Standing in the dairy aisle at Walmart, I can't help but notice the price difference between their Great Value butter ($3.06/lb) and Imperial margarine ($1.24/lb). The margarine is clearly the budget winner at a fraction of the cost of butter. My frugal brain says, "get the margarine, get the margarine." But my gut (quite literally) says, "no! Don't do it!" The thought of eating margarine gives me shivers. You know I'm a frugal person. You read here daily how I cut corners to save money. But frugality without a few boundaries isn't wise, it's a downer. My boundary line is in that dairy aisle. My boundary is real butter.
I think we all realize margarine is a manufactured, chemically altered oil product. Just how processed is margarine? If you'd like a peek into how margarine is made, here's a 10-minute video that shows the process, and oddly, presents it in a positive light. We all make our own choices and have our own preferences, but for me, I refuse to put chemically altered oils into my body in the name of saving 2 bucks.
Why My Body (and My Tastebuds) Refuse Fake It
image: Bao Menglong on Unsplash
image: Bao Menglong on Unsplash
The Butter Budget: Where I Shave to Afford the Good Stuff
image: LAUREN GRAY on Unsplash
image: LAUREN GRAY on Unsplash
I can't say I use less butter than I would margarine because the quality is so much better with the butter that I need less. I smear my piece of toast thickly with butter so I can really enjoy that taste. We have a little debate in our house, which is better, butter on cold toast so the butter doesn't melt into the cracks or butter on hot toast so the butter permeates the slice? I fall on the cold toast side of the debate. As one of my daughters used to say at age 4, " I like butter you can see."
In the end, frugality isn't about saving the most possible money. This isn't a game where he who saves the most wins. Frugality is about making choices that improve our lives while being financially responsible. Choosing real butter isn't a lapse in financial discipline. It's a conscious choice to prioritize my health and well-being while satisfying my tastebuds over the savings of a few dollars. By not putting pre-packaged snack foods, frozen dinners, or soda pop into my grocery cart each week, I create breathing room in my grocery budget for something that matters to me, creamy, delicious butter. Frugality should make your life better, not sadder. As I see it, life without real butter is just a little too sad for me. Real butter is my non-negotiable.
Everyone has that one thing. It's where they draw the line, that one food or product where they just won't compromise for the sake of frugality. Logic flies out the window and quality wins. It might be soft and cushy bathroom tissue, the blue dish soap that cleans even oil-slicked seabirds, or farm-fresh organic u-pick strawberries.
True confessions -- are you team butter, or do you secretly have a tub of Country Crock in your fridge? (No judgment!) What is that ONE food or household item where you just won't cheap out, no matter how tight the budget? Drop your confessions in the comments below. I'll be hanging out here all weekend (expecting lots of rain) to read your non-negotiables and reply.
While I appreciate butter for baking and some cooking, I prefer the taste of spreadable butter because it's not as strong as the taste of real butter. I just checked the ingredients on what we have in the fridge. They are cream, canola oil, and salt. I grew up when margarine was supposed to be better (maybe a residual from butter rationing of WWII). All of my family, except my father preferred this. However, my father was raised on a farm with real butter, so we always had real butter for him. It wasn't off limits, but not of us liked the taste.
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteI get your point of view entirely. My parents were also part of the generation that were told butter was very bad and margarine is very good. My grandmother, however, I think was "scarred" by WW2 limits on butter. For the entire time I knew her, she would not buy margarine. When I lived with my grandparents while in university, I suggested my grandmother buy margarine to save money. What a mistake of a conversation that was!
I can understand how you would prefer the taste of a butter blend spread. It is lighter in the dairy taste. You've found what I think is the halfway point between butter and margarine, and probably realize the savings as a result.
Do you have a one non-negotiable food or household product where you won't sacrifice over cost?
I have both butter and margarine in the house. I prefer butter, but my Dh prefers margarine. When the kids were little, and especially when we also had foster kids, butter simply wasn’t in the budget. I kept some in the freezer for holiday meals, or certain foods, but using more than. Stick a day made using butter exclusively cost prohibitive. As soon as money wasn’t as tight butter made its way into everyday life again lol. Now my spurge is occasionally I buy a box of kerrygold. Normally I buy Safeway store brand on sale, or the Costco butter, but when I’m feeling frivolous I buy kerrygold lol.
ReplyDeleteDiane
Hi Diane,
DeleteI understand what you mean about a larger household and the cost of daily butter consumption. A stick per day would be two pounds per week, or over $6 a week at today's prices in my stores (for lowest price butter). Even now, with loosened grocery budget we have, $6 per week would sound pricey to me.
I love that you said "when I'm feeling frivolous." That's exactly how I would think of upgrading to a premium product occasionally. I've never tried Kerrygold butter. I've seen it in the dairy case. That one really appeals to me because, a) it's grass-fed and b) it's European style, which I believe tends to have a lower water content, which means a creamier texture and better baking.
Now this may sound silly or strange to you, but in our family, at gift-giving occasions, we all will ask for at least one premium food item that normally wouldn't be in our budget. This past Christmas I asked for real vanilla extract. The year before I asked for organic avocado oil. The giver gets an easy thing to buy and the recipient gets to try a product they normally wouldn't buy for themselves. I may just ask for premium European butter (either Kerrygold ot the Amish Country butter roll I mentioned in my post) this coming Christmas. I would love to try even better butter.
Thanks for sharing your splurge. It's fun to read what product others splurge on. To anyone else reading along silently right now who maybe feels guilty about their one grocery indulgence, please drop it below. You are among friends here!
I have been fortunate enough to be able to use real Mexican vanilla for all my married life. Soooo much cheaper there. We used to go to Mexico through ds’s job, or I had friends that went. And for the last 10+ years my son and his wife go at least once a year, so they bring it back for anyone who needs it.
DeleteDiane
Diane, you just jogged my memory a bit. My mother used to buy Mexican vanilla extract. We lived in California when I was growing up, so many opportunities to go to Mexico. Thanks for this reminder.
DeleteI am also on team butter. I haven’t purchased margarine since it was 3 for $1- probably 35-40 years ago. But I also have to confess that I have a guilty pleasure - Tillamook ice cream. I only buy ice cream when we have big family dinners, however. And my husband grew up with certain brands, so yes, we buy the big blue bottle of dishwashing soap!
ReplyDeleteHi Ruthie,
DeleteSo that's your guilty pleasure. Yum, Tillamook ice cream! I have to agree -- that brand is premium! I think it makes for a fun family gathering to have special brands or foods. So I wouldn't feel too guilty over choosing Tillamook over less expensive brands, if I were you. What's your favorite flavor?
I haven't tried actual Dawn dishwashing liquid, but we buy the Great Value version. Do you know if Great Value blue dish soap is as good as Dawn? We had some sad experiences with getting plates grease-free using Dollar Tree dish soap (we've been washing by hand since our dishwater conked out). So I decided to try the Great Value version of Dawn. It seems to work better than Dollar Tree dish soap. But I'm wondering if I'm missing out on easier dishwashing by buying a store brand.
I prefer Charmin soft toilet paper and Kleenex brand tissues. I find that when I use the cheap stuff, I use more, so I'm not sure there's much savings (it's pretty hard to quantify), and the comfort with the softer brands is worth it to me. When my daughter was little and had friends over, one of them came out of the bathroom and said, "They have REALLY NICE toilet paper here!". What a thing to be known for.
ReplyDeleteWe don't use a lot of butter. I like to bake, and margarine doesn't work well in baking, so I use real butter for that. It's a treat in our house when I put butter on the table during a meal. We occasionally use I Can't Believe It's Not Butter butter spray--partly to save on calories/fat, and partly because it's easier to apply to toast/corn-on-the-cob, etc., than regular butter.
Hi Kris,
DeleteI laughed about your daughter's friend and her comment. The funny things younger people will say out loud! Yes, what a thing to be known for! I really appreciate name brand tissues, even though I buy store brand. Name brand ones like Kleenex don't dissolve into lint when you put it into a pocket like the cheap ones do.
I've never tried the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, either the spray or spreadable version. I would think this would be great for popcorn and waffles. I have such a hard time spreading butter on waffles without using half a stick of butter. Do you ever do air-popped popcorn? The spray would be such an easy way to get a buttery flavor onto the dry popped corn.
Thanks for sharing, Kris!
Wow, this might be your most popular post ever! I think ICBINB would be great on popcorn or waffles. We have an air popper, but don't generally use it.
DeleteOur church uses the Sam's Club toilet paper that someone else mentioned, and it's fantastic. I don't have a membership, so that's not an option for me.
Hi Kris,
DeleteThis post has generated more interest than many in recent months, that's for sure!
The problem I have with butter on waffles that made me think the spray would be a good option is when buttering a waffle with a knife, most of the butter goes into the first few holes and you have to add more and more butter to get it evenly distributed. Not that I would mind more butter, but my waistline might have a problem with that much.
It's good to find out about other brands. Even though we don't have a Sam's Club nearby, they could come to our area at some point, and I'll keep the Member's Mark TP in mind for that possibility.
Butter. Butter. Butter. I have a double wide butter dish that holds two sticks. My granddaughter asked why two different butters. I explained that the pale yellow one was inexpensive butter that I use in everyday cooking (I catch it on sale and stock up. Butter freezes so well.). The dark, rich gold one is Kerry Gold butter. It’s for my morning sourdough toast. Now, when she asks for toast or corn on the cob, she always adds “and use the GOOD butter Gigi”. She also told her other grandmother that Gigi has cheap butter ☺️. Annie
ReplyDeleteHi Annie,
DeleteI love it! Now I'm thinking I need a double wide butter dish with the premium butter and the everyday butter! That's interesting that the inexpensive butter is paler. I wouldn't have known that. I'm thinking I need to ask for good butter for Christmas this year. That is so cute about your granddaughter.
You and Diane (above in comments) both mentioned Kerrygold by name. Is it really that good? I didn't realize that brand had such a great following. One of my daughters dog-sits for a couple that buy Kerrygold cheese. My daughter said it was the best cheese she'd ever had.
Have you ever found a less expensive brand of butter that comes close to Kerrygold?
Costco has their brand of kerrygold butter. I always mean to do a taste comparison, but never have. I buy the Costco version sometimes if it’s on sale. It’s good, but until I can do a side by side comparison I won’t know for sure how close it comes to kerrygold lol.
DeleteDiane
Good morning, Diane.
DeleteOh, that's good to know!
Okay, I just did a quick search on the Kirkland version of grass-fed butter. Here's an article on All Recipes that suggests the Kirkland is better than Kerrygold:
<a href="https://www.allrecipes.com/costco-kirkland-butter-better-than-kerrygold-11697112"
Please, let me know if/when you do a side by side comparison. Inquiring minds want to know!
Thanks for letting me know that Costco sells its own version.
Diane, that URL should read as: https://www.allrecipes.com/costco-kirkland-butter-better-than-kerrygold-11697112
DeleteSorry about that.
Growing up, my mom and Grandma always bought margarine, so that is what I bought when my husband and I got married. Until one day my husband asked if I would buy real butter. He grew up in Wisconsin, the Dairy state, and grew up on butter. I, too, remember buying Imperial margarine 3 for a dollar, but since I've been buying butter, we haven't looked back. The flavor is so much better to us. I have tried Kerrygold, but Aldi sells a brand that is very much the same for less. The other thing we splurge on is good Extra Virgin Olive Oil. We use it for our salad dressings where you can really taste the difference. We get ours at Aldi or Walmart.
ReplyDeleteHi Nana,
DeleteWow, I remember buying margarine at 3/$1, too. Imperial was always the least expensive brand. That was a long, long time ago. Your comments about your husband growing up in a dairy state made me think about my grandmother and her feelings about real butter (team butter all the way for her). She, too, was a child in a dairy area. It was a farming community of Utah. She also never bought reduced fat milk, but always whole milk, even into her 80s. I wonder how much of her preferences came from her childhood in this small farming town?
I'd never really thought too much about Kerrygold butter. And now three of us, here, mention that butter by name. It must be really good stuff. I'm so glad you have an Aldi to buy something similar for less. Some day Aldi might come to my area, too.
I agree, there are some salad dressings where a rich and buttery olive oil really makes a difference. Do you have a brand that you think has the best flavor?
To answer the question of whether Kerrygold butter is really that good? Yes, it is. Totally worth the price in my opinion. It's grass fed, and that's what makes it more yellow than less expensive butter. It goes on sale once a year at Costco. I buy the maximum and put it in the freezer to use throughout the year. I too have a wide butter dish, with half Kerrygold and half normal grocery store butter. I occasionally see standard butter here for $2.50 a pound, so that's when I stock up on that. I currently have 15lbs of butter in my freezer, and I live alone. I grew up eating mainly margarine. Butter was special, and I loved it. I vowed that when I grew up I would buy butter, so I do.
ReplyDeleteThe other two things I always will buy: black olives in a can and organic granny smith apples. I love both of those, and there are no substitutes.
Hi Tina,
DeleteYour comment now solidifies my desire to try Kerrygold. Four in this comment section alone have affirmed this as a superior brand of butter. The grass-fed aspect is a bug selling point for me, as well. Do you know what month it goes on sale at Costco? I don't have a membership, but my son and daughter-in-law do. (They will buy something at Costco as a gift for me at Christmas.) WinCo had butter for $2.88/lb 10 days ago. I had enough cash to pick up a couple of pounds. I stock up as I can, too, and store it in the freezer.
Yum, you enjoy some of the foods that I do, black olives and apples. Do you think the organic Granny Smith have a better flavor, or do you buy these because they're organic and don't have the same residues as traditionally grown/harvested apples?
When our big family was in California this past winter, our hotel's complimentary breakfast had the best tasting Granny Smiths I've ever eaten. They were a little sweet and very full in flavor. My daughter-in-law said she'd read that fruit from the large orchards that is destined for export, even to out of state, is often the best of the fruit harvested. And what we get from those large growers, here in the same state it's grown, is second best. Anyway, I'd be curious to know if organic apples have better flavor.
Our homegrown apples do taste better than the ones I buy at the store. I always thought that was due to the varieties I grow. But maybe keeping an organic garden and orchard, as I do, enhances the flavor of the apples. Anyways, curious about your thoughts on the organic Granny Smith apples.
I buy the organic Granny Smith to avoid pesticides. I will happily enjoy homegrown or foraged apples when I can get them. That's interesting about the best fruit being exported.
DeleteAs for when Kerrygold goes on sale at Costco, I think it was on sale a couple of months ago. The sale used to be twice a year, in Nov and in the summer, but the schedule has changed, and of course the price has gone up. If I see it is on sale at Costco, I will post something on here. Safeway/QFC occasionally have Kerrygold on sale too - right now Safeway has it for $5.99 for 8oz (regular $6.99). The current Costco price is $16.99 for 2lbs. When I was comparing prices several years ago, Winco actually had it for a decent price. You might check there.
I forgot to say that I do not notice any difference in taste between organic and conventionally grown apples.
DeleteHi Tina,
DeleteThanks for the info on sales and pricing for Kerrygold. I'll check WinCo's price this next week.
So maybe it is the varieties that make our homegrown apples so delicious. My son and daughter-in-law found a local public place last fall where they were able to gather a small bucket of apples. In Washington state, for the most part, you're allowed to pick up to 2 gallons of fruit per person (berries mostly, but sometimes apples) from public land, provided you don't do anything to harm the tree or bush. My son and daughter-in-law felt the apples had not been sprayed with pesticides, as many had worms. But there were enough good quality apples to make it worthwhile for them.
Tina, I found the Kerrygold on sale at Costco 2 weeks ago for $11.99 for 2 lbs. We're obviously in a different area of the country (no Safeway anywhere around here in Oklahoma) so maybe it varies by location? I am wishing I had stocked up rather than just buying one package!
DeleteWow, Cat, that's a great price! I hadn't considered that the Costco sale might vary by location.
DeleteThe reason milk is white and butter is yellow is because when the cows eat grass and turn it into milk, there is a substance in the grass that makes the yellow color in the fat content of the milk. So when the cream is separated from the milk, the fat particles in the cream make the butter yellow. This is why skim milk has the bluish white color. Less fat, less yellow. The particular type of grass in Ireland tends to have more of the fat producing substance. That is why Kerrygold is darker than our American butters. You can even tell the difference in color between American brands. Kerrygold is the best I’ve ever had, and I date back to the days of buying oleo that had the little tubes of “color” that you massaged and added to the oleo to make it look like butter. Kerrygold even beats out the other European butters. As a side note, I was almost 70 before I knew that there are different sizes for East Coast butter and West Coast butter. So if you buy a butter dish off Amazon, for example, you need to search for your butter size. I’m East Coast. Annie
ReplyDeleteHi Annie,
DeleteOh, this is so interesting on so many levels. Thank you!
There's a brand of milk sold in glass bottles in my area that is not homogenized. The fat rises to the top of the milk. With the whole milk, you can see a thick layer of the yellowish cream. As I looked at the 2%, 1% and skim milk, you could actually see less and less yellowish cream at the top of the milk. When I was very little, our milk was delivered to the house in glass bottles. This was non-homogenized milk then, too. My mother would pour off the cream to use in coffee and on oatmeal. We drank the less fat milk remaining. I don't think we were drinking skim milk. I think the milk would have had to sit longer for more cream to rise.
The Costco dupe of Kerrygold butter is from grass-fed cows in New Zealand, if I read right. I wonder if that butter is closer to other European butters or closer to the Irish butter. In any case, I'd sure like to try Kerrygold someday.
As for the butter dishes, I didn't know that at all about the different sizes of sticks of butter. Are butter sticks more elongated and less in width on the East Coast than on the West Coast? I ask because I bought a stainless steel butter dish with glass liner at Goodwill several years ago. When I put a regular (West Coast) stick of butter into the dish, the lid touches the butter and sometimes sticks to it. Annoying mostly, but also one more part of the dish I have to clean regularly. In addition, if we have guests and I serve the butter in that stainless dish, the guests don't know why the butter is sticking to the lid for a second. Land O'Lakes butter is the only brand that is long and slender, fitting into our dish just right. What I do is each time I put a new stick of butter (that is not Land O'Lakes) into the dish, I slice off a long 1/4-inch slice of butter from one long side so it will fit neatly without sticking to the lid.
A lady I used to volunteer with told me about the yellow coloring she and her siblings would be tasked with kneading into the oleo during WW2. I'm old enough to remember some women my mother's age (my mother was born during the Depression) calling margarine oleo.
Do you know where the name oleo comes from? The latin word for oil is oleum. Original oleo was named oleomargarine. Margarine as a name was derived from the Greek word margarites, which means pearl. The non-tinted oleo resembled a pearly, white substance. So oleomargarine is "pearly, white substance made from oil." Here ends the semantics lesson of the day. I didn't know that. I just looked it up. ha ha
Thanks for the information, Annie!
Butter is also one of our non-negotiables; not sure I can narrow it down to only one non-negotiable, though. For "cheaper" TP, Member's Mark from Sam's (I like many Costco products better than Sam's but not this). Also, I will use light olive oil (for in cakes, corn bread, etc... where organic EVOO or avocado oil would not be appropriate) but not "vegetable" or canola oil. Decaf coffee must be decaffeinated via the Swiss water process method rather than using solvents (we mix half regular and half decaf for all our coffee these days). Those are the biggies I can think of off the top of my head.
ReplyDeleteHi Cat,
DeleteI can understand your choices. You've got a mix of health benefits and comfort here.
I knew that about Swiss water process decaf vs. solvent process. But I'd pushed that out of my mind in recent years. I could eliminate the decaf I drink. Hmmm, I'm going to have give this one some thought. Our "vegetable" oil use has dropped significantly. We are still on the jug I bought last fall. I encourage all of my family members to choose any of the meat fats we keep in the freezer in place of vegetable oil when cooking on the stove and butter plus healthier substitutes (like applesauce) when baking. My recent pie crust batch used half Crisco-type shortening and half high quality pork fat. I could taste the difference, but not in a bad way. For butter, have you compared Kirkland grass-fed butter to Kerrygold?
I've never knowingly tried either Member's Mark or Kirkland TP. That's interesting that you prefer the Sam's Club on this item. We've gone with whatever is cheapest, which in recent years became Walmart's Great Value version of 1000 sheets. But, I noticed a huge decline in quality in the last 5 years, so much so I'm considering other brands. You reach a certain point in life when you want a little comfort in daily things. Thanks for sharing your non-negotiables, Cat.
I wanted to tell you that my daughter-in-law gave Azure Standard a try this past month. She found a product that she was buying at Whole Foods for a lot, lot less with Azure. And she told me the drop-off spot is close to where I live. I found some items on their site that I'm going to try. One is an organic all-purpose flour that contains only wheat, no enzymes of barley. The brand I use has become expensive in the last 2 years. Azure's price was very good and can be bought in 25-lb sacks instead of 5-lb (which I have been doing with the other organic brand). So, thanks to you, both my daughter-in-law and I have found another source for groceries.
Lili, glad to hear Azure may work out for you! As to the Kirkland butter vs. Kerrygold, I have not tasted them side by side but have used both and been happy with them. There is also another brand at Costco lately, I want to say Tasty, and I have purchased it and found it good as well. It really comes down to price for me between these these three brands, and I will purchase whichever one costs least, which lately has been the Kerrygold with the sale on.
DeleteAs for toilet paper, I really despise the thin, papery kind where you need twice as much length because it's so flimsy. So Member's Mark is my compromise. Unfortunately, they are no longer selling it in MEGA size rolls, but I feel it's the nicest TP I've tried for a good value.
Hi Cat,
DeleteThanks for the honest opinions on butter. I know you are careful with foods, so I trust your assessment on whether or not one brand of grass-fed butter is hugely better than the others. I couldn't find a brand of butter with the name Tasty. But I did find Tasty Superfoods grass-fed ghee. In any case, I will ask my daughter-in-law to consider gifting me either Kirkland grass-fed butter or Kerrygold butter for a Christmas present.
That is annoying when TP is so think you have to use twice as much. My issue with Walmart's 1000 sheet TP is that it's now thinner and the texture is poor. I used to think it was as good as Scott's 1000 sheet.
I don't know where I got Tasty (except that it is!). Finally remembered that it's "Truly" and verified that. It's another grass-fed butter brand that I have never heard of before seeing it in Costco.
DeleteHi Cat,
DeleteI was able to find Truly brand butter. I read it is Irish butter. The Kirkland grass-fed butter is sourced from New Zealand. So the Truly may be closer to Kerrygold, but maybe only very minutely. It's sold in stores other than Costco in my area, so I'll be on the lookout for it. Thank you for clarifying.
Hello! I use both margarine and butter for different recipes. I use margarine for some quick breads, finding the butter makes them dryer. Sometimes, I'll use a little bit of both for a certain recipe. My biggest splurge is Qtips - gotta have that brand, no generic will do for me. I think the generic ones use very little cotton on the tips.
ReplyDeleteShelby
Hi Shelby,
DeleteHmmm, interesting take on butter and margarine. Thinking about some of my own quick breads (cornbread and sweet breads that I add whole wheat flour to), they are on the dry side. I don't know if butter is causing that, or if I need to find some way to make these breads more moist. Which types of quick breads benefit most from using margarine, in your opinion?
Although my mother bought margarine for everyday use, when baking cookies she used half margarine, half butter. She thought the cookies had better flavor and texture doing half and half.
I think you're right on other brands of cotton swabs. The other issue with other brands is the cotton tends to separate from the stick easily. I use cotton swabs to put on eye shadow about once per week. The applicators that came with the shadow disintegrated a long time ago. Anyway, about every 6 or 7 swabs don't hold together and I get a mess when I'm trying to be neat.
Thanks for sharing your one splurge item, Shelby!
Here is a brief explanation of East and West butter size:
ReplyDeleteEast Coast ("Elgin"): Named after Elgin, Illinois, where dairy production and packaging machinery first originated in the early 1900s. These machines cut butter into long, thin prisms.West Coast ("Stubby"): When the California dairy industry boomed in the 1960s, manufacturers couldn't get the same Eastern machinery. They purchased different packaging presses that shaped the butter into shorter, chunkier blocks.
Annie
I never would have know this. Thanks for this information,. Annie. Very interesting. And now I know why our sticks of butter don't quite fit the butter dish. I told you I bought the dish at Goodwill. Well, it could be someone bought this dish online and were disappointed that butter sticks out here don't quite fit right.
DeleteI do sometimes buy 1-lb blocks of butter that are shaped like a Land O'Lakes box of butter. When I buy the 1-lb block, I cut it into slender quarters, and they fit well. I think the slender sticks are more elegant looking. But I guess that doesn't really matter all that much.
Here is another vote for Kerrygold butter. My DD and SIL are foodies. For Christmas, a year ago, I borrowed Lili’s great idea of the “food stack” for Christmas. They (like I) loved the show Ted Lasso. So I made “biscuits” (shortbread cookies) as the top box and put it in pink (iykyk) . To make the shortbread I used Kerrygold and it made delicious shortbread for the reasons other people have noted. Very rich and “short”.
ReplyDeleteI have bought it on sale around St Patrick’s day when all things Irish are featured. When in Ireland we saw the main plant where it was made. Didn’t go inside unfortunately. Having said that, one of our stores (Harris Teeter-Kroger affiliate) has it on sale for 4.49 for 8 oz right now. I think it’s a bit cheaper in March.
Hi Lynn,
DeleteTeam Kerrygold, it is! Wow, all these years I didn't even know this butter could be so much better than grocery store brand butter.
I hadn't thought about using the premium butter in a recipe that really needs the fat content of good butter like shortbread. Thank you for telling us about this! I will definitely keep this in mind for the holidays. I'm now very eager to try this out.
Next March I will keep my eyes open for Kerrygold. That wouldn't have occurred to me. Thank you! That's too bad you couldn't tour the main plant. That would have been a very interesting tour.
I did ask our tour guide how Kerrygold was used in Ireland. He said it was a premium butter also in Ireland, though cheaper there than for us without being imported. I think we had it a time or two in some restaurants. At other times we had a different kind of Irish butter. I think he also said they were moving towards being called just “Kerry” or some kind of shortened name change but I haven’t seen any evidence of that yet here in the States. I also saw not too long ago the NYT that chefs picked Kerrygold as the best butter. So even some “experts” agree. It is good, but too pricey for me to use daily!
DeleteThat's interesting, Lynn. When you had other Irish butter in restaurants dio you remember if it seemed creamier than standard US butter?
DeleteWell if chefs interviewed by the NYT thinks Kerrygold is the best, who are we to disagree?! I'm going to have to find a deal somewhere on this butter to try it out.
Lili, it seems like it was and a bit deeper in color.
ReplyDeleteAnd my mother and I have a debate over the use of “better” butter (not Kerrygold but domestic butter). Whether it should be used on toast or corn, or in baking. I waffle!
And I have several recipes written in my grandmother’s writing with “oleo” as an ingredient.
Oh, and Lili, I forgot to say what a hit your stack of Christmas goodies were with my son in law. He said I could do that every Christmas!!
DeleteLynn, I'm so glad about your Christmas treat stack going over so well. You know, I think that's the gift my son and daughter-in-law look forward to most. I ask them to return the tins sometime during the year and I refill them. I do most of the same cookies and treats, but try a new one or two every year to surprise them. I think it's a fun way to love our grown kids.
DeleteJust chiming in here to say as a Whole Foods Plant-Based (WFPB) person, I myself haven't purchased either butter or margarine in many-many years (maybe a decade or more? I've got other cooking hacks/alternatives I can use when I want to make tasty goodies for my husband and me). Works for us!
ReplyDeleteHi friend,
DeleteThanks for chiming in. There are no wrong answers here. Do you have favorite spreads for toast or plant-based additions to make baking moist that align with your WFPB lifestyle? I'm always on the look-out for alternatives, as I like to vary up my diet.