Sunday 22 January 2012

Frugal butter making

I was lucky enough to dome upon 12 pots of double cream in Morrisons the other night  - on the reduced counter, at 5p a pot, so they all came home with me :)

10 pots went into the churn, in two goes


When it had 'come' (the proper name for when the butter solids have separated from the buttermilk), I  drained it first in a colander, leaving it overnight by the cold window sill


Next is squeezing  by hand and rinsing to get rid of amy buttermilk left , squeezed into a bowl to save it. Then it's into the butter press, squashed down and turned out, int e fridge to chill and harden before being wrapped and frozen. That's a lot of butter for 50p,  plus a good pint and a half of buttermilk for scones when the oven is up pnext, and I'll make several dozen for freezing too. The pots have been washed and stored for use in the spring for transplanting seedlings for my little sales table at the gate. Very satisfying all round :)



It was very much a kithcen day today - I set a new cheese to use up some surplus milk, cooked up some steak and kidney for a pie during the week, braised some nice rump steak in red wine with shallots and mushrooms, filled the oven with baked potatoes and made leeks in cheese sauce to go with them, and some purple sprouting broccoli; inb etween, I finished a hat, and did some more blocks for a new blanket, sorted and washed laundry , did 5 sinkfuls of washing up, took my turns on Facebook  Scrabble and drank an awful lot of tea.
I managed to knock the edge of the glass inner of my cafetiere the other day, so will go back to using my hillbilly orange enamel pot. I need to look up the trick of topping it up with a bit of cold water to sink the grounds which I'm sure I read somewhere, or I'll need to find the tea strainer again!  Hence all the tea today and no coffee............



Back at the kitchen table now, with a large glass of rather nice elderflower..................the simple life is hard, yes, but so rewarding :)

2 comments:

Blue Shed Thinking said...

When we visited Acton Scott (pre Victorian Farm!), we saw the buttermaking demonstration twice through. Have yet to have a go at making our own though. The residents of the retirement flats near the local supermarket tend to hover like vultures around the cream if they see the reduced stickers coming out.

Lovely coffee pot too.

Pattypan said...

Nice one Sarah now that's what I call a bargain.

Pattypan

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