Butter

Actually, homemade butter. I've been wanting to do this for quite some time, and finally did. I remember when I was very young, we had a cow, and lots of cream. My mother made butter with an old fashioned churn, the one with the big jar, and paddles inside, and a gear mechanism and crank you turned on the top of the lid. She only did it a few times that I remember of, and I was too young to appreciate it. Like I said, I've been wanting to try it for quite some time. My search for good heavy cream ended at a local dairy store. So, Saturday I purchased two quarts of heavy cream, and with the help of my KitchenAid mixer and a splash guard, I churned butter. It took about ten minutes, as opposed to the hours our ancestors spent making it. It was really very easy. I drained off the whey, added a bit of salt, and put the finished butter in ramekins. It has been soooo good! It's not cheaper to make it yourself, but the freshness, creaminess and flavor can't be beat! It has a sweetness you don't find in commercial butter and is wonderfully creamy. Then I had to make banana bread and a loaf of country white bread to put it on. One quart of heavy cream will yield almost a pound of butter. So, instead of progressing, I have regressed by about a hundred years. But, I love doing things like this, and I think we need to return to our roots regularly and rethink out hectic throw-away, fast food lifestyle.