I might have to rethink this...

As I mentioned in the last post, I've been experimenting with baking "artisan" bread, the kind you get in a restaurant - crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.  Having pretty good luck with it since it's so simple.  There are only three ingredients plus water, unless you throw in a bunch of seeds. The hard crust comes from baking the bread in a hot dutch oven.

 

Occasionally a little excitement...

So... I figured the next logical step is fresh home made butter!  How hard can that be - there's only one ingredient! And think of the money I'll save!

All you need is fresh cream

Lovely sweet cream... Of course it has to be organic and not ultra-pasteurized like all the grocery store stuff, which means a trip to town...

The Kitchen Aid took that stuff right past whipped cream and straight to butter in just a couple of minutes.  

 

  
 It also wanted to throw buttermilk all over the kitchen.

 

You have to wash the butter by kneading it in cold water, replacing the water a few times until it runs clear.  This is to get all the buttermilk out of it.  If you don't, it will get rancid.

End result: 6.4 ounces of sweet cream butter and a half pint of buttermilk.

... And a sink full of dirty dishes, plus a butter-splattered mixer and counter.

So... the money-saving part:

• Fancy cream $5.00
• Bottle deposit $2.00
• 60-mile round trip to get cream not available in Campo - $12 (Of course I didn't make the trip just for cream)

Yield: 6.4 ounces of butter.

8 ounces of store-bought Irish butter: $3.50

 But hey... it was an experience.. And since the mixer was out anyway, I rewarded myself with a big batch of oatmeal cookies.