Everything is Better with Butter

For my mother, who always knew butter was better for you than margarine

Michael Pollan, dedication for Food Rules, An Eater’s Guide

When I was a newlywed, my husband made the request that I switch from margarine to butter. Like many people of my generation I was raised on margarine. We had a large family, my father was a school teacher, and things were tight. Besides being cheaper, margarine was supposed to be better for you.

My mother-in-law never bought into that lie and so my husband was spoiled with the real, delicious, natural thing-BUTTER.

I couldn’t believe the difference.

Butter is not only better for you, but it tastes so much better.

If you make cookies with margarine, I will try to be polite but I will inwardly ask why you even bothered.

No offense.

Shortening is an abomination.

When I come across a store bought cookie and for some inexplicable reason, actually put it in my mouth-I can taste the shortening and it is not at all pleasant.

My kids will sometimes want to make a recipe that calls for shortening. Good luck finding any Crisco at my house. I haven’t bought the stuff in years. Not even for sugar cookies or biscuits. Use butter. Pie crust?-try lard. Yes, lard. It is so much better for you as long as you get the real deal. Check the ingredients. Not up for lard? Ever heard of using butter or olive oil in your pie crust? It works.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. The makers of margarine and Crisco, whether they knew it or not, did a lot of damage to consumers in this country. It is called heart disease and cancer. Don’t eat it.

Yes, butter is more expensive. But you are making an investment in your health and the health of your loved ones. It is called preventative care and it is better than surgery and chemotherapy (which is also very expensive and not any fun at all).

Be moderate in your use of butter. Buy a freezer and stock up when it is a good price. It freezes well. You will hardly notice a dent in your food budget. But when you are older, you could see a significant difference in your health.

And guess what? Your food will taste a lot better.

4 Comments

1. Rachel
   Posted March 30, 2010 at 1:42 pm

   I love butter. We switched to it years ago. Where can you find lard? The only thing I use Crisco for is pie crust, but I will happily switch. Did you know that maragarine is one molecule away from being plastic and that it takes 7 years to digest it. That’s gross. By the way, butter is on sale at Wal-Mart this week. You can get 4 sticks of butter for only $1.50. That’s better than the normally low price at Costco. A great time to stock up on butter is before holidays (i.e Easter). They always put all that baking type stuff on sale around the food holidays. Love the blog, Jen.

2. Amy
   Posted March 30, 2010 at 4:29 pm

   Yay butter. (Not that horrible song that that horrible girl sang at that horrible talent show when we were in college, but the food.) Also, I have found that a little goes a long way in terms of flavor. I lost over 100 pounds and never gave up butter. I just started using a tsp instead of a tablespoon. As in most things, moderation is the key.

3. HK
   Posted March 31, 2010 at 7:04 pm

   As Gerard Depardieu said to Queen Latifa in LAST HOLIDAY, “We know the secret to life…butter.”

4. Jessica
   Posted April 1, 2010 at 9:33 pm

   I guess our family switched to butter after you left home. I remember being kinda upset about the change, because, you know, I am picky. But once I had butter, I never looked back. Who would eat margarine after tasting the deliciousness that is butter? They’d have to be insane.