Like Buttah

I use textiles, yarn and yardage, as my medium for art/crafts. Today I stumbled on a different medium, butter! The Midwest Dairy Association has added an app on Facebook, Butter-fy Yourself that allows you to make a postcard of you sculpted in butter. As you can see I look just like buttah!

The first recorded North American sculpture in butter was created by Carolyn Brooks for the 1876 U.S. Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Butter sculptures are a traditional art form of the Tibetan Buddhism with a history of 600 years. Who knew? To think all this time I was just slathering my bread with it. In the U.S. butter carving is a staple of Midwest State Fairs, I've learned. Controversial Tweets, letters from Peta, input from Vegans all help determine what will be sculpted in some states. Other states opt for the traditional cow carving. The Minnesota State Fair features a butter sculpture of the twelve finalists of the Princess Kay of the Milky Way contest. The winner is crowned Dairy Princess. Their likenesses are carved from 90 lb. blocks of butter. I am not sure I'd want to be chosen to represent my state's cow, of course maybe it's a great tiara. Perhaps you get to keep your butter likeness as a prize. 90 pound of butter could make quite a few cookies.

I must be hungry because I just keep thinking of the thousands of ways butter would taste good right now. Upon reflection, while snacking, butter seems to have invaded the cultural landscape of American society. Something is referred to as smooth as butter, silky as butter, creamy as butter, foods and lotions are called buttery. Saturday Night live had a series of skits that referred to a star's manicure saying they were "like buttah". There is an economic theory named Guns and Butter and a tattoo blog called Ink Butter. Olive oil is never used as an adjective let alone made into a sculpture. No economics teacher has referred to my EVOO. Yet it is supposed to be so much healthier than butter.

After I eat my way to a butterball shape, I think I'll go back to my knitting. Knitting at least offers diet options. I can choose to buy yarn rather than food. I can walk to the yarn shop for a workout. Then I can sit my butt down and resume stitching.