Thursday, June 16, 2011

Where sane meets insane...

Who doesn't like a good non-physical cat fight?  Who doesn't like a good cat fight over a non-recipe involving 2 cubes of butter, a loaf of french bread and a broiler?  In all it's grossness, this battle between wits and nit-wits ensued over "The Bread" non-recipe posted on Pioneer Woman Cooks.

It all started with Bekah...  


Bekah On Friday, September 17 at 11:05 am
I love this blog, and I love gazing at pictures of stuffed french toast and creamy pasta. But sometimes I think the almost violent overuse of butter or mayo or cream, etc., just gets gratuitous. (Emphasis mine.  Best line EVER!) I know that there are obnoxious super-healthy no-butter vegan cooks out there, and they do come off a little holier than thou and unrealistic. But I think this strain of “yes I will eat an entire stick of butter and damn you for cringing!” is another species of food snobbery that is kind of damaging. Both approaches are extremes. When I see a “salad” that involves cups of sugary mayo/sour cream spread over the top, I think it looks just plain scary–and I appreciate the virtues of real ice cream and homemade apple pie and the use of butter over margarine when baking. I would never substitute applesauce for oil, but come on–there has to be a balance! Butter and cream should not be swords with which we assert our devotion to “real” or “wholesome” food. And as much as I love butter, I’m not going to make this bread, because I love my arteries more!

Responses...

Ivy On Friday, September 17 at 11:46 am
Right on, Beka! Well said!
“Moderation in all things, including moderation.”
(One of my favorite quotes.)

Marie On Friday, September 17 at 11:47 am
Hmmm….maybe you shouldn’t be reading this blog then.  (Rawr.)

Jane On Friday, September 17 at 12:20 pm
This amount of butter is obscene and when I read these types of recipes I cringe – just as I do when watching gratuitous violence on TV! PERFECT analogy.

Jane On Friday, September 17 at 12:22 pm
Marie, believe it or not, it is not a crime to express an opinion that differs from your own. ‘Mind your own business’ pops into mind when I read your comment.

Sue On Friday, September 17 at 1:48 pm
This isn’t amusing even in a “tee hee aren’t we bad” way. Smearing ridiculous amounts of butter on a store-bought loaf of bread isn’t a recipe. The constant overuse of cream, butter, lard, mayo, sugar, etc. is a huge turn-off. I’m far from a fat nazi but this has become just ridiculous. That non-recipe isn’t “rich”. It’s gross.
This is insulting, Ree.

rose On Friday, September 17 at 2:24 pm
ree, i must agree with these folks (but not marie). i love your entire website and have no intention of “quitting” your food blog just because one post turns me off. i frequently use butter, olive oil and full fat ingredients to cook/bake with, however i don’t think combining bread and butter is a recipe (as one reader asked, is it just burned toast?). not every post has to be cookbook worthy, and certainly there must be days when you don’t have anything new to blog about or show your readership, but this post seems like you wanted/needed to be active but had nothing to say. and sadly, the quantity of butter is over the top…its excess without purpose. almost seems like a waste of butter.

anna On Friday, September 17 at 4:59 pm
Not to spark an argument: Do you not see how small the individual servings are? If this is spread between 12 people, they get less than 2 T of butter per serving. Even if you eat more than that, it’s still less fat than you get in pie crust. (Every Anna I've known in my life has always been a peacemaker.  For once, I'd like just one of them to get their nasty on and kick some ass.)  

Abby @ They Lend Me Their Hearts On Friday, September 17 at 5:28 pm
I’m sorry, but if you don’t like it, don’t make it. This is Ree’s blog, and she can put whatever she feels like putting on here. This isn’t a public service blog, it’s a personal blog about the food she makes. She’s also feeding an extremely active and hard working family, and if you look at her pictures, none of them have a weight issue that anyone needs to be concerned about.  (It's highly doubtful that Ree is actually cooking this kind of food and serving it to her family.  It's doubtful she's even cooking for her blog posts--one of her hired hands is probably cooking and posting for her.  Think about what she claims to be doing in her life and explain to me how it all gets done.  Occam's Razor--the simplest explanation is probably the correct one.  Just saying.)

Kathleen On Friday, September 17 at 6:45 pm
Wow… Bekah, Sue and Rose… express your dislike for the amount of butter, but no need to go into a lecture, scold or make suppositions about how Ree must be out of things to say!  How insulting of you to visit Ree’s site and seeing a recipe you don’t like, feel it necessary to trash her decision to make this and post it for all to enjoy.  How about “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all!!  (Kathleen... be the change you want to see and shut the fuck up.)

Chris On Friday, September 17 at 8:59 pm
Wow, talk about harsh. If you don’t like Ree using so much butter, I’m sure she could give you other options on what to do with your two sticks of butter — but she’s too kind.  (I'm pretty sure that your comment violated something...)  

rose On Sunday, September 19 at 10:20 am
wow abby, kathleen and chris – you sound like comment board mommies. ree is a big girl – she can stand up for herself. and my guess is she doesn’t need to…we all love her/her food/writing. but we can say whatever we like as long as it is not profane…and even then, profanity usually isn’t a big deal on here i gather.

Hannah On Sunday, September 19 at 8:06 pm
Kathleen and Chris, you are incredibly defensive. Harsh? Have you been to other parts of the internet? Bekah (and the others who expressed similar opinions) were completely civil. It’s an interesting debate, and one that you shouldn’t censor. And if Ree has any interest in the relationship between food and culture/society, then she won’t want to censor it either.

elliot On Monday, September 20 at 3:14 pm
Wow, gotta agree with Bekah. Beautifully said (my guess is she is some kind of professional food writer in disguise).  As a side note, I have to enjoy the reverse troll move in the follow-up comments. Bekah makes civil critique, and within minutes obsequious troll automatons circle the wagons around Ree. Sigh. Total agreement is not the touchstone of conversation (and indeed, most of the conversations worth having begin with a disagreement forthrightly expressed).  (LOVE IT!  He made my hiney tingle.)

Jay On Wednesday, September 22 at 7:46 pm
I think Anna made a valid point, too, guys & gals. Those slices are far smaller than you see on the average dinner table, in my experience. I admit, my eyes widened in shock when I read 1 whole stick of butter per HALF loaf. It seemed like a heck of a lot to me, and I’m no “low fat ingredients only” home cook. If you ate a whole loaf (or an entire half of a loaf) I’m sure an artery or two would be beginning to steadily block up. However, a couple of small slices? Not that bad, in my opinion.  I really think that the portion size is the main issue here if you, of your own free will, make this bread for you and yours… Not the butter itself.

Kathleen On Saturday, September 25 at 11:08 am
elliot…. to quote from Behah’s comment: “violent overuse of butter … just gets gratuitous”

Amen...and amen.

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