Do you ever wonder what life was like for your grandmother’s all those years ago? It must have been hard… right? We have all of these great conveniences at our disposal. I for one could not live without my washing machine or dishwasher! We can walk into any grocery store and instantly see isle upon isle of food. All kinds of food…all we have to do is put it in the cart, pay and take it home. Most of the time these days all we have to do is pop it in the microwave or oven and poof….instant meal. We all have friends who’s families eat out more than they eat in. It’s just easy after a very long day. I realized last Spring that it was all a bit too easy.
After I read the book In Defense of Food I decided that it would be in my families best interest if I took the extra time each day to really try and change our diets and how we eat. I started with just using whole foods and build meals and snacks from the ground up. Basically everything is made from scratch or comes from a tree or plant. You would think that would take forever and cost a fortune right? It has been a bit to easy getting everyone in my house to sway over to my way of thinking. Not only do meals made from scratch taste better but often I will get 2-3 meals out of each one. I use my slow cooker at least 3 times a week. Very little goes to waste these days and I can’t get over the money we are saving without giving up taste.
Did I mention the 10lbs I have lost staying away from low-fat no-fat labeled foods? Another perk!
Today I am sharing my favorite item that I make from scratch weekly…butter. Yes, I know it sounds really really boring…but butter makes EVERYTHING taste better! Those of us born in the 70’s/80’s really have never known any other way to get butter than to walk into a store and pick up a tub and throw it in the cart. Once I started cooking all of the meals from the bottom up I started reading the back of everything. Butter was one of the worst offenders with a huge list of ingredients I couldn’t pronounce on the back of the label.
I can remember going on a field trip in 4th grade to Pioneer Village in Ohio and we each got to take a turn working the old fashioned “butter churn”. Oh my!! Now that was work! I can remember my arms hurting for days. I admit it…I had to Google how to make butter. I was clueless. I knew it should have only Cream and salt (optional) but thought there must be some secret ingredient or method? Did I need a churn? After all the store version has a long list. I felt better the first time I made it after I announced to my best friend “I made my own butter from scratch!” and she answered with a “How the heck do you make butter?”. I immediately felt vindicated of my lack of knowledge.
FYI: the kids LOVE making the butter!
Butter Recipe:
16oz Heavy Cream
Salt to taste
Pour the cream into a mixer, blender or whisk it (although whisking will take a while). Blend on high until it starts to firm up and become crumbly in appearance.
Once it becomes crumbles you have several options. Fold several paper towels and scoop the butter onto it. Then place several more paper towels on top and gently squeeze out the butter milk until very little moisture is coming out. You could also use cheesecloth for with the same method. I have heard it suggested to pour cold water over the butter and squeeze out the buttermilk via that way but I have yet to try that method.
Once the buttermilk is separated spoon it into a container and store it in the refrigerator.
The great thing about making your own butter is you can add different ingredients to make herb and cooking butters. Try adding some of these ingredients to your butters and you won’t be disappointed:
~grated lemon peels, pressed garlic cloves and pepper (we use this combo on Mahi-Mahi on the grill…YUM!)
~basil, oregono, thyme, and rosemary (I use this combo on the crockpot chicken, all kinds of sauces etc..)
~pressed garlic cloves and oregano (garlic bread of course)
{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
i’m so excited to be the first commenter on the very first entry after angie’s big announcement. thanks for the recipe! now i must run to see the ingredients on my box of butter quarters.
I have always wanted to make butter, now I am inspired! I actually almost made it once when I walked away from the mixer while making whipped cream! I want so badly to eat like this but am always so overwelmed at the prospect. I am going to go get that book, thank you so much for sharing!!
I love cooking from scratch, but I never thought of butter! When I was growing up, I remember my grandmother making little batches of butter for special occasions. (The everyday butter came from the store.) She used the cheesecloth method of squeezing out the buttermilk. She would give the buttermilk to her cats – spoiled cats!
I am totally going to have to give the buttermilk to the cats!! They would love that! :-)
Oooh, I’ve never even *thought* about making butter before. You make it sound so…easy! and fun! Now I’ve got big plans for all that rosemary in my kitchen…thanks for the inspiration.
Yay! Such a great post Tisha! Since I too have “tried” to move my family over to the healthy side, I am especially looking forward to all your posts!
Tisha-
What a wonderful post. My maternal grandmother came from the foot hills of Kentucky. Everything she made was from scratch. Some of my fondest memories are those involving her wondeful kitchen and dining room table. Nowadays, my wife and I split our time between our little cabin in Rural Virginia and our home in the Museum District. It’s much easier in the deep country to cook with fresh items. Cooking from scratch anywhere is tough, though. Our real challenge is cooking with out processed items when we’re in the city. Those grocery stores make it easy to be bad! Your butter sounds wonderful. We’re going to try it soon.
I had NO idea one could make their own butter in such an easy way! I am really excited about this and I seriously look forward to more posts from you, Tisha. I am HUGELY interested in natural foods and clean diets and simply have not made it a priority in my life. I can’t wait to start implementing these things one by one!
About how much salt do YOU add to 16 oz of cream?
Wow, that sounds so easy! And I too have looked and butter and thought, yeah this can’t be any good for you.
I am so excited to try this! Ever since I became pregnant with my first baby last Fall I have been slowly trying do what you have done. I must admit it’s hard, but worth it! My husband tells me I’m turning “crunchy”. Well boy am I proud to crunch! :) :) I’m going to try to make my own butter this week. I hope we never have to buy another tub again. Thanks Tisha!!!
Tisha, I’m giddy with excitement! Make my own butter? Yes please! Looking so forward to reading more from you :)
What a wonderful idea! It is our Thanksgiving this weekend, I’ll have to make a couple of batches of herbed butter as a special treat. Thanks so much for the idea :)
Wow, I had no idea there was essentially one ingredient in butter! Amazing!! I’m excited to try this and see if my family notices the change. Tisha, would love, love, love to see some of your crockpot recipes!!
Wonderful! Wonderful! This is a post to bookmark, especially with the holiday season creeping around the corner, and all of those yumnmy breads and muffins that will be popping out of ovens!! Butter you up, Tisha…you are on a roll!
Thanks guys!! I will definitely be sharing my crockpot recipes…I truly have a love affair going with that thing :-) I love that I can make one meal into many and all homecooked… tonight we are having a nice roast in it for some Hot Shot sandwiches ;-)
Fantastic idea! I had no idea either. Can’t wait to try this recipe, Tisha! Thanks so much for sharing.
This summer I found a temporary source for raw milk which had lots of cream and I began making my own butter. It was incredibly easy! I just used a big bowl and hand blender. I do rinse with cold water (two or three times) then use forks to squish out any remaining liquid. I chose to freeze my butter in little glass containers, in 1/2 cup portions, which I could pull out and use for baking. Since having to return to store-bought milk, I haven’t bothered making my own butter- not the same thrill.
Thanks, I know what I’ll be doing this weekend… can’t wait to try it!
I have never thought of making my own butter before! What a great idea, I’m going to have to try this recipe. Hopefully, I’ll like it and just keep making my own from now on
Wow, I will have to try that! I wouldn’t have thought it would be that easy either. The kids would like making it so that’s an added bonus.
Thanks T! Looking forward to doing this with P and A.
Wow! I think I’m up to the challenge :). Just for the record Tisha, I had no clue how to make butter either.
I couldn’ t agree more. We have gone to the lengths of (for the 4th consecutive year) growing our own food. It seemed like such a huge task at the beginning and now, bit by bit, we are enlarging it… adding, learning… and storing like hamsters for the whole winter. This year (and with a summer that only…maybe…lasts 2 good months here in The Netherlands…) we have harvested strawberries, raspberries, beans of every color!, apples, onions, garlic, tomatoes, lettuce, rucula, chives, eggplants, cucumber, zucchinni, pumpkins, cherries, peppers, blueberries, grapes, carrots, spinach, radish, leek… and yet some more. Our kid, only 3, plays outside, learns about seeds and plants and ultimately about taking care of the planet. We’ ve made jams in every possible combination. We eat like piggies and then give away some more to neighbors and family… we store for the winter and we save a lot of money. Not to mention that I know how and where that food grew. No fertilizers, no pesticides, no freezers keeping it “fresh” so it can be transported accross the world.
It gets easier every year, the challenge expands and we even tried cheese and yogurt making this year… it’ s worth it, least of it -if you like food- for the taste!
This sounds AWESOME! I am going to try that ASAP! I love this site :)
Sounds great!
I’ve been making yogurt every week. Not only is it really delicious, I also find it to be a calming part of my weekly routine.
Hooray for whole foods!
Jamie
I love this post! I just recently switched from Fat Free French Vanilla Creamer in my coffee to using heavy whipping cream to get away from all those extra ingredients. I’m really interested in making my own butter too. Thanks!
OMG . . . I think I might die! Homemade butter?!?! Please publish a cookbook . . . soon!
I LOVE this! I’m definitely a from scratch mama, too, but honestly have never thought to look on the back of the butter or to make it myself. I’m going to start doing it now! I’d love for you to post some of your recipes. I love the crockpot, too, and would love some new recipes.
I was checking the list of ingredients on the butter this morning and it said Cream and Natural Flavorings. However, the heavy whipping cream I have said a few other ingredients that looked even more artificial than the butter. I am fairly new to eating whole foods and making things from scratch, so can you tell me why using this type of heavy whipping cream is better than the butter? Thanks!
Greta you can purchase sticks of butter that have just cream and salt as well. “Natural flavorings” would be the additives that I would question? When you start reading every label for the different options in the store you start to see the differences. It sounds like the cream that you have at home is one of the many that are a substitute for the real thing. In the US a food can legally promote itself as one thing, say yogurt, and totally have not a bit of that food in it. Hence the importance of reading the food labels these days.
For our butter I tend to go straight to the organic food isle and just pick up the organic heavy cream which normally just has milk and sodium on the back. The whole purpose of cooking from scratch and using items with fewer additives and ingredients for me is knowing what has gone into my food as much as possible.
Great, thanks Tisha! That was really helpful. I will be spending some time in the grocery store next time looking at those labels :)
No problem :-) Be forwarned you will spend alot of time going “Why the heck is that in there? Why did they even add that?”.
I want to know how you’ve lost weight cooking/eating this way! Amazing! I gained 5 lbs. when I went vegan, then another 3-4 when I’ve been staying away from the no/low-fat, processed foods. Geez, it seems to work for everyone but me! Any tips??? I know there’s so much more about eating healthy than how much you weigh, but I’d love your thoughts on this.
tisha,
thanks for such a wonderful post, it brought back a lot of memories for me. we lived near a dairy farm & not having much money, my mom bought milk from the farmer every week. so sat. afternoon at milking time we’d go over, he’d let us watch the milking & would open the vat so we could see all the milk inside. we’d take our 2+ gallon home, mom would pasteurize it (my gramma had a contraption that hooked up to the sink, used hot water & sterilized the milk). then the milk would go into the fridge to separate, she’d skim the cream off the top, put it in the churn (we had a nicer one, you turned the crank) let us watch TV and then we had butter for the week. she also made yogurt from the milk too and used her own jam for the fruit inside. i won’t go into all of her “superwoman” powers, but she fed a family of 6 on about $50-$75 a week. granted, that was more years ago than i care to admit, but…anyway, thanks for taking me back a bit… :)