"Better Butter"

I got the directions for making "Better Butter" from Leanne Ely at www.savingdinner.com although I probably heard it on one of her podcasts rather than from the website. She does a weekly radio show on blogtalkradio.com so the podcasts can be downloaded from there or from iTunes.

So, to make "Better Butter" you need:
~ 1 stick butter which is 1/2 cup, room temperature (NOT margarine!!)
~ 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil - make certain it's labled cold pressed or expeller pressed
Blend together.
This photo shows it partially blended - keep whipping together until it's completely blended.

This can be done in a blender - easier to clean out if your blender comes apart, or with a hand mixer in a mixing bowl - make sure to use a deep bowl not a shallow one to avoid splatters. Scrape all of it into a little dish; cover and refrigerate.
It's good for you, and... even cold out of the fridge, it's always spreadable! How cool is that!?

If you want to make butter: Put heavy cream into a butter churn, and churn until you have butter. Or put the cream into a jar and shake until you have butter (don't fill the jar). The fat will begin to clump together and soon you'll have a wodge of butter sitting in the leftover liquid which is buttermilk. Next you have to get the rest of the buttermilk out of the butter - this is best done using a wooden butter bowl and matching wooden butter paddle. Don't ask me how I know this. So you mush the butter around with the paddle, pressing the liquid out. Add some fresh water and keep working the butter until the water you add runs out as clear as it went in. Get all the liquid out, then add salt if you want to and work it in evenly. Pack it into a dish and refrigerate.

When I was growing up, we had a butter churn that was a square glass jar with paddles and a handle affixed to the lid. The paddles went down into the jar when the lid was in place and one turned the handle to rotate the paddles inside. I can't quite remember how long it took to get butter - I'm sure it seemed longer to children than the actual time - and, it probably depended on how diligently the "lucky" person was whose turn it was, was turning. It only seemed like great fun the first time, and also was directly proportional to how much anyone else wanted to do it.

We didn't make butter regularly until we got a cow when I was in my early teens. She was a really pretty little Jersey named Mystic. At least that's what her ear tag read when Dad bought her down at the Kalona Sales Barn. It was as good a name as any so it stuck. Jerseys are known for smaller daily milk production, but high butterfat content - we got about a quart of cream off of each gallon of milk.

Prior to that, we raised goats for milk. Although goat's milk is also high in butterfat, it is naturally homogenized so the cream doesn't separate from the milk like cows milk does. You need a cream separater which we didn't have, so we just used the milk. For those of you who believe goat's milk has a nasty flavor, I will tell you it all depends on what that goat is eating. If they're eating weird weeds and garbage, the flavor will reflect in the milk.

When I began Kindergarten at Kalona Elementary, I learned about "milk time," when you get 8 ounces of milk in a wax carton each afternoon. It didn't take me long to decide, "I don't like cow's milk." This stuck with me for quite a few years. Eventually I realized the cartons made the milk taste particularly horrid - especially that bit right at the bottom, which by that time had always gotten warm. Gross!

I don't drink milk anymore. I do make kefir and yogurt though. I got my "kefir berries," the culture used to make kefir, from my sister Marji last summer when I was visiting in Iowa. If anyone would like some, let me know and I'll share. It grows over time so there's always more! Kefir and yogurt are both FULL of probiotics which are excellent for digestion. You'll thank me later. :)