butter is better

just take my word for it... or julia child's, "with enough butter, anything is good." or sally fallon's, or the french...
it tastes better and is better than the spray stuff or margarine or anything else that isn't butter but tries to be.

you can make it too!! from cream. from your local dairy farmer (see previous post).

you can do it the old-fashioned way- you know, by shaking it around, or if you have a churner...

or you can use a food processor or  blender ... as of recently i prefer a hand mixer and finish it off with a masher.

how its done (using my method): you take the cream and put it in a large bowl.  hand mix it until it starts getting fluffy.  then work out your arms by mashing it.  over and over and over again.  when you want to give up, keep going.  or convince someone else that it is fun and that they should try.  when you start to hear squishy liquidy noises, you are almost there!!! keep going!  all of a sudden you will see buttermilk appear!  pour it out into another container for another use and keep mashing.  more liquid will appear for you to pour into that container.  watch your cream magically turn into some beautiful yellow butter!  mash until you think you got all the liquid out, then mash a bit more.  put it in a container and ta-da! butter!! and buttermilk!! (ps- somewhere around the cream "getting fluffy" is whipped cream! if you were to add some vanilla and sweetener i.e. honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, etc you would have some fantastically delicious whipped cream!!)

i took pictures last week with the hopes of posting them, but my computer of 5 years broke down since then and i am on my husband's thinkpad.  needless to say, i have not figured out how to find  what i am looking for ... or the name of it.. or how to do a search for the thing that i dont know the name of but its synonymous to iphoto in order to attempt to download and then upload pics?? and my husband is asleep.

**update** pics are here! :)

 

if you have a food processor, you can do it sally fallon's way (which i have neglected up until now, but may try next time).  in her nourishing traditions cookbook (on page 83), she says to

place cream, into food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until butter forms (about 5-10 minutes). turn butter and buttermilk into a strainer set over a container.  transfer butter to a stainless steel or wooden bowl and press out buttermilk with a wooden spoon or paddle, adding to buttermilk already in the container by pouring through a strainer.  wash the butter by adding a little water and pressing some more.  repeat until butter no longer exudes buttermilk.  form butter into a ball, lift it out of the bowl and pat it dry with paper towels.  place butter in a crock or container and buttermilk in glass containers, cover and chill well.  (butter may be frozen for long-term storage)
note: to make cultured butter, let cream sit out at room temperature for about 8 hours to sour before processing/ mixing it into butter (i would advise to only do this with grass fed raw cream)

for a visual, go here.

now you have some butter for your bread, or for your cooking and baking needs!

for further reading about the awesomeness of butter go here!

"as for butter versus margarine, i trust cows more than chemists" - quoted by dr. joan dye gussow