Beautiful! When I saw the picture of your butter vs. the “grass-fed” butter, I was reminded of how the yolks in my chickens’ eggs looked compared to the yolks in commercial eggs. Most people just don’t know…. What has been lost for many is something they don’t even know they have lost. Thanks for taking the time to write these essays.
Once you've had farm chicken eggs I'm afraid there's just no going back. You're right, most people don't know how adulterated and diminished our food supply is.
After reading this and seeing your beautiful photos of such rich and precious butter, I peer into my plastic Kerrygold butter tub and say the words, “I scoff at you, you weak, pale and tasteless excuse for grass fed butter!”
Thanks, Tara, this took me back to the late 1950’s, churning butter with my grandma. She and my grandfather had about 6 milk cows. They would not allow anyone but themselves to milk them as they wanted them to feel calm and loved, I wasn’t even allowed to be in the barn at milking time! They had a cream separator and kept the cream in a big metal ‘cream can’ in their well. Whenever the several gallon thick-walled metal can was full, they would take it to sell at the creamery in town. This gave them extra money for store bought groceries like flour. I’ve become completely citified and feel like a human version of that faded commercial butter you shared. But farming is in my DNA, my parents farmed until their mid-eighties as did their parents and grandparents. Your stories are deeply poignant for me and remind me of my good fortune as a child. And, from some ancient place, my oldest daughter has connected with her farming ancestors. She is known as the goat lady in her rural community! Thanks again for your loving generosity and heart full integrity. Please feel my hug and gratitude. xoxoxo
I love milking my cows, it’s such a peaceful time of day. Your beautiful words describe the experience accurately. I just love reading your posts. Thank you❤️
Tara would you share your secret for a creamy smooth kefir. I use raw milk and kefir grains, but the result is most of the time a little liquid or far separated with the whey in the bottom. Thank you 😊
That is probably the case. It looks like the cream on top trap the grains and ferments nicely, but the bottom is more liquid and I'd I wait for more consistency in the bottom it just separates. Do you mix often during the fermentation or let it stand?
I don't have this problem with pasteurized homogenized milk, but I hate to use this kind of milk devoid of nutrients. Thanks
Tara this is spookily timely. Today skimmed the cream off of 7 gallons of my Tulip’s milk. Decided to make some butter….and promptly ruined it because I used my cuisinart. (I’m almost too embarrassed to write that!!! ).
Almost 2 quarts of cream. Completely ruined.
I had a despairing pity party for the work Tulip put into making this milk, and the work my husband put in milking her (yes her teats are too small for his large carpenter mitts)…and there’s me effing it all up in my haste.
Later I sat down to open my email… oh good Slowdown has posted something…low and behold it’s about butter….and About our bovine friends and summer grass and timber stands, and the unquantifiable threads of love potential in every day home life.
My husband came in from mucking stalls and putting the cows to bed (we do have wolves)…and gently moved me aside, washed all of my dishes, kissed my head….and said “suck it up Esther”.
Date night appears to be lying in bed looking at antique Dazey #60 butter churners.
I’m sorry your butter didn’t turn out! After reading this essay I bet it’s a lot of work. But I am curious. I have put cream into a blender and made butter. It wasn’t the best butter and I didn’t rinse it well enough so it went bad in a few days. I believe Tara when she says it’s better in her butter churn, but how is it completely ruined in the cuisine art? That doesn’t have blades right?
Hi Prairie Mom. So. This is all anecdotal and only my experience…I’m no expert.
The first two times I made butter in the cuis it worked, but there was so little milk in my cream, and it turned to butter almost instantly. (I theorize)
This time we had a lot of cream and we had more milk in it (maybe this had something to do with it and maybe it doesn’t).
Looking back, I think the following happened. 1) the cuisinart annihilated the fat molecules and 2) the motor heated them up to a point of no return. Like, it cooked the cream.
Other strange consequences of note: 1) our jersey’s milk is creamy colored even in winter and this mess turned pure white, 2) the flavor of the cream utterly disappeared - it tasted like crisco (I’m stumped by this!) 3) it turned into the consistency of frosting. It never did separate.
I’m still silently screaming about it 24 hours later. 🤪. Not quite sucking it up.
I love that you write those messages on the lids. I’ve often thought that those types of memories are the rocks that a day is built from, but how unfortunate that I so easily forget them! I’m a ways off yet from making butter with my cows cream, but I’m inspired! I have only ever made butter with my Vitamix. While I knew it was cheating, I didn’t realize I was making greasy butter by comparison. I’m a details person, so thank you for all of those.
Finally finally got some raw milk locally and she had some extra cream for sale. Made butter today! Does anyone have recs for the buttermilk, I can't find anything about souring online that doesn't warn me of the dangers lol. Do you just leave it on the counter with a cloth on top? How long or until when?
Oh no... it ended. I scrolled up and down hoping I missed another paragraph (or ten) This is like a chapter of a novel, only better. Thank you for enriching my soul and inspiring my standards.
@tara loved this and part 1 the cow so much, thank you very much for posting back to them - the story telling, the story and the pictures, what a lovely way to begin to close my Sunday. I hope that yours and Troy's closes as nicely as mine
I know I’m a little late to the party on this butter essay, but I went to make some with the accumulation of cream from the last little while and thought I should seek out your tried and true advice since my previous attempt was lacklustre. (It’s just butter, how hard could it be?)
But let me just say I also had the henna hair dye mentality with rinsing the buttermilk out last time, which I think was my primary error, so I rinsed the heck out of that stuff this time. And I also think I over salted it last time, I think due to me subconsciously thinking it was audacious to taste straight up butter as I’m making it, but it was so much better this time. Two priceless little butter bricks now in the freezer for a rainy or snowy day. ☺️
And, I licked every utensil clean because why waste a single morsel of that gold?
I love your method of relaying “recipes”, it’s just my style, and I find you never leave out any pieces vital for success.
Beautiful! When I saw the picture of your butter vs. the “grass-fed” butter, I was reminded of how the yolks in my chickens’ eggs looked compared to the yolks in commercial eggs. Most people just don’t know…. What has been lost for many is something they don’t even know they have lost. Thanks for taking the time to write these essays.
Once you've had farm chicken eggs I'm afraid there's just no going back. You're right, most people don't know how adulterated and diminished our food supply is.
The year was 1999. The hair dye box said rinse until water runs clear.
Every towel in the house was stained red for months.
Loved this article Tara, thank you so much ❤️
Haha! Love it! When he first read this, my husband said, "Who's henna?" I just told him the women would get it. :)
I am in love with your traditions and connections with Mother Earth and it's beings! Thank you again for such a wonderful post!
That's so kind. Thank you, Barbara.
After reading this and seeing your beautiful photos of such rich and precious butter, I peer into my plastic Kerrygold butter tub and say the words, “I scoff at you, you weak, pale and tasteless excuse for grass fed butter!”
Haha that made me laugh. Thank you, Guy :)
Thanks, Tara, this took me back to the late 1950’s, churning butter with my grandma. She and my grandfather had about 6 milk cows. They would not allow anyone but themselves to milk them as they wanted them to feel calm and loved, I wasn’t even allowed to be in the barn at milking time! They had a cream separator and kept the cream in a big metal ‘cream can’ in their well. Whenever the several gallon thick-walled metal can was full, they would take it to sell at the creamery in town. This gave them extra money for store bought groceries like flour. I’ve become completely citified and feel like a human version of that faded commercial butter you shared. But farming is in my DNA, my parents farmed until their mid-eighties as did their parents and grandparents. Your stories are deeply poignant for me and remind me of my good fortune as a child. And, from some ancient place, my oldest daughter has connected with her farming ancestors. She is known as the goat lady in her rural community! Thanks again for your loving generosity and heart full integrity. Please feel my hug and gratitude. xoxoxo
Making cheese might be the next from “cow series”🧀🍀….!
It's coming! Summertime!
I love milking my cows, it’s such a peaceful time of day. Your beautiful words describe the experience accurately. I just love reading your posts. Thank you❤️
Thank you, Kelly. From one milkmaid to another. xo
I found your writing a month ago. Beautiful! Thank you for sharing your words and your home.
Thank you for reading along :)
What a lovely color..!!!.
Tara would you share your secret for a creamy smooth kefir. I use raw milk and kefir grains, but the result is most of the time a little liquid or far separated with the whey in the bottom. Thank you 😊
I think you might be fermenting a tad too long, Cecilia. Try filtering out the grains before it separates.
That is probably the case. It looks like the cream on top trap the grains and ferments nicely, but the bottom is more liquid and I'd I wait for more consistency in the bottom it just separates. Do you mix often during the fermentation or let it stand?
I don't have this problem with pasteurized homogenized milk, but I hate to use this kind of milk devoid of nutrients. Thanks
Tara this is spookily timely. Today skimmed the cream off of 7 gallons of my Tulip’s milk. Decided to make some butter….and promptly ruined it because I used my cuisinart. (I’m almost too embarrassed to write that!!! ).
Almost 2 quarts of cream. Completely ruined.
I had a despairing pity party for the work Tulip put into making this milk, and the work my husband put in milking her (yes her teats are too small for his large carpenter mitts)…and there’s me effing it all up in my haste.
Later I sat down to open my email… oh good Slowdown has posted something…low and behold it’s about butter….and About our bovine friends and summer grass and timber stands, and the unquantifiable threads of love potential in every day home life.
My husband came in from mucking stalls and putting the cows to bed (we do have wolves)…and gently moved me aside, washed all of my dishes, kissed my head….and said “suck it up Esther”.
Date night appears to be lying in bed looking at antique Dazey #60 butter churners.
♥️🌷🙏🏼
You’re a gem!
Esther
With a good husband like you have, you can buy a butter churn and take another run at it. Hang in there!!
I’m sorry your butter didn’t turn out! After reading this essay I bet it’s a lot of work. But I am curious. I have put cream into a blender and made butter. It wasn’t the best butter and I didn’t rinse it well enough so it went bad in a few days. I believe Tara when she says it’s better in her butter churn, but how is it completely ruined in the cuisine art? That doesn’t have blades right?
Hi Prairie Mom. So. This is all anecdotal and only my experience…I’m no expert.
The first two times I made butter in the cuis it worked, but there was so little milk in my cream, and it turned to butter almost instantly. (I theorize)
This time we had a lot of cream and we had more milk in it (maybe this had something to do with it and maybe it doesn’t).
Looking back, I think the following happened. 1) the cuisinart annihilated the fat molecules and 2) the motor heated them up to a point of no return. Like, it cooked the cream.
Other strange consequences of note: 1) our jersey’s milk is creamy colored even in winter and this mess turned pure white, 2) the flavor of the cream utterly disappeared - it tasted like crisco (I’m stumped by this!) 3) it turned into the consistency of frosting. It never did separate.
I’m still silently screaming about it 24 hours later. 🤪. Not quite sucking it up.
I love that you write those messages on the lids. I’ve often thought that those types of memories are the rocks that a day is built from, but how unfortunate that I so easily forget them! I’m a ways off yet from making butter with my cows cream, but I’m inspired! I have only ever made butter with my Vitamix. While I knew it was cheating, I didn’t realize I was making greasy butter by comparison. I’m a details person, so thank you for all of those.
I JUST MADE BUTTER!!!! :)
Finally finally got some raw milk locally and she had some extra cream for sale. Made butter today! Does anyone have recs for the buttermilk, I can't find anything about souring online that doesn't warn me of the dangers lol. Do you just leave it on the counter with a cloth on top? How long or until when?
And THANK YOU, Tara! For all the butter wisdom in this post. It was so helpful doing this as a newb!
Oh no... it ended. I scrolled up and down hoping I missed another paragraph (or ten) This is like a chapter of a novel, only better. Thank you for enriching my soul and inspiring my standards.
@tara loved this and part 1 the cow so much, thank you very much for posting back to them - the story telling, the story and the pictures, what a lovely way to begin to close my Sunday. I hope that yours and Troy's closes as nicely as mine
I know I’m a little late to the party on this butter essay, but I went to make some with the accumulation of cream from the last little while and thought I should seek out your tried and true advice since my previous attempt was lacklustre. (It’s just butter, how hard could it be?)
But let me just say I also had the henna hair dye mentality with rinsing the buttermilk out last time, which I think was my primary error, so I rinsed the heck out of that stuff this time. And I also think I over salted it last time, I think due to me subconsciously thinking it was audacious to taste straight up butter as I’m making it, but it was so much better this time. Two priceless little butter bricks now in the freezer for a rainy or snowy day. ☺️
And, I licked every utensil clean because why waste a single morsel of that gold?
I love your method of relaying “recipes”, it’s just my style, and I find you never leave out any pieces vital for success.
Loved this so very much❤