Homesteadin' it up

Sustainability has always been something of interest to me. I still remember the excitement of my first vegetable garden in middle school. And while I'm far from living off the land, I'm starting to do more and more activities that are "homemade."

I had been rooting around Amazon.com for more good gardening/homesteading reads (The Backyard Homestead is one I've been reading) when I discovered coldantlerfarm's blog. In the early entries, she had a post about making butter from whipping cream. I just so happened to have whipping cream left over from homemade French vanilla ice cream (which is far superior than anything store bought). So, I got to making butter.

After vigorous shaking for about 20 minutes, I found that, indeed, my whipping cream had turned to a butter-like consistency. After adding some salt and honey (my own addition), I'm excited to try it out on tomorrow's homemade whole-wheat waffles. Pictures will come tomorrow.... until then, here's the recipe!

Things You'll Need:

+ glass jar with tight lid

+ whipping cream

+ container for final product

Steps:

1) Leave whipping cream out of fridge for 2-3 hours.

2) Fill glass container about half-full with whipping cream

3) Shake vigorously for 15-20 minutes.

4) Check consistency.... it should be like a whipped butter... not the thick, cold brick you buy at the store.

5) Put it in a container that's easy to access with a knife. Add whatever you'd like to spice it up. Salt is a common additive, but I also like honey butter, so I added some honey to taste.

6) Refrigerate to harden the consistency.

7) ENJOY!