And we have BUTTER!!! and some canned stuff

We've made butter twice now. Braden did the majority of the shaking for the first batch. Did you know real butter is white, not yellow? I've been using "real" butter for a while now instead of margerine and while that is quite a difference in and of itself, making your own REAL butter is even a bigger difference! I just put the skimmed cream that has sat in the fridge the longest into a larger jar and let it get to room temperature. Then, I hand it to whichever child is closest at hand and let them shake, shake, shake. Eventually, the cream clumps up together and then I stick it in a larger bowl and press out the buttermilk. Didn't know that's where that came from even though the name shoulda given it away. Then, I fill the bowl up with water and press the butter out several times until the water is pretty clear after pressing. Then, I salt it and stick it in a container in the fridge. Cool, huh? Google and me are tight, yo. I don't know what I would do without its mountainous bevy of information! I'd have to actually go to the library and that is not appealing to me. My mom is going to be on the lookout for an old skool butter mold for me. Oh, the things I get excited about! I have a pic of the end result, but not the process. This last time, Braden started out shaking, but got tired early on, so it made the rounds and Sam did the bulk of the shaking. I'll have to capture that on "film".

Why do they call it canning when its really jarring? Anyway, I did some canning. I made up a large batch of pasta sauce. I just reused the pasta jars that I used to get at the store. I also made up some mixed berry butter, spiced apple butter and blueberry topping. Did you know that you can make apple butter out of canned apple sauce? Yep. I had two cans sitting in my pantry forever. I kept intending to make an applesauce cake or something with it, but decided I needed some apple butter instead. I turned to my trusty Google and found out its super easy and basically, its the same way I make the filling for my cobblers. Its the same for the mixed berry butter, too. I just put it in the blender and pureed it and did the same with the apple butter and yummy was the outcome. This way, I don't have to use a sieve. I'm all about cutting out unnecessary steps. Oh, and butters don't need pectin or tons of sugar added to it. Two bonuses!

So, I decided I could can it while I was at it. I did sterilize all the jars and everything, but I just don't see the point of boiling them again after you fill them up. I consulted a few expert canners on this point and as far as I can tell its just to make extra sure the lids seal and you have the side point of more sterilization. My objection is that if your stuff is already piping hot and you get your lids decently tight and just turn the jars upside down, you will get the seal and the super-magma heat from inside the jar will kill whatever has decided to try and inhabit the jar. Anyway, I cheat can, apparently and am just fine with that!

Like my '70's-licious shelf paper?