Look on the bright side, you got 10% off! :)

Ah, it serves you right anyway... this farm boy buys BUTTER! Usually around $1.50 - $1.70 a pound. More butter, more better! Not everything is better with Blue Bonnet on it...

But you do bring up a point of frustration with me. Recipes that say a "box" of something or a "package" or whatever. Sizes change often and throws things off. But I agree I'd rather leave a standard size and pay a little more, but people are strange. They have their price points. I was talking to a Con-Agra rep the one day and she pointed out the new size on the Mac & Cheese TV dinner went from 12 oz to 8. We both laughed and she said you think people won't notice that??? But they want to keep the $1 price point because many people look at item price instead of unit price and it winds up costing them. Prices are going to go up. I know it and people are stupid if they don't understand it. We all like to complain about it but in the long run this constant changing costs more since they have to retool for a new size.

All this over butt, er, Parkay. :D

With butter going for $2.99/lb *on sale*, I'm picky what I put it in.

Muffins, I use margarine where the flavour won't be noticeable.
My biscuits, always butter. 1 cup makes a full batch of my biscuits.
Eating, I use butter. Hubby doesn't like the taste of butter on his toast. Frying, I use margarine or olive oil.

But with margarine now downsized, I know butter will be next.

Yes, Cynic, I want to get butter where you buy yours!! It's $3.67 a pound here now. I was happy to get a "spreadable" kind for $1.29 for 8 oz. And that has canola oil in it. I suppose I'll just bite the bullet and buy butter but use it more sparingly.

They could giveit away and it would not matter to me...butter is better tasting and better for you than margarine, in moderation of course...nothing good about margarine on any level.

I prefer butter also, it is often less than $2. a lb. I have friends who take a bit out of the fridge everyday so it is spreadable.

They're downsizing everything, seems like. Ice cream, coffee, mayo, canned goods, laundry detergent, fabric softener, etc. They'll do anything to try to make it look like they're not raising their prices.

It's stupid really, it's not like we'll stop buying food, we do have to have it.

My favorite brownie mix has also downsized. It took me a while to figure this one out - but the amount of oil/water/egg you add to it decreased. Sure enough - smaller mix. Doesn't even make a 9x13 pan anymore!

I never use tub margarine in baking - it has water in it. Use the sticks - doesn't have to be butter - but needs to be a stick.

I purchased stick margarine for .79 a lb! Smart balance $2.50 lb. I do watch for down sizing.

I expect the grocery wars to start once Thanksgiving gets closer.

I have been drawing away from "Faux Food" for awhile, but not completely out of the woods yet. But margarine is something I refuse to place in my mouth at home. We use butter. Margarine does not have nearly the flavor and with butter, you can use far less and still get that wonderful burst of flavor.

Last week, I paid the same for a Lb. of butter at Wegman's, that I had paid for 1/2 lb at Giant....$2.79.

I use Smart Balance for baking and everyday use. I can't tell the difference in baking with it. My doctor recommended Smart Balance because it is good for you.

I haven't noticed the margarine but when I bought the family sized box of Nabisco Honey Grahams, I thought something was wrong....Same price but the box is at least 1/2 inch narrower....I did write to the company and of course their answer, they had to cut costs etc., etc., etc......

Companies are hurting themselves by downsizing. There are a lot of things like ice cream, crackers, soft drinks, etc., that I don't need to buy. If I see the switcharoo, I simply don't buy it.

Last time I got a Banquet Sweet and Sour chicken there were only three little chicken patties instead of the usual 4. 2 of those dinners for 88 cents each made a nice supper and tasty with the oriental rice.

The strange thing is both my parents grew up on farms but we always had margarine when growing up. I know it's because my dad was such a tightwad but usually farmers go more for butter over margarine. Guess the stingy ones don't! LOL But while growing up I just never used "butter" as they called it on bread or sandwiches. Just didn't like it. Would use it on toast and melt it in but that's about it. Not on potatoes either very often. In my teen years when I'd decline the offer it was, oh, knocking the fat a bit? Never really hit me until about 5 or 10 years ago that it's not that I preferred dry bread, it's that I didn't like the taste of margarine. And since I don't use that much anyway I just go with butter. Small splurge.

I tried the butter mixed with olive oil and really liked it, but not for $2.29 for a 1/2 pound! The canola oil/butter mix is about $1.79 for 1/2 pound and not as good. I'll stick to regular butter, and I usually buy unsalted since I prefer that for baking. The only thing I use margarine for is when I make soft peanut butter cookies but I haven't made them for probably 15 years now.

I agree with Sheldon Cooper, I have no problem believing you're not butter!

Lucky you to find butter at $2.99 a pound. I will have to keep my eye out because I haven't seen butter at that price for a long time. I wouldn't mind stocking up butter at that price for my Christmas baking. I think the Price Chopper brand when it goes on sale is $3.29. Butter is very expensive especially when not buying the store brand and even that is close to $4 a pound. Forget about buying butter in sticks - 1 individual stick on sale is more than $2 a stick. Name brand butter is over $4 and sometimes over $5 a pound.

I know there are some recipes you can use soft margarine from the tub. When making a sandwich I use I Can't Believe it is butter-light but for baking and cooking I use butter which I keep in 1/4 cup blocks in my freezer. I was at my friend Vicki's house on the weekend and when I asked for butter to make the crumb for the apple crisp she handed me a huge box of individually wrapped Imperial margarine. I hadn't seen that hard stuff in years because I never look for it in the stores. She says she uses it in all her baked goods.

I know last year Shoppers Drug Mart had it for that price when they opened a new store but since I only go into Shoppers for my prescription I never think to look in the food aisle. I still find it strange that the drug store sells groceries now. I do most of my shopping at Metro which is way too expensive these days except for the sales and Price Chopper which is being remodeled into another store and changing its name. I rarely get to Zehrs or Sobey's unless shopping with my friend Kathy so I don't normally read the flyers for those stores. Guess I better start checking them out.

Anne

for you in canada... do the bay dept stores still have food depts? the first time we went to canada way back in the 70's that amazed me, lol...i remember thinking the price of bacon was really expensive there...

We've been making our own BOO (butter/olive oil) for years, just mix equal parts of room temp butter with good OO, put in container and keep in the fridge. Tastes good, spreads well, easy to make.

Cherryfizz,
I buy all my milk, butter and cheese regularly at Shoppers.
It's $3.99 for their milk everyday and the butter and cheese in on sale regularly.
That's where I buy the butter for $2.99 (their store brand).
I did buy butter for $2.97 at Price Chopper not long ago too.

Right now the Friskies canned cat food is 3/.99 and I'm stocking up.

As far as buying other groceries at Shoppers, I don't find bargains. What I *can't* get my head around, is the milk and cheese etc at Canadian Tire!

I'm one of those who doesn't prefer butter. I buy and use margarine always, except at Christmas, when I buy butter to make Spritz cookies and Mexican Wedding Cakes. Gotta have butter for that. And I only buy Land 'O Lakes. Last week margarine was 2 for $3 at Kroger, and it is still 1 lb; don't know what butter was, didn't look to see.

I think it is criminal to change the size on baking products; sure could ruin a recipe if you're not careful.

Last week I bought flour and cinnamon. This week they are both "on special." Aarrgg!

Oh, well.

Sue

Hi jasdip,

It's in case you get stranded in a snowbank?
___________________

The thing that I can't get over is individual serving-sizes of yogurt ... which in the dim past were 175gm. (or was it ml.?), then became 150 ... later 125 ... then 113 ...

... and then got down to 100gm. or ml.

Recently I saw some at 87 ... or 84 .or some such dastardly size.

I try to buy them on sale.

Maybe they're encouraging us to eat less?

Get less fat?

ole joyful ... who was reported a while ago to be some overweight (food-wise, not wallet-wise)