Back to basics {and how to make butter}

I’ve been spending a LOT of time lately reading about food. I’ve been reading labels and questioning where food is produced, how it’s produced and what effects these things have on our bodies and wellbeing. I’ve been making a lot of changes in my home  eliminating certain things and getting back to basics. I’ve also started doing a lot of things from scratch. I’ll be sharing a lot of this stuff with you over the coming weeks as I share my tips on low tox living with you.

Anyway last night I thought I’d try my hand at making butter. It was kind of a fun experiment but it was also a nice way to start a conversation with my kids about how food is produced and manufactured and what goes into a lot of our food as part of that manufacturing process. I also want them to appreciate where food comes from and how it gets onto our plates. And most importantly I want them to understand how to make healthy food choices. And that’s something I’m still trying to navigate myself in this big confusing world of mixed messages when it comes to food.

Anyway to make butter all you need is double cream. You can add a little salt to taste, but I chose not to.

I poured it into my Kitchenaid mixer with the whisk attachment on a high setting. In no time, the consistency of the cream changed and turned yellow. Shortly after that you will notice the buttermilk separates from the butter. And that’s when you know it’s done. I then placed the butter onto some greaseproof paper and drained the excess buttermilk from the butter. Some people knead it in ice water to get the excess buttermilk off. After that I simply rolled it up into a sausage in the greaseproof paper. You can then also use the buttermilk for baking! Done.

Stay tuned for my next tips on how to make nut milk…