fortune cookies at home.

If you’d feel more comfortable with a kit (photo #2), or you’d like to give one as a gift, head here.

Fortune cookies are more than a snack to crack open for the fortune inside.

> Here are other things to do with fortune cookies.

> How about a green tea fortune cookie cake?

> Or a fortune cookie cocktail?

> The history of fortune cookies.

> The different types of cookies.

> The history of cookies.
 
 
WHAT IS THE LUNAR NEW YEAR?

The Chinese calendar, also called the lunar calendar, is a lunisolar calendar, i.e., it’s based on the movement of both the moon and the sun.

Because the track of the new moon changes from year to year, the Chinese/Lunar New Year can begin anytime between late January and mid-February.

This occasion is a traditional festival celebrated by many East Asian cultures. It marks the beginning of the lunar calendar year and is one of the most significant and widely observed holidays in East Asia.

The event is marked not just in China and the rest of Southeast Asia, but across the globe. Who would pass up a celebration with all that great food—dumplings, noodles, spring rolls, and a long list of favorite dishes.

Marking the beginning of another lunar year, the festival lasts for more than two weeks: family reunions, prayers, and feasting, a five-day Lantern Festival, and a New Year’s Eve of reunions and gift-giving.

The tradition of spending the Lunar New Year holiday with family means that hundreds of millions of Chinese people (among other Asian groups) are traveling home to be with family. It’s the world’s biggest annual migration.

Separate from the holiday is the ascendance of the year’s reigning animal. Each new year brings with it an animal from the Chinese zodiac.

The Chinese zodiac is based on a twelve-year cycle. Each year in the cycle has an animal sign: the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat/ram/sheep, monkey, rooster, dog or pig.

This approach is believed to have originated during a period in which animal worship was practiced in China.
 
THE HISTORY OF THE LUNAR NEW YEAR 

The Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, The history of the Lunar New Year dates back some 2,000 years and has deep cultural and historical roots, central to Chinese and other Asian cultures*.

The origins of the Lunar New Year can be traced back to ancient China, where it was closely tied to agricultural cycles. The festival is believed to have originated during the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600–1046 B.C.E.) with rituals and ceremonies to celebrate the harvest and pray for a good planting season.

Emperor Yao and Nian Monster. According to legend, there was a mythical beast called Nian that would come out to harm people and livestock on the eve of the New Year. The people discovered that Nian was afraid of loud noises and the color red.

This led to the tradition of using fireworks, firecrackers, and hanging red decorations during the festival.

The Chinese Zodiac. The Chinese zodiac, consisting of 12 animal signs, plays a significant role in the Lunar New Year. Legend has it that Buddha invited all the animals to join him for a New Year’s celebration, and the first 12 to arrive were each rewarded with a year in the zodiac cycle.

Thus, each year is associated with a specific animal and its characteristics.
It’s been in use for and As with western zodiac followers, people use it to determine their fortune for the year, romantic and business prospects, etc.

Here’s the difference between the two zodiacs.

This year (2022) is the Year Of The Tiger.

[1] How about making fortune cookies with your own style of fortunes. Try this recipe (photo © The Semisweet Sisters).

[2] A kit can make the job easier (photo © World Market).

[3] You can dip them in chocolate, as they do at Emily’s Chocolates (photo © Love With Food).

[4] The Year Of The Tiger. You can download a free PDF here of this and several other designs (photo © 2022 Happy New Year).