Cabot

The price of butter is out of whack.  Some brands cost over $7 per pound, which is 50 percent  more than last year when the average price was about $3.50 per pound at our area supermarkets like Hannaford’s,  Shaw’s, Whole Foods (for store brand) and Market Basket, the latter offering the best price deals for these sticks of gold.  Incidentally Shaw’s is one of the most expensive sources for butter, just under the average  whopping price at Whole Food’s butter aisle.  For example, Vermont Creamery butter half-pound package costs over $6  at Whole Foods whereas Walmart sells it for $2.98 for  8 ounces,   and picking it up at Shaw’s would set you back $3.99. Hannaford and Market Basket don’t carry Vermont Creamery butter.

 

Cabot butter at Market Basket, a relative

Currently Cabot Butter and Land O Lakes are well over $5 per pound, about $2 more than  six months ago, Cabot is generally less expensive than LOL.  The reason for butter price bloat manufacturers claim is that milk production is more costly than ever,  and labor shortages are to blame too.  I don’t necessarily buy this excuse. Still, I guess it’s a fact of life.  Why, for example, is Kate’s Butter, which is made locally from their own cows who graze on Maine’s farm fields,  way above its price from a year ago?

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Cast-iron has always been in my arsenal of cookware with a few sizes at the ready in pots and pans.  But over the years my collection has grown from two cast-iron pans to a large collection in all sizes for many different uses.

Classics in cast-iron cookery: roast chicken, cornbread, chops and potatoes

Classics in cast-iron cookery: roast chicken, cornbread, chops and potatoes

I’ve learned that what makes cast-iron skillets so integral is the sturdiness of the pan and the heat that it conducts so evenly for such dishes as cornbread, producing the inimitable outer crust, or for skillet pies.  Drape pastry dough into a skillet and fill with apples, sugar and a few knobs of butter and it’s all you need for a great pie baked in cast-iron.

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