Making butter

I find it funny that we used to only eat earth balance and now we consume so much butter. I made the switch back when I started the eliminating waste project (because it only came in a plastic tub), but quickly found that I liked the freshness and simplicity of butter much better than the packaged earth balance with it's many ingredients, including soy (which I still don't know how I feel about yet). But then there was the dilemma of getting butter in non plastic or foil packaging. I did find some that came in cardboard tubs and I also found some Amish butter in  a big roll that came in paper, but then was wrapped in plastic wrap. Hmmm.

Next step: make my own butter.

But first thing first - finding cream that comes in a glass container. I am still working on that, but much closer (I think)... meanwhile, if you want to make some butter at home, you can just buy cream from your local grocery store. I think heavy cream would be just right.
I got my hands on some very good quality local organic stuff and went to work making my first batch of butter.

You basically have to make whipped cream, and then keep on going. But it takes a while, like 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the temperature of the cream when you start.

The butter eventually separates from the butter milk. Then all you have to do is remove the buttermilk.

And you can save the buttermilk... I'm not too sure what we will use if for yet, but I hear it makes great pancakes.

At first, I didn't realize how thoroughly I needed to remove the buttermilk, so I packed it up like this:

But then I watched this very helpful video and quickly changed my ways.

So much better. And delicious too.
Don't forget to add some salt, or garlic to make garlic butter.

And for a fun project with the kids, put some cream in a little mason jar or old jam jar and shake it up. Shake it for so long that you feel like it's never going to turn into butter, and then shake it up some more. Then you will start to see the transition when it gets thick and then suddenly turns into a serarated ball of butter floating in buttermilk... that's when it's ready. Scoop it out and serve right away.
What a great way to show kids how butter is made.

Enjoy!