My post concerning brine-soaked turkey seems to have been lost. But here’s another one appropriate to the season: What is better, butter or margarine? Most comparisons focus on the matter of nutrition – the issue of natural fat vs. trans fat. But I think the leading factor should be one of taste. Let’s face it; would you take a dollop of margarine on your fingertip and eat it plain? How about butter?

And the matter of taste places a major, and often disregarded, vector on the matter of nutrition. I don’t know about you, but for me, as a spread (the way most of us use the majority of our butter or margarine), I will use about half as much butter, for the same application, as I would margarine. Real butter just delivers more satisfaction.

Then it comes down to a matter of value. And frankly, at the price most supermarkets normally charge for real butter (about $4/lb. in this area), the value scale tilts badly against butter. But I just went to Costco, and paid $7.71 for 4 lbs. of Kirkland brand butter. At that price, the scale tilts strongly the other way.