I have many hobbies. Writing has been one for a long time, as has reading. I love to golf and swim, and volunteer with my son’s school and Boy Scout troop. About eight years ago or so I added cooking and baking to that list. I started out with some basic recipes I found online, along with ones my mom gave me for dishes I devoured during childhood.
From this I’ve expanded. I make my own pizza and breadstick dough, as well as pasta dough. I have a number of recipes to prepare all different types of meat. I have a variety of desserts I can whip up whenever my guys want something sweet. I make my own chocolate now, although the recipe still needs perfecting.
My latest kitchen adventure, however, was for a basic ingredient that many chefs and bakers, whether amateur home creators or those in five-star restaurants, rely on. Butter. I posted the results of this adventure on my personal Facebook page. One friend commented that she didn’t realize butter was something that could be made at home. Honestly, I never thought of it as an at-home project either, but now that I’ve tasted the result, it’s going to be very difficult to want to reach for the package of stick butter at the store.
The very basic recipe isn’t really a recipe at all. Just put heavy whipping cream in a cold bowl and whip until you see the cream separate and the butter form. It took about 20 minutes. It’s even easy to add salt and other flavoring, as well as make it spreadable.
My next attempt will be yogurt in my pressure cooker. It will be a simple as dumping whole milk into the pressure cooker and hitting a button. We’ll see. It’s a little odd and very freeing to know I can make basic cooking and baking needs right at home, without fancy ingredients or tools outside of what I already have in my kitchen.
What is something you now make at home that you used to buy at the store? Let’s talk on Facebook!