NATIONAL BUTTER DAY
Few ingredients make a meal richer and more flavorful than butter. On November 17th, National Butter Day gives this creamy ingredient, and those who make it, a pat on the back.
Butter has been used by humans for thousands of years. As recently as the first half of the last century, the butter churn was an essential tool in many kitchens. When butter was rationed during World War II, households struggled to get along without this delicious staple.
“With enough butter, anything is good.” ~ Julia Child
Butter can be used in simple and complex ways – spread a pat of butter on warm toast for an instant hit of flavor and texture or use it to create the light, flaky layers in a croissant. It also enhances the mouthfeel of hot drinks, like coffee and cocktails, and it keeps meats tender while roasting. Butter is the crucial ingredient in mouthwatering sauces, rich cookies, creamy mashed potatoes, hearty casseroles, and so much more.
The average American eats 6.3 pounds, or about 25 sticks, of cow’s butter every year. Around the world, butter can be found in cuisines of every culture, and each one uses it to enhance their recipes and enrich their lives.
Around the dinner table, the phrase “Please, pass the butter,” connects us to those we break bread with and to the food we love to eat. National Butter Day invites you to celebrate your favorite dishes and baked goods with butter.
HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalButterDay
National Butter Day offers so many avenues for celebration. Whether you set to work in your kitchen making family favorites or test out a new recipe, take a moment to recognize the role butter plays in our food.
- Bake cookies with the kids. Be sure to let them mix the butter and sugar together.
- Make compound or brown butter and reap the flavor benefits.
- Thank a dairy farmer, milk hauler, or butter maker, like those at Dinner Bell Creamery, for the butter they make possible.
- Compliment the chef who made the delicious, buttery sauce for your seafood meal.
When you celebrate, be sure to share your stories and photos on social media using #NationalButterDay and tag Dinner Bell Creamery on Facebook and Instagram.
NATIONAL BUTTER DAY HISTORY
Dinner Bell Creamery – a cooperative owned by the dairy farm families of AMPI – founded National Butter Day in 2021 to celebrate this culturally important and incredibly delicious food. They also honor the modern-day process of butter making, from raising dairy cows on family farms to crafting butter for sale in stores and markets.
The Registrar at National Day Calendar proclaimed National Butter Day to be observed annually on November 17th.
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Dinner Bell Creamery News Release
Dinner Bell Creamery Establishes National Butter Day
NEW ULM, Minn. (Nov. 3, 2021)—November 17, 2021, will mark the first annual National Butter Day. Established by Dinner Bell Creamery®, National Butter Day is dedicated to celebrating butter as a food, appreciating butter’s long history, and honoring the storied tradition of butter making in the United States.
“The United States makes some of the best butter in the world, much of it produced right here in the Midwest. That alone is worth celebrating,” says Marshall Reece, Sr. Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Associated Milk Producers Inc (AMPI), the dairy farmer-owned cooperative that launched Dinner Bell Creamery in 2019. “Then when you add in all the delicious ways to enjoy butter, you quickly realize one day to celebrate is barely enough!”
According to legend, butter was discovered by accident some 9,000 years ago when a lonely Persian goatherd transported milk in animal-skin pouches along a bumpy road. As the milk sloshed back and forth it turned into butter. When the goatherd discovered the churned milk, he thought the milk was ruined. One taste-test later and… the rest is history.
Today, the average American eats 6.3 pounds, or 25 sticks, of cow’s milk butter every year. Butter is a key ingredient in a variety of cuisines, and is an essential ingredient in classic American baking. Butter is a staple food in most households, especially during the holiday baking season.
“The United States is a global leader in butter production, but we rank 24th in butter consumption per person,” Reece said. “I see that as a challenge — we’ve got some catching up to do.”
Americans are encouraged to celebrate National Butter Day by purchasing U.S.-made butter, cooking and baking with butter, and seeking out butter-rich treats.” National Butter Day is being celebrated on social media with the hashtag: #NationalButterDay.
About Dinner Bell Creamery
Dinner Bell Creamery is a dairy farmer-owned cooperative headquartered in New Ulm, Minn. Dinner Bell’s award-winning cheese and butter is sold across the Midwest. The dairy farm families of Dinner Bell take pride in caring for their animals, being stewards of the land, and supporting their communities. AMPI launched Dinner Bell Creamery in 2019 to bring the quality and experience of 50 years of partnership between dairy farm families and skilled buttermakers and cheesemakers to home cooks.