A COW FROM BUTTER

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, we have just entered into the 6th lunar month of the Ox year. I read a story on the Web that there is a Fair in Iowa in which they have a "Butter Cow' sculpted each year to grace the fair. Since this year belongs to Mr Moo, it would be even more auspicious for those people at the fair to have a cow made of butter.

Looking at the sculpture in the picture, I really marvelled at how deft and skilful the sculptor was to be able to come up with such a masterpiece. Let me share some information about how the butter cow came about.

BUTTER COW
The Iowa State Fair has boasted a "Butter Cow" since the early 1900s. In 1911 J.E. Wallace of Florida sculpted the Fair's first butter cow and was succeeded by Earl Frank Dutt of Illinois. Norma “Duffy” Lyon of Toledo (pictured above), Iowa, continued the legacy, becoming the third person and first woman to sculpt the Fair's butter beauties.
In 2006, after 15 years of apprenticing with Duffy, Sarah Pratt of West Des Moines became the Fair's fourth butter sculptor.

The Butter Cow starts with a wood, metal, wire and steel mesh frame and about 600 lbs. of low moisture, pure cream Iowa butter. Once inside the 40-degree cooler, layers of butter are applied until a life-size butter cow emerges - measuring about 5-1/2-ft high and 8-ft long.

While a real dairy cow weighs more than 1,000 pounds, a 600-lb. butter cow would butter 19,200 slices of toast and take an average person two lifetimes to consume, according to sponsor Midwest Dairy Association. Much of the butter is recycled and reused for up to 10 years.
The Midwest Dairy Association has commissioned all the Iowa State Fair Butter Cow sculptures since 1960.

Source: http://www.iowastatefair.com/entertainment/buttercow.php