A woman turned to a unique comfort food — and quite a bit of it — to deal with the dissolution of her marriage.
On March 18, Ruby Gregory, a Tallahassee, Florida resident, posted a video on Instagram about a letter she wrote to Peanut Patch, a boiled peanuts company. In it, she describes a major life change that led her to this point: her divorce.
“I have consumed well over 100 cans of Peanut Patch boiled peanuts since my wife left me back in September,” she says in the video, which now has hundreds of thousands of views.
Before reading the letter, she explains she wrote the company to express her appreciation — not because she’s sponsored by it.
“Hello. My name is Ruby,” she starts the video. “Back in September, my wife came home, told me she cheated on me with someone in her nursing program and left. I was so sad, I could hardly eat for about a month. I lost 30 pounds in 30 days. Yikes.”
One day in November, she says, she had a craving for boiled peanuts, a childhood snack her family would eat “on game days,” and Peanut Patch's product fit the bill. From that point, she consumed approximately five to 10 cans per week — normally, the 13.5-ounce cans, but a few “giant” 6-pound cans, too.
“In the coming weeks, my divorce will be finalized, and I will be able to officially and legally move forward with my life, but I will always remember that when things got hard and money got tight, I could always count on my Peanut Patch cans of boiled peanuts to keep me going no matter what the next day brought,” she says.
Many viewers commented with words of support during Gregory’s rough patch.
“I have never felt more seen. Boiled peanuts heal the soul!!” one wrote.
“Romance is temporary, boiled peanuts are forever,” wrote another.
Someone else said they “needed” to see the video, adding, “It was September for me, too. And im having a really hard day.”
A representative for Peanut Patch says the company’s team was “genuinely moved” when Gregory reached out to share what she’d been through.
“We felt honored that Peanut Patch had been there for her during one of the hardest seasons of her life,” the rep tells TODAY.com.
“The snack is perfect for reminding you of good times, but it also steadies you when things get hard,” they add. “We’re so glad Ruby is doing well and stepping into a new chapter. We’ll always be rooting for her.”
“A lot of people have connected with it in a way I didn’t think that they would,” Gregory tells TODAY.com, adding that she’s been getting “tons of DMs” from people about the comfort foods they turned to when times got hard.
“I think this is the first time I’ve turned to boiled peanuts specifically for comfort, but there was always that feeling of being sent back to sitting at my grandparents’ house while they watched football or on a holiday occasion when all my family was home eating them,” Gregory says. “There was always really strong memories attached to it.”
Se later posted a video explaining the taste and texture of boiled peanuts in response to all the comments from those unfamiliar with the dish.
“It’s very different from dry-roasted peanuts,” she says, adding that some folks say they are akin to green beans, which she understands, though she describes them differently.
“It doesn’t have quite as strong a peanut flavor, and it really takes on whatever seasoning you’re putting on it. They’re kind of creamy, too, if that makes sense,” she says. “Some people also call them mini-baked potatoes.”
Many folks wanted to know if Peanut Patch responded to Gregory. She confirmed in a follow-up video that the company wrote back to say it was glad the product bought her comfort, and in another video, she said Peanut Patch was sending her a care package.
Gregory says she received that care package: 48 more cans of boiled peanuts and a branded, commercial-grade boiled peanut warmer.
“I just hope that anybody going through hard times can find their comfort food,” Gregory says. “I also would encourage them to find someone to share it with, because that community and the people commenting online have been so important for me.”
The Origins of Boiled Peanuts in the U.S.
According to the National Peanut Board, peanuts were brought to America by enslaved Africans, and the practice of boiling the legume likely originated in the U.S. from those same Africans.
The organization says, when there was a surplus peanut crop, peanut boils were held to use them up in celebration.
These days, you can find boiled peanuts on the side of the road in many areas of the South. It’s also popular in other countries, including China, which has its own take on the delicacy, featuring red chiles, cinnamon, cloves and other spices.
