Thursday, July 10, 2008

Homemade Butter and Biscuits

One of my favorite features of my friend Amy's blog is her Notebook entries. I have gotten some great ideas through this list of fun links! Recently, she featured a link on making your own butter. I thought this was something we could have fun with around here, so we gave it a try!

I started with a small container of heavy whipping cream. I poured the entire container (about 1 cup) into a mason jar with a tight lid and we started shaking! The girls and I all took turns, and it took about 20 minutes. After about 15 minutes, I was getting a little concerned because I was just making whipped cream! But, in the next few minutes, there was a separation of the buttermilk and the butter and it was nice and thick in the middle, so I knew it was done. Note: I would say it takes 20 minutes of Mama-strength shaking. It would still be cream if the ladies were in charge!

I ended up with about 1/2 c. buttermilk and 1/2 c. butter. I poured everything through a sieve to drain the buttermilk. I'm wishing I had just poured the buttermilk into the biscuits, but now I'm thinking a chocolate cake sounds good!

While they were shaking, we watched Hermie and Friends, Buzby movie. My girls love honey and butter on biscuits, so I decided to make some biscuits for lunch to go with our fresh butter. And, I had found these little honey bottles at Big Lots very inexpensively, so this seemed like a good time to pull them out.

While they finished up the movie, I made the biscuits. Here is my favorite biscuit recipe!


1-2-3-4 Biscuits

1 c. milk
2 c. flour
3 Tbsp. shortening
4 tsp. baking powder

Cut together flour, baking powder and shortening. Add milk and stir until combined. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll. Cut biscuits out with a cookie cutter or round biscuit cutter. Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes.

We enjoyed homemade biscuits, fresh butter and honey for lunch! It was a fun treat and I hope we can do it again soon! A friend stopped by and I offered her some and we agreed it had such a pure and natural taste. I always love doing things that make me feel like a pioneer woman (from the comfort of my air conditioned home with an electric oven) and this was a fun project. It got me to thinking about doing some sort of Old-Fashioned Arts class with young ladies some day. Wouldn't that be fun!?

What makes you feel like a pioneer?

"How sweet are Your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!"
~ Psalm 119:103

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

My word honey and butter biscuits sound (and look) so yummy this mornin!!!! A great activity for your alphabet time too, b is for butter!!!!Thanks for the post and the recipe. tammyp

Wendi said...

Wonderful idea! I will be saving this one for the future. How fun!

More than Survival said...

Yummy!!!!!!!!!
What a blessing you are to your children!
What makes me feel like a pioneer??? Well, I would have to say making bread probably tops the list, however, feeding our 3 pigs, 35 chickens and tending the garden are my summer time favorites!!! Canning also makes me feel like a pioneer.
Great post!
Heather

Anonymous said...

I think the closest thing I get to being a pioneer woman is picking fruit at a local farm. Or maybe it is sewing up a washcloth to hold rice for putting "ice"/heat on a boo-boo.
Great post that made me really hungry this morning!
Angie

Kimberlee said...

What a great idea! My kids LOVE biscuits! I think we might have to try the butter idea!

Melissa said...

I went blueberry picking with a "pioneer" woman and her littles recently - I remember having a conversation about what it would be like in the fields picking with our littles back in the day!!! We would have been very hot!!!

Melissa

Dianna said...

I remember doing this as a child! I always had a blast.

Have you tried the Little House Cookbook?

Jan said...

Yum yum yum! I don't normally keep cream on hand but I have it now. What fun for the 7-year-old I babysit!

Old fashioned arts would combine well with a reading of the Little House on the Prairie books. Rachel may be too small to sit through those but they do have the picture book editions which my daughter enjoyed, there's also a cookbook and I think a craft book.

Farmhouse Blessings said...

I've been looking for a simple biscuit recipe. I'm so excited about this one and am going to make them this morning! Thanks a bunch!

Smiles,
Lea

Anonymous said...

Reading your post about the butter and biscuits and your last comment about a home arts class for little ladies was so exciting. I have been in the planning stage of what I will call a Home Arts Talent night for awhile now. I plan to start it in the Fall because my schedule does not allow for it right now. I have a teenage daughter and we plan to invite girls ages 12 to 17 to come once a month on a Friday evening. We will have a devotion and a project, such as sewing, embroidery, cooking, baking, home maintenance, etc..., then snacks and time to practice whatever we learned and fellowship. I am so looking forward to starting this. I plan to have guest instructors for the areas that I am not proficient and have been looking at church for older ladies that have special talents and would be willing to share their time and talent. I hope this is something that would work out for you and if so, I look forward to reading about it on your blog. Blessings to you and your family.

Anonymous said...

Homemade butter never sounded so easy (and good arm exercise). I'm going to try this. Thanks, Monica (I'll see you around 3 with dinner.)

Anonymous said...

I make butter regularily with the kids but I cannot for the life of me master biscuits. I am going to give it a try thanks to your inspiration.

Anonymous said...

MMMMmmmm Looks delicious!! I want to try that with Bri. she loves butter.

Bonnie said...

That looks like fun, and I just bought cream this morning, Audrey and I will have to try this.
I would have to see the majority of what I do everyday makes me feel like a pioneer. We have electricity and all that, but hanging clothes out on the line, tending the garden, daily baking/cooking, sewing and what I'm in the thick of now-canning.
(I have 7 quarts of chicken in the canner as I write!)
So many of these "forgotten" arts are such fun and good learning experiences for our children. I'm excited to start the Little House books (at least through Plum Creek or Farmer Boy, she's only 3) with
Audrey, I may use them as our history when we begin "school" again in the fall.

Anonymous said...

Monica,
These are wonderful ideas. I love the pictures of Samuel that you shared with us. The abc's were so cute.
Blessings,
Ruth

Elise said...

Thanks for sharing those recipes-I will have to try the butter with my kiddies. I love the lavender bowl, its so pretty.
I always love doing things that make me feel like a pioneer woman (from the comfort of my air conditioned home with an electric oven) and this was a fun project.
I got a chuckle from that sentence!!
Elise
Oh, my pioneer experience would involve canning. I love making jam and one year made cranberry-orange chutney. Oh, and ironing on my wooden ironing board.

*carrie* said...

You make me smile. Love you!

Edi said...

The first time we tried to make butter I think we used an empty baby food jar...might be easier for little hands to hold onto and require a little less work-out. I love making butter this way and the kids think it's mighty fun...I like the idea of serving it with homemade biscuits - another favorite of ours (well except I cheat and use a biscuit mix).

Nicole said...

What a wonderful idea! My 2 daughters and I are reading "Little House in the Big Woods" right now and Laura and her sister just made butter. We'll have to try this out this weekend, thanks!

Amy said...

Oh, how cute! I am so glad you found something from the notebook and you were able to do it with the girls. We are definitely going to give this recipe a try and I will have to try your biscuits too! I love homemade biscuits and my great-grandma made the world's best biscuits. It makes me miss her so much! Thanks for linking to me, Monica!

Rebecca said...

I have been craving strawberry shortcake on homemade biscuits - I'll have to give your recipe a try this weekend. :)

Jthemilker said...

Ok... now I'll be making biscuits for breakfast... yum. This butter making reminds me of my days as Dairy Princess. Did you know you can also make icecream in a can? Another fund summer activity and treat for the ladies. Let me know if you need instructions. Or... maybe you've already tackled it. ENJOY!!!

Anonymous said...

we have made butter this way too and the children love rolling the jar to each other in a game.

I am stopping by to invite you to participate in the The Carnival of Home Preserving.

It is a Carnival to Share Recipes and How-To's for Canning, Freezing, Dehydrating (drying), and Root Cellaring of Fruits, Vegetables, and Herbs.

The first edition is posted if you would like to come visit:

Carnival of Home Preserving - July 14, 2008 Edition

http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com/2008/07/carnival-of-home-preserving-july-14.html

Submit your blog post (new or one of your archived ones that meets the above description) to the next edition of carnival of home preserving using the carnival submission form.

http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_4663.html

The Deadline to Submit is every Sunday 6pm EST

The Carnival posted by that Monday on the respective Host's blog.

Everyone is welcome to join in (beginners and experienced alike).

Laura

Unknown said...

What are the instructions for ice cream in a can?

Julie said...

Lovely, I can't wait to try this! Most interesting - I have that same biscuit cutter, inherited from my Grandmother.