Butter

Anyone who knows Nic and I, knows we love butter. Large quantities of unsalted butter, to layer over bread or anything else in sight. Our own dear father is known to slap a pat on a cookie. Thus, the apples do not fall far from the tree. Making my own butter has long been a part of my culinary adventure list, and it was time to make my dreams come true.

Sadly, dear Internet, no one that I came across has awesome instructions/tutorials/anything to give us an idea of what to look for. So when I brought up, nay demanded that we make butter to share with the world, Nic grabbed her Flip camera and came over. So here you go: directions on the liquid stages, buttermilk, and washing the butter to remove remaining buttermilk to keep from going rancid. You're welcome.

I remember now, this was mostly inspired by watching Paula Deen's "Butter than Ever Christmas Party" on the Food Network, while on vacation in Asheville with Nic and our Momma. I know, TV on vacation? It was after a food coma inducing meal, and hello "Butter than Ever?" Done.

Butter
Makes about 3/4 cup

1 cup of heavy whipping cream
ice water

1. Pour cream into food processor. Process through stages: sloshy, frothy, soft whipped cream, firm whipped cream, semi-solid state. Eventually it will clump like dough and roll around the bowl.

2. Right at two minutes of processing, it will suddenly speed up and throw off lots of buttermilk. When the spray has died down and the liquid pools on the bottom, turn processor off.

3. Drain off buttermilk and save, to drink or bake with. You could stop here and eat immediately, or go on to preserve what you have created.

4. To help the butter keep beyond a day, 'wash' the butter to remove remaining buttermilk. There are several ways to do this, but we found it easiest to let the processor handle it. Pour in 1/2 cup very cold water (no ice) and process for about 30 seconds.  Pour out the liquid.

5. Repeat washing process until water runs clear. Or mostly clear.

6. Using a cheesecloth or paper towels, press the remaining water out of the butter on a hard surface. You will be left with a large clump that you can now eat or otherwise spice up. To further ensure it will be preserved, work a small amount of salt into the butter.

Variations:

• Herb butter: we used a mix of fresh chopped sage, rosemary and chives to create a very flavorful butter
• Honey
• Spices: cinnamon, cayenne, really anything here
• Zest: orange, lemon, lime