The Way We Are

By Harriet Barovick, James Colburn, Autumn De Leon, Michelle Derrow, Daniel S. Levy, Lina Lofaro, Andrew Meier, Anne Moffett and Desa Philadelphia

BUTTER UP! Its biggest fan, Elvis, died 22 years ago, but peanut butter is doing fine. In fact, it's evolving:

--Peanut Butter & Co., a New York City restaurant, offers such dishes as Ants on a Log: celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins

--Russell Stover introduced Peanut Butter and Jelly Cup chocolates last month, in grape and red raspberry

--Jif Smooth Sensations launched flavored peanut butters in July: chocolate silk, apple cinnamon and a berry combo

--TCBY Treat Shops inaugurated a new peanut-butter ice cream and a grape-flavored sorbet blend this spring

--East of Chicago Pizza, a 116-store chain, says its peanut-butter-and-jelly pizza topping is more popular than ever