The best reaction to Paula Deen’s new butter spreads

In case you’ve been doing something productive, you may not have heard of Paula Deen‘s new butter spreads. Despite her advocacy of eating a lower fat diet , due to her diabetes, she apparently couldn’t resist once again championing butter. She is justifying her advocacy by noting that the butters aren’t meant to be used by the pound but are rather “finishing butters,” meant to add butter taste to dishes by adding it at the end of cooking. 

The reason we’re mentioning this is because it gives us a chance to quote Andrew Zimmern on the subject, as quoted in a much more extensive and quite interesting interview on Huffington Post  – and we think it’s a worthwhile comment: 

“We don’t need more butter and cookies. No matter who’s coming out with them. I think we have enough butter and cookies. The dairy people have done a very nice job. God: you did a great job with butter. Brilliant invention.”

Not that we’re opposed to “finishing butter” – but it’s hardly a new concept, having been around for a long time as easily homemade  herb or seasoned butter. And we can’t imagine a store-bought food could top fresh butter combined with fresh herbs or other seasonings. Indeed, if you’d like some inspiration, here are some books from the EYB library to check out.

However, we do understand Paula Deen’s need for more funding and it’s only fair to give her the last word. There’s going to be a Paula Deen museum (read about it here) started by her ex-husband – as she says, “I would want something like this to be a symbol of hope for people looking to make their lives better.”