Peanut Brittle

The bottom of the bucket is always like this.  Hard.  Brittle.  Peanut butter is supposed to be like "butter." That's the point of it--spread the peanuts like butter.  

Old-fashioned, chunky peanut butter

I buy the old-fashioned kind that separates out and arrives in the kitchen with an inch of peanut oil flowing across the top.  My gut (and other parts of my body as well) tells me that's more fat than needed to make a buttery consistency.  I usually pour off all that is visible and stir in the rest.  Sometimes I even remove all the peanut butter from the jar so it can be mixed well.  As the peanut butter is used, it is stirred often, deeply, to keep that last layer engaged with the whole.

This little rock does not spread

Yet, today, when I went to scoop out the last from the jar, it was brittle--tear-up-your-bread brittle.

Much more compliant after a few drops of added oil

My replacement jar was sitting on the counter when the bells went off in my head. Solve the brittle butter was on my list--Things I get to do today--and I knew the answer.  Use just a tiny drip or two of the oil from the new jar to soften this rocky lump.  A moment later the bread was spread with nary a tear.

Reserved oil for maladies of "old age"

This time instead of pouring the oil down the drain, I saved a few tablespoons in a bottle for use when the jar is nearly empty and the remaining peanut butter is showing the stiffness of old age.