Smooth as Buttah...

Last Thursday at Farmers' Market, we bought a pint of cream from Farmer Nick's crew. This morning we churned it into butter! Bug did most of the shaking, though Bean and I pitched in, and Daddy even took a quick turn. Bug took a couple of rounds of rinsing, but I took over before it got too messy. We got about a cup of butter from the pint of cream and some fresh buttermilk to drink.

I also tossed the mixin's for a loaf of bread in the bread machine so we would have a good use for our fresh butter. However, when I went to check it when it beeped, it was still just sitting there unmixed. First I checked that the paddle was in place (yeah, I have left it out before). Then I poked and prodded to see if anything was stuck or not seated properly. Still no dice. I looked at the pile of ingredients that I didn't want to waste and thought about it. I reasoned that basically the bread machine mixes it, lets it rise, punches it down, lets it rise, etc. As I have made yeast bread from scratch, I know the basics. However, junior high home ec was looming over my head. Basically I came out of the yeast bread unit with a belief that if one didn't mix things in the right order and follow every single step to the finest detail, the result would be disaster of moths-in-stash proportions. You know...the sky opens up and you are struck down by lightning kind of thing. Smote (Smited?).

In spite of my misgivings, I winged it and it turned out okay. I'm not sure the middle got completely baked (based on the occasionally yeasty burp...sorry, TMI?), but it made the butter all melty and tasted fine. I had planned to take pictures, but by the time there was anything worth seeing, I was up to my armpits in bread flour, trying to keep the non-churning children from covering the house with flour and/or water from the dog's dish.