The other day, the kids and I made butter. At $3.47 per quart of heavy cream, for a second I thought it would be cheaper than actually buying butter. It’s not. That much cream makes about a pound of butter. Not that I weighed it, but that’s what it looked like.
Butter at Costco is around $8 for 8 sticks.
But homemade butter is delicious. And because it’s homemade, it’s got ZERO calories! Isn’t that the way it works?
- To make butter, you put heavy cream in a jar and roll it around for 20 minutes. This is why it’s a good kid activity. Except my kids got bored. Then I had to finish it. Also, make sure the jar is watertight. The first jar I used leaked and it was not pretty.
- The liquids will separate from the solids quite suddenly. This is buttermilk! Pour this off and use it for pancakes or biscuits or something.
- Take out the butter and knead it under cool running water to get the rest of the liquid out. This will help it keep longer.
- Add salt or flavorings. I think roasted garlic would be good. Around here along the roads, people sell lillikoi (passionfruit) butter.
- Alternately, use a food processor. Don’t overload it. The machine takes about 10 minutes.
I wonder how someone came up with butter? Accidentally rolled the cream around?
MARGARET DILLOWAY 
