We decided on this rainy, rainy weekend to make some homemade butter and homemade bread for lunch yesterday. We started with a pint of organic cream that we poured into a quart jar for the kids to shake. I assumed they'd quickly tire of shaking the jar, so we decided to shake the jar while watching an episode of Jeff Corwin in Denali National Park, Alaska. (Do your kids love that show as much as mine? We don't have cable, but you can get the dvds on Netflix.)
Finn was eager to get in on the shaking.
When the cream was getting close to being butter, the buttermilk started separating from the butter.
After pouring off about a cup of buttermilk, the butter pulled away from the sides of the jar into a blob in the middle of the jar.
After rinsing and salting, this is the butter that remained.
We each had a generous serving of homemade bread with our home-shaken butter. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it!
Can you tell?
With the leftover buttermilk, we decided to make strawberry buttermilk cake, from Apples for Jam, and just have breakfast for dinner. The kids were pretty thrilled that one project produced 2 special treats.
For more precise directions on shaking your own butter, you can look here.
I love this! I can't wait till mine are old enough to get into all that shaking-- I'm sometimes tempted to tie a jar of cream to the jog stroller while Adam does his 1/2 marathon training runs just to have some fresh butter in the house!
ReplyDeleteY.U.M.! That looks like such a great project with a fabulous outcome.
ReplyDeleteoh yummy. that butter and bread looks so delicious. i think we need to do that here too.
ReplyDeletei love the book apples for jam! i love just flipping through it. and the recipes are amazing too.
Hey Joy,
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog thru Steph's at Ordinary Life Magic. It seems as if we are the same exact age. I was born on 7/11/77. :)
I am having fun looking around your blog. Oh yeah, I live in NC too!
Marin
Wow, I would never have thought of making homemade butter! Can't wait to try it out.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great rainy day project. I've never seen any of the Jeff Corwin DVDs; I'll have to order one.
ReplyDeleteI love homemade butter...it's the best!
ReplyDeleteI saw this in a book called American kids in history- the colonial days and had wanted to try this. Looks like so much fun!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, that is sensational...i must try this.
ReplyDeleteHow lovely..xx
That is so cool! Can't wait to try it!
ReplyDeleteLooks great! I haven't done this in years...need to do it with my girls.
ReplyDeleteWe learned to make homemade butter last fall during Kayla's farming lesson block, and we very rarely buy butter anymore. It's so fun to make and spread on homemade bread. Yummy.....
ReplyDeletewhat a great idea! my granddaughter is staying with us Monday, gonna have to try this!
ReplyDelete