Monday, June 7, 2010

Homemade Country Butter


We used to call homemade butter "Country" Butter when I was a child.
We (my family) were wanderers and moved back and forth many times from the country in Va to the cities in Florida, Vero Beach, Kississimme and Orlando. Of course they weren't as big a cities as they are now but it wasn't much country butter being made there at that time either.
Who would have ever thought that my parents would settle back down in their hometown of Callaway Va????
When we lived in Fla we would visit Callaway and my dad had to stock up on country butter, buttermilk and eggs from a neighbor lady, Nannie. He just loved her butter because she would let her cream get sour before she made butter and it had that strong "country" butter taste. I did not like that taste and found that I really liked margarine!! Didn't know for years that you could actually buy sweet cream butter in the grocery store, I thought all butter was sour!! I still loved to go to her house to buy the butter anyway. It was usually the highlight of my trips back to Va. She had the shiniest wood floors in her house that I had ever seen!! If I was really lucky I would be able to catch her milking her cow. OMG!!! That was always a dream of mine, to have my own milk cow and milk her myself!! Then I visited a huge dairy farm in Fla on a school field trip and they milked about 200 cows. OMG!! That kicked my dreams up a few levels. I talked to the milker after he was finished milking and I told him I was going to own a dairy farm one day when I grew up!!!!!!!!
Well I never owned my own dairy farm til this one. Not 200 cows to milk twice a day but a few little ole goats will suffice!!
I spent years of my adult life. however, milking cows, or testing milk and working the fields on some big cow dairies. I sorta got my fill of the dairy farm bug.
I am very content right here on my 2 1/2 acres with my 9 little goats!!!
When my family purchased land and built a home right beside of Danny's family dairy farm.......(that's when the trouble really began, I couldn't keep my hands off him ;-))).............
my dad would go out and buy butter from Danny's mother, Carrie. Sometimes when I was a good girl and they would let me hook up my pony to the iron wheeled wagon and go out the dirt road to get eggs and butter, that usually ended up taking me the entire day too!!!!!!!!
(After Carrie passed away Danny's father Raymond carried on the tradition and made butter for many more years before selling all his cows. They both sold butter and eggs all over the place. Folks would drive for miles and miles to buy from them cause they knew how good their butter was!)
Now let me tell you she made "Country" butter that even this whimpy little ole gal could eat!!!
Took me years to find out why hers was so much better than our neighbors (Nannie) up the road. I mean Carrie's bull would sometimes jump the fence and breed Nannie's cow for her or vice versa!! I can't remember the whole story there. Anyway I knew that the cows were raised on almost the same grass as their fields were side by side, so what gives with sour verses sweet country butter???
Ah ha!! I finally understood it. Carrie's butter was made with sweet cream and it was sooooooo good! I thought it was just that she was such a good cook and could even make an eggplant taste good!! So I knew that I could make sweet country butter just like Carrie's with my goats milk cream and I did just that yesterday!! The only difference is that mine is snow white and hers was sunflower yellow!!! It has almost the same taste and just a little softer texture. The goats butter has a lower melting temperature than cows milk butter does.
I can say that we were very happy with a generous pat of this stuff slathered on a hot homemade cat head biscuit last evening!!
I think Carrie, Raymond, Nannie and my dad would all be proud to taste my butter!
Not to brag or anything like that, I am just saying!!!
(Yes I married that neighbor boy that I couldn't keep my hands off of.
I thought I was going to get to own my big dairy farm one day if I married him!! Hahaha)

6 comments:

Rina ... also Chester or Daisysmum. said...

Ah Rebecca, I love this post,to hear how things were done then and now you have made your own sweet country butter. (I coming over for a taste test) Looks like you have put your roots down on you piece of heaven. Enjoy your day.

the canned quilter said...

Gotta watch them neighbor boys : )

My mother made sweet cream butter also. I have her butter churn with the handle you turn and i also have her wooden butter molds. They are some of my most treasured possesions along with her wooden biscuit bowl and her tin measuring cup with the sifter in it and the big old crock bowl that she put her milk into. She sat it in the fridge to let the cream rise before she skimmed that cream off.

I can remember her making them big old biscuits and splitting them and drizzling fresh louisiana cane syrup over them and then cream on that. OMG I will never forget that taste.

The only thing better than that was homemade fig preserves on them biscuits.

I have never had goat milk butter. I shall have to put that on my list of things to try : )

Linda Stubbs said...

What a precious story!! It was like I was right there with you! You always make my heart smile! Wish I could come and taste that butter!

Blessings sweet friend!
Linda

Amy @ Keep'n The SunnySide said...

Nice story.. thanks for sharing.

My grandparents used to make their own butter. How cool that you were able to make your own too. I'm not sure I've ever had goats milk butter. I'm very curious as to how that tastes.

Lilac Cottage Homestead said...

I loved the story!!
I make butter too with my goats cream. It taste wonderful. I glad you now have your dairy.
Kelly

LynnS said...

Nice story Becky. So you married that hayseed plowboy the country song was about, did you?

My mom's parents used to make butter to sell or trade during the Depression years. When she was older, she had to hand churn the butter and considers it to be a "job" not a fun memory. lol

Did you enjoy our rain today??