Butter Paper Love

Looking a little deeper still...I have to share about a little joyful tip that I recently passed down to my youngest daughter Chelle.  She lives, eats and breathes frugal.  If she can find a thrifty way to cut corners and save money, she will do it.  Even if it means added hours to her already busy life, she will go that extra mile. I knew she would love this little treasure passed down from her GeeMa. 

I asked Chelle if she had ever noticed the small zippered bag in my refrigerator.  She seemed to remember seeing it most of her life, but she never really wondered or knew why it was there.  How did I keep this from her all these years?  Had she never noticed when I used them?  So I shared this little tip that I knew she would embrace.    

If you look in my refrigerator, you will always find a small bag with folded, empty butter papers. . . you know. . . those free little waxed or foiled papers that are wrapped around a cube of butter.  I value my butter papers. . . no, wait. . . I love my butter papers.  I tuck the bag in a safe place in the door where I know they will always be ready and waiting. They are the best muffin tin butter uppers ever. They are free, handy, easy to grab and are great for those baking jobs that just need a light coating on the pan. Have you ever wondered why butter is wrapped in waxed parchment paper?  I had to Google it to find out, but the guys at Land O Lakes say "Waxed parchment paper helps maintain the quality of the butter as it is moisture-proof so water, oil and grease are unable to get through it. Butter does not stick to wax paper as it does to other types of paper."   I prefer to think they wrap them in that paper for re-purpose people like myself.  My papers are one of those little hidden treasures we find when we look a little deeper. 

My Mom was extremely frugal.  I inherited just enough of her genes to look really thrifty and sometimes a bit wiser than I really am.  Mom was one of the best re-purposers I know.  Nothing was ever wasted in our house. Mom's butter papers were not Land O Lakes butter papers like mine are. Hers were saved pieces of waxed paper she had used while baking cookies, cakes, etc.  Our butter was churned by mom and it was the best fresh from the cow butter you have ever eaten. The butter was divided into 1lb packages and stored in the fridge or given to neighbors in exchange for other needed items. There was always a wrapped package of butter ready to grab.  During the cooler months, Mom would take it out in the morning and put it back at night.  When I was younger, I didn't see the value of Mom's wisdom.  I can remember often teasing her about her resourcefulness. 

As I grew older and married, becoming a home maker myself, Mom's tips of wisdom began to make a lot more sense.  I found myself wanting to keep bread ties, plastic bags and butter papers, just to name a few.  It became my mission to see what I could re-purpose and save.  I will never forget the day my husband walked in and found me washing disposable plastic-ware from a birthday party.  My reasoning made perfect sense to me.  But honey, these are way too sturdy to toss. . . I can just wash them. Surely they could be used for another picnic or party. I suppose it defeated the purpose of even buying plastic-ware, but at least I had them on hand the next time I needed plastic-ware. Makes sense to you too, right?

True joy came just the other day when my girl called me over to her fridge and said "Mom, look, I started a bag of butter papers." Pride. . . .of the purest and most sincere kind, welled up within me.  It was one of those wow I feel like a smart-mom moments, as she declared "I love them Mom, they are so handy and easy to grab for greasing my baking pans, thank you for the tip!"  I know that if my Mom was standing there, her re-purposed buttons on her hand-me down blouse would have popped with joy, knowing that she had produced, not one, but two generations of frugal, re-purposing butter paper loving women.  Thanks for taking a deeper look Mom.  We are living proof that generations will reap what you have sewn.