Recipes

[GraceLady]

This reminded me of an article I read several years ago.  Wisconsin, being the Dairy State, had a law on the books from 1925-1967 stating that it was illegal to sell or serve oleo.  A woman had recounted the memories of how her mother, grandmother and she would do weeks of baking for Christmas each year.  As Wisconsonites, they were required by law to use butter.  The problem was that butter was much more expensive than oleo.  

To help with their tight baking budget, each year these women and the young girl would hop in the car on a Saturday morning and make the drive into Illinois to buy a large quantity of oleo.  Her childhood memories of these yearly adventures are funny and vivid.  She remembers her mother and grandmother, dressed very properly for travel, would look around nervously as they slid their contraband into the trunk.  The drive back into Wisconsin was a quiet one, as these smugglers looked over their shoulders all the way home.  They would arrive home after dark, perfect for sneaking the illicit oleo into the house. 

She never said how many years this went on, but her mother and grandmother were clearly teaching her the ropes.  It was also very commonplace for Wisconsin residents to make "oleo runs".  My mom grew up there, and said they never did this because of the waste of time, but it was a definitely a thing.     

[BirkiLady]

@GraceLady  You are absolutely correct! My husband's family had a second home on Green Lake, WI . . . and they took their own margarine with them from Iowa! First time I vacationed with them, I couldn't believe it. Gave me pause about marrying into that family!! (Just kidding. But it was weird.)

It became a hilarious joke whenever my family left for a vacation after that. Everyone would laugh, "Who has the margarine?" When we married in 1969, my husband became part of the merriment! He was such a good sport and understood our laughter about not spending a little more money for real butter. 

[jannabelle1]

As some have already said, oleo and margarine are the same thing. In fact, I haven't seen a tub or container with the name "oleo" on it since I was a little girl, and I'm 70. Those of us who were born in the 40s or early 50s can sure remember the term "oleo" being a very common term. Oleo - now called margarine - is mostly made from vegetable oil and cream....it's obviously cheaper, tastes just OK, but doesn't have the wonderful flavor of butter. Older recipes almost always call for it as opposed to margarine. Those of us who were raised in the Midwest and grew up on a farm, or had grandparents who were farmers, remember lard....! Animal fat - but it was flavorful. I remember my grandma frying potatoes almost every day in lard....meals for her family and noon meals for the men who helped with spring planting and fall harvesting. Pie crusts were always made with lard - and they tasted amazing!

[GiantsLover]

Butter is best and taste delicious.

[Mothertrucker]

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@BirkiLady wrote:

@Mothertrucker  Your post made me laugh!  

I didn't copy or clip the article, but it did state that margarine is "one molecule from plastic." Sure you didn't read the same article? 

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LOTS of things are one molecule away from being something else- that is Chemistry! LOL!

Many things are only one ATOM away from being somehthng else-

The example we used to use in  O Chem was wood alcohol (Methyl Alcohol ) vs Ethyl Alcohol  (Ethanol) one will kill you the other will get you drunk...CH4O vs C2H6O

Many compounds, especially ethers and esters are one molecule away from being something else. They are hydrocarbon chains-plastics  fall into this category..

LOL! gives me pause to wonder what we ALL are "one molecule away from!" 

( I cant help it, I was once a biochem major!)

[Financialgrl]

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@chihuahuamom wrote:

I have some old cookie recipes that call for it.  So I just use regular margarine?

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Yes, growing up my mother and GM used to say oleo for margarine all the time.

[loriqvc]

The best use for oleo is in a crossword puzzle—after all these years, it's still a common answer to prompts like "bread spread" and "on a roll." 

[chickenbutt]

Well, it's been established that oleo and margarine are the same thing, but the other thing is - don't use it!  It's gross.  Use butter.  You'll be glad you did, as margarine tastes awful. 

Even if it's a money issue, most grocery stores have in-store brands that are VERY inexpensive and even those are going to be monumentally better than choosing margarine.