Slowing it Down

I think this world is spinning faster than most of us can hold on and that's a stressful way to live. I'm a firm believer that stress will cause more damage to one's health than anything else. 2008 went by so quickly that I can barely recall what went on. The funny thing is, the faster things go, the less I seem to get done.

I don't think I or my blog could be considered as the 'fast food' type, but just in case, I'm declaring this space a Slow-er Food spot - at least for this year. I'm not going 'whole hog' here, because we are a large family and sometimes convenience is just more ... well ... convenient, but I am all for rolling the clock back on our food choices and taking the time to really notice what we're eating, how it's being prepared and what it actually tastes like. There's nothing worse than finishing a meal without having tasted it because you're too busy to notice. Slow food is also usually more budget friendly and that suits my Scot spirit just fine.

2009 is a time to put on the brakes and do the Sunday drive. I expect my food posts to reflect that and am starting with this one.

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The other day we all took turns making butter. I've done it lots before, but it's more fun to do it with other people. My mom can recall her grandfather sitting on his porch in a rocking chair, rocking away and shaking a big jar filled with cream - helping grandma to get her butter made.

If you've never made butter, it's the simplest of foods to make. All you need is a large jar and some heavy cream. I poured a single cup of heavy cream into a one-quart glass jar, tightened down the lid and passed it around for everyone to shake. You need room for the cream to move, so make sure your jar is at least twice the volume of the cream you're adding.

It really doesn't matter how you shake it; back and forth, up and down, around in circles if you want - just shake it for a while and soon enough you'll get butter. If you've ever been told not to beat heavy cream for too long, this is the reason why. The next step after whipped cream is butter.

Shake the jar until a lump of butter forms; this took us about 25 minutes with everyone pausing while passing the jar. Make sure the cream is good and cold and once there is a firm ball of butter in the jar, pour out the contents into a large bowl.

Look closely and you'll see the lump of butter in there.


Butter in whey. (Why, yes - those are chocolate chip cookies in the background.)

Rinse the whey from the butter and continue rinsing while you knead the butter. The water needs to be very cold for this part.

Changing over to a large bowl to rinse and knead.

Once the water runs clear, add salt if you like and you're done! We got just over a half cup of butter from one cup of cream.


My daughter Megan said it was the best butter she's ever had. I do believe she's right.