I Made Butter!

We have been drinking raw cow's milk for several years. It is great! One benefit of raw milk is the delicious cream that we receive with each jar. I have wanted to make butter out of this cream and for some reason never did it....... until now. Here's the story.

I researched the topic.

I loved how the ballerina farmer on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ballerinafarm/) makes everything, even making butter, seem so elegant and simple. 

I watched Jill Winger from Old Fashioned On Purpose on YouTube show the steps to the process, https://youtu.be/CxG2aC7Q6JA?list=PLrUouAskiMhVdcadZTWi5eF8Qhq77F1MK.

If you want expert tips and tricks about butter making, consider looking into the links that I have listed above. I will describe my process, but I've only done this once and am definitely not an expert. 

I tried it.

I skimmed the cream from the top of our milk jars. 

I ran it through the blender. 

I drained it. 

I saved the buttermilk. I used this in a bread recipe. 

I washed the butter and formed it into shape. 

I salted the butter, wrapped it in parchment paper and labeled it. 

It was gone in less than two days. 

Why am I making a big deal about something so simple?

Because I was being silly. We have been obtaining our milk directly from a herd share for years. I wanted to try to making butter but just never did it. I made excuses. I told myself that I didn't have time. I told myself that I needed someone to teach me. I even tried to set up a homeschool class for the kids so that I could learn through them. When a scheduling conflict occurred, I dropped the idea. 

Why did I take so long to learn this new skill?

I was intimidated. I was scared. That's right! I was scared to make butter. When I put it like this, it sounds ridiculous. I didn't want to fail. Everyone that has made butter described it as being a simple process. So, I thought that if I tried and failed, then it would make me a failure. 

What kicked me in the butt to try it?

My own laziness. We ran out of butter. I had three choices:

    1. Go without and/or find substitutes for butter.

I tried to go without butter, and I even tried to substitute for it. I realized that we really like our butter. I discovered that you could substitute bacon grease for butter in grilled cheese sandwiches with good results. My family was tired of this experiment within a very short time. 

    2. Go to the store. 

This sounds like the easy answer but was the one that I dreaded the most. I would have to load up five kids (including new baby) and travel at least 20-30 minutes to the nearest store. Then, I would have to drag the kids around the store as I searched for and purchased the item. The trip would take at least an hour and that is if everything ran smoothly. There was always the risk if a diaper blowout, a kid tripping over an untied shoelace and scrapping a knee, someone getting carsick or a multitude of other possible ways that one trip could turn into a comical disaster. I decided that this would be my last option.

   3. Learn to make butter from the milk that I brought home just two days ago. 

I chose this option, and I did it! It wasn't as difficult as I made it out to be in my head. It tasted great and I felt a sense of accomplishment.

I know that making butter is a really small thing. I didn't cure cancer or find the answer to world peace. I simply learned a new skill. It gave me a renewed spirit to try another new thing. It snowballed into a confidence to stop making excuses and start trying to do the things that I want to do instead of only talking about them. 

I was letting my own silly insecurities get in the way of growing and learning. No one else was preventing me from trying something new. I was being a coward for no reason other than I didn't want to fail. Yet, failing is one way that we learn and grow. It may be uncomfortable but the consequence of not growing is stagnation. In this ever-changing world, we can't afford to wallow in our own shallow pool of complacency. We must challenge ourselves.  

What is your "butter"? What are you preventing yourself from accomplishing because you are simply afraid to try? I encourage you to get over yourself. Mimic a shoe commercial, and "Just Do It"! You may fail. You may forget to put the lid on the blender and have a kitchen covered in milk. Or you may succeed in making the best tasting butter that you have ever had. You will never know if you don't try. You may even discover an inner warrior that is no longer afraid of that cowering inner voice.

Once you have overcome yourself, you can take on the real challenges in life with a renewed vigor and focus. What's holding you back?