Welcoming Winter

Like the spring before it, Winter 2011 has been...unpredictable, to say the least.  That's good news for the gardeners trying to eke out a few more harvests off the late-season lettuce, kale, carrots, and radishes; not so good news for us winter sports lovers.  I know, I know...how can I possibly be a gardener AND a winter sports enthusiast?  I'm not sure, really.  All I know is, I love both with equal passion.

I find there's a certain magic in winter:  the morning you wake up with frost coating your lawn and rooftop; those first flurries skittering fast and furious past your wiper blades, then magically disappearing when they hit the ground; how your breath puffs and glows in the soft light of the streetlamp while walking the dog.  Then there's the holiday lights, the fogged-up spectacles, a cup of steaming tea or cocoa, the snow angels, the impromptu snowball fights, and the comforting heat of a thick soup.  What's not to love?


But my favorite of all is downhill skiing.  We CAN do it in the Midwest, believe it or not!  Sure, the runs aren't as long as those on the East Coast or the Rockies, but I find it's enough.  We make our own snow when Mother Nature doesn't bless us with the falling-from-the-sky kind.  Ever see a sunrise through the veil of a snow gun?  You should; it's an amazing and beautiful thing.









My boots and skis have been itching all year for this...

I find there's a certain freedom in speeding down the side of a mountain, connected to the ground only by a pair of boards on your feet and every muscle from the waist down.  In skiing, everything's backward:  go up to slow down, go faster for more control, shift weight to the downhill side to turn.  It's a surreal experience, learning to trust your legs instead of your feet, your ears instead of your eyes.  But once you learn, it's the closest thing we have to flight.





Then there's night skiing.  The snow takes on an ethereal glow, illuminating terrain and paths you could have only dreamed of seeing in the daylight.  It's a completely different perspective.







Winter is a special and beautiful time for those with eyes to see it.  What better way to revel in it than to get out and play?  Listen close...the snow is calling, and the mountains waiting...

 

Making Butter

Recently on the latest season of the reality travel show The Amazing Race on CBS, the contestants traveled to Europe.  While there, one of the tasks they completed was churning butter.  That got me to thinking:  why can't I do that?  Seemed like a simple enough task, and no one I know has ever done it.  At least, not since kindergarten with the marble in a glass jar activity.

That didn't work out so well in my class...we broke the jar.  Cream and butterfat everywhere; not pleasant...

But surely, as an adult I could do this.  So I whipped out my trusty stand mixer, got some heavy whipping cream, and got to work.  Supposedly it was really fast and easy; all I had to do was pour the cream into the bowl, whisk it up, and the butter would magically appear 1 to 5 minutes later.

Fail.  I overlooked the fact that you had to LET THE CREAM SIT OUT.  Apparently, it needs to "acidify" a bit before you use it; to the tune of 18 - 24 hours.  Wait...what?  Doesn't that go against some kitchen cardinal rule or something?  Leave milk/cream on the counter; it gets sour; you throw it out.  Right?

Not for butter, apparently.  If the cream is too cold, it will never separate.  Trust me; I tried it for the better part of 2 hours the first time.  Heavy cream is made of two parts:  microscopic fat gobules, and the liquid that keeps them suspended.  Allowing the butter to sit out at room temperature for a day or so allows the chemical bonds to weaken to the point of being physically broken via agitation.  Once the cream's fat (butter) is separated from the liquid (buttermilk), you can use each product separately for its own purposes.  Voila - two products for the price of one!

So I tried it again, with MUCH better results.  It takes only a couple minutes, and is actually a really fun activity to do with children.  It's also a whole lot of fun to impress people with it at a potluck, because very few of us know how to make our own butter anymore.

Here's how you do it:

1.  Select fresh whipping cream.  Organic or pasture-fed, preferably.  Most cream you see on grocery store shelves has been ultra-pasteurized, which makes it harder for the fat-liquid bonds to be broken down.  You'll get a higher quantity of butter if you use the fresh stuff.  As for organic or pasture-fed, this will impact the color of the butter.  Cream originating from pasture-raised cows has a higher CLA content (conjugated linoleic acid), a higher level of Omega-3 fatty acids, and more Vitamin E and beta-carotene than its conventional counterpart.  This can be seen clearly in the color of the end product:  pasture-raised butter is a deep yellow color, while the butter from a cow fed a "conventional" diet of grain is almost pure white.


One quart cream = 1 lb butter & 2 cups buttermilk


2.  Allow the cream to sit at room temperature for 18 - 24 hours.  You don't have to open the container; just letting it sit there is perfectly fine.

3.  Pour the cream into the stand mixer, and whisk.  Start at low speed, then increase the speed to high to prevent splatter.  The cream will go through a couple stages:  frothy, soft peaks, hard peaks, clumping, and then final separation.  This will happen VERY quickly, so watch out!  Once the cream starts splattering again, back off the speed; you've separated the butter from the buttermilk.

4.  Pour the mixture thorough a colander to separate the butter from the buttermilk.  Save the buttermilk for biscuits, salad dressing, or pancakes.

5.  Rinse the butter with cold water in a stainless steel bowl.  Press the butter to the sides to release any buttermilk that might be hiding.  Repeat 3 - 4 times until the water runs clear; this will prevent the butter from going rancid later.

6.  Stir in any seasonings, if desired.  Salt, garlic and honey are the most popular.  Adjust to your tastes.

7.  Store in a glass/ceramic container.  You can also store butter in wax paper or aluminum foil, but it has a tendency to take on the taste of anything else that's sitting next to it.  So I find that glass containers keep it fresher, longer.  Butter can be stored at room temperature (3 days), frozen (3 months), or in the refrigerator (3 weeks).

ENJOY!!!