How to make butter!

    Today we made butter!! I must say, I wasn't convinced it would work, but it did!!! The ingredients are very simple, only a pint of heavy whipping cream, and a pinch of sea salt. We used a hand mixer.

    You pour the ingredients into a bowl and mix on high for a long time. A really long time. You keep thinking "Damn, this is so not working, why did I think this would work?? Shit, this is just going to be a giant greasy mess and then everyone is going to start crying because it didn't work and then I'll have to pay for even MORE therapy and possibly buy them ice cream to shut them up."

   

 But then it works!!! Oh. My god. The buttermilk separates from the butter. You pour off the buttermilk (I used a strainer to catch all the little blobs of butter) and save it for later (pancakes???).

    Then the fun part (for the kids). You pour cold water into the bowl and squash all the little butter blobs into a larger butter blob. You keep draining and adding new cold water until the water is clear. Also it helps to wear a tiger hat. Just sayin'.

    Then, bada-boom-bada-bing!! Butter! Here is Miss Thang modeling our beautiful butter blob in all of it's greasy glory. Gorgeous!

    Then you slather it all over some delicious sourdough bread, slice up some sharp cheddar and make grilled cheese sandwiches. Yum.

    Making butter opens up the door for some great science lessons as well.

    Here's a cool website that explains the science of butter :)

    All in all, it was a success. I am both pleasantly surprised and full of gooey grilled cheese wonderfulness right now.