Making Butter(milk)

Step 1. Get your hands on some heavy whipping cream and a jar with a lid. Oh, and a pair of strong arms.

Step 2. Pour the cream into the jar. (Note, about half way through the shaking process, I put half of the cream into another jar. You want to leave plenty of room for the cream to MOVE. Don't fill your jar more than 2/3 of the way full. 1/2 way is better.)

(Oh, and yes - these are baby food jars you're looking at. We didn't have much cream on hand.)

Step 3. SHAKE IT. Shake it up, shake it sideways, shake it like those bartenders you see on TV. Whatever floats your boat. First it will slosh around, then it will slosh slower and slower. Then, it will be really hard to slosh. That's when you grab the jar with both hands and...

...SHAKE it UP and DOWN, like those glass ketchup bottles in diners that never let the ketchup out without a fight. Pretty soon....PLOP. You'll hear your butter hit the top of the jar while the buttermilk sloshes around inside the jar. Shake it another minute or so to make sure the fat is good and stuck together, and then...

...VOILA! You've got butter! Strain the buttermilk out (save it to make pancakes!) and wash your butter until the water runs clear. You want to get all the buttermilk of of your butter - it will keep it fresh longer.

Now, go find yourself some yummy bread and start spreading your homemade butter!

(Note - this butter is really sweet and tasty, but it would taste better on bread with some salt in it. Anyone know if I'm supposed to add the salt pre or post shaking?? I wasn't sure how to work salt into already-made butter...so I just left it as is.)