Thursday, January 21, 2010

Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut!



As promised, Monday I hit the streets to make up for lost time. I got to Historic Morris Avenue and pulled over. The Peanut Depot was open for business! I usually photograph that area on the weekends and have posted an exterior photo *here. I don't know why I never thought about going on a weekday. The Peanut Depot has been right here, roasting peanuts the old fashioned way without oils or preservatives for over 100 years. Stepping inside is like going back in time. The old roasters are cranking away, and they still sell them in brown paper bags. You can get them roasted, salted, cajun and raw. And for you hard core southerners, they have boiled peanuts as well. Check their website and order some.

My thanks to the owner and friendly staff for allowing me to roam all over the place photographing . Oh, and I bought myself a paper bag full for the road. We'll come back here. This is a photographer's buffet as Bob Crowe likes to say.

Peanut Factoid: Approximately 1/2 of all peanuts grown in the USA are grown within a 100 mile radius of Dothan , Alabama, the Peanut Capital of the World!

* When I went back to find the URL for the previous post, I stopped to read the comments. That was shortly after I started my blog. How fun to read the comments and find that most of them are still with me, and I do miss those that aren't!

16 comments:

Chuck Pefley said...

Delicious and photogenic. Did you get the 1/2# or 3# paper sack?

Pat said...

One of my fondest childhood memories was going with my grandmother downtown to Planter's Peanuts to buy a bag of WARM, freshly-roasted peanuts still in the shell. We hiked off to the nearby capitol park and fed the squirrels...and ourselves.

I was in my hometown last summer, and Planter's is gone....the big Mr. Peanut that stood outside is gone, too. Oh, where'd he go? Somebody's got him...

TheChieftess said...

Hmmmm....and all this time, I thought Georgia was the home state of peanuts!!!

Love your pictures!!! You have learned well from your mentor...your Obe One Kenobi!!!

Eeyore said...

My mother grew up "within a hundred miles of Dothan" on the Georgia side of the river, and her family indeed grew peanuts. I remember as a child visiting. After harvesting, they would bale the vines to feed the cattle during the winter. Throughout the bales of peanut hay there were always straggling peanuts, hanging on the vines. We loved to go out to the barn, sit on a bale, and dig through for those raw peanuts. Loved 'em boiled too.

PJ said...

I'm a peanut nut. I love them roasted and salted and I go to my local food coop and make my own peanut butter. There's just nothing like it. How wonderful that they sell them in proper brown paper bags! I love the the reflection of the window sign in the second photo as well.

Lowell said...

You're such a nutty character! I think that's why I like you and your blog!

We have boiled peanuts here, too, often sold by the side of the road; that's 'cause we are southerners, too, I suppose.

By the way, are you one of those "power walkers" that go faster than I can run?

Virginia said...

Eeyore,
Grand memories!

Paula,
Never made my own peanut butter. Yum! And thanks for noticing the reflection. I hoped someone would!

Chieftess,
We love our goobers in Alabama!

Bibi,
Right, wish I had him!

Chuck,
I got the tiny bag but I regret it. I"m going back. They are so much better than the canned ones.

Jacob,
HA, I walk pretty fast but at 5'2", my little legs aren't winning any races!

Daryl said...

Yum .. love my peanuts w/o salt and dry roasted ... yum... and addicting ..

Louis la Vache said...

«Louis» is nuts for peanuts, too, so he enjoyed this post! He likes the reflection. Very nice, Virginia!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I can just smell this place.

steviewren said...

There is nothing on earth as good as a bag of warm peanuts from the depot!

Bob Crowe said...

Ok, so pass me an Almond Joy. No, wait. Don't. Almond Joy bars have almonds, not peanuts. If I visited this place I could eat a shovelful. Wonder what vintage of Coca Cola goes best with the nuts?

Katie said...

I was just singing the Almond Joy song yesterday! (Bob's right though; wrong nuts). Anyway great photos and this looks like a very fun place to visit. I love peanuts and now would very much like to try some Cajun peanuts! I'll have to order some online from the Peanut Depot!

Tash said...

So clever on the title, and so wonderful on the images...the 1st one is so charming...and the 2nd splendid. Bet you didn't see the shadow of the sign & need me to point it out to you ;) - ha-ha.

We have a bar in Long Beach, with old time feel (http://www.joejosts.com/ - have your speaker on low) - scooners, pickeled eggs, and fresh roasted peanuts (in the back pool room)...Makes me wanna stop by & take a few photos - & eat a liverworst sandwich & maybe have a sip...

TheChieftess said...

Awwww...Joe Jost's!!! My cousin practically grew up in Joe Jost's in Long Beach...I've had many a Joe Jost's sandwich with him!!!

Virginia said...

Awww, I just love it when my cool readers connect with each other! I

And may I add that the roasted ones from the Peanut Depot are SO MUCH BETTER than any others! The problem is getting them shelled fast enough!
V