Weekend Planner: National Peanut Butter Day, Robert Burns' Birthday, and Gingerbread for a Good Cause
Pig Out on Peanut Butter for National Peanut Butter Day:
No matter the time of year, there is always lots to do, eat, and drink in Chicago. Here are some of the hottest happenings this weekend.
For anyone who loves a Reese's, a PB&J, or just a heaping spoonful of JIF, National Peanut Butter Day is an occasion worth celebrating. The creamy holiday takes place Friday, January 24, so play hooky and dive face-first into Chicago's top peanut butter dishes. The peanut butter better bar at Beatrix is like a Nutter Butter, but better, while Jake Melnick's Corner Tap features a Nutter Butter banana pudding and housemade Nutter Butters have been a longtime staple at The Bristol, served with chocolate cremeux for prime dunking. Davanti Enoteca gives PB&J the haute treatment with the help of chocolate, by serving flourless dark chocolate cake with fudge sauce, raspberry compote, peanut butter whipped cream, and salted peanut brittle. The classic PB&J sandwich at Elaine's Coffee Call is a masterful rendition made with blueberry and raspberry jam and pecan butter (OK so it's not peanuts, but it's still a PB&J). Peanut plum dipping sauce provides a pleasant pop of piquant flavor alongside soft salad rolls at Le Colonial, and peanuts enliven the cebiche chifa at Tanta, along with fluke, wonton, ginger, and sesame. For dessert, Allium serves up a PB&J float with peanut butter ice cream and Concord grape soda. Sprinkles has both peanut butter chip and peanut butter chocolate cupcakes, while one of the signature flavors at Molly's Cupcakes is the peanut butter-filled Ron Bennington.
(Happy birthday!)
Robert Burns Birthday Celebration at Fountainhead
As you surely know, January 25 marks the birthday of Robert Burns, the National Bard of Scotland. He's turning 255 this year. So obviously Fountainhead is celebrating in Scottish style with Scotch whiskey and Scottish food from January 23 through January 26. Expect copious amounts of Scottish booze, from pints to whiskey flights to whiskey cocktails. To accompany, chef Cleetus Friedman is whipping up Scottish scones with ham and dried currants, Scotch eggs, and haggis patties with whipped sweet potato and braised greens.
(Gingerbread shake)
Gingerbread Milkshakes for a Good Cause
DMK Burger Bar is giving back via milkshakes, which are the best kind of altruism. The barstaurant kicks off its 2014 365 Days of Giving initiative with January partner, The Nettlehorst School in Lakeview. Now through January 28, DMK is serving a gingerbread milkshake for $5, with proceeds going entirely to the school.
Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground dry roastedpeanut, actually a legume and not a nut, and is popular in North America, theNetherlands, the United Kingdom, Australia and parts of Asia, particularly thePhilippines and Indonesia. It is mainly used as a sandwich spread, sometimes in combination with other spreads such as jam, chocolate (in various forms), vegetables or cheese. The United States[1] is a leading exporter of peanut butter. Nuts are also prepared comparably as nut butters.
- Matt Kirouac