Ramblings of an Aspiring Writer

timesoak:

Fuck Kindle…

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Reposting because I know the source of the bookstore sign…mwahawhaw. Tis in Wheeling, WV!

Oh don’t mind me, I’m just making molds out of sand and casting a metal stool using molten metal that was melted by the power of the sun…typical day at the beach.

Want to spend time here!

books-forever:

The Bodleian at Oxford, oh to get into that collection.

I made butter today, just because I could. Its really easy to do too, no butter churn required. A lot of people use a mixer, which can get messy, but it cuts the time, some also use a blender or food processor…but these can be hard to clean, and dangerous if you are accident prone like me. I just shake it!

All you really need is some cream, it’s best if you can get it fresh from the cow (or other dairy animal), but if you cannot, heavy whipping cream from your grocery store works fine, though it take some more fanangling to make “cultured” butter due to the fact that most cream from the store is ultra-pasteurized and thus has no living natural microbes, “homogenized” cream apparently doesn’t separate so check your label if you have to get the cream from the store. Mine came from Wal-Mart, I bought the Great Value brand. You also need a container that you can SECURELY attach a lid, this is IMPORTANT. I have a Tupperware container, any clean container with a secure lid works, just make sure it’s big enough for the amount of cream you wish to use, you’ll need a little extra space to accommodate the cream as it whips and puffs up before breaking down into butter and buttermilk. Some optional things are salt, garlic, dill, etc, but these are not necessary to make butter.

First thing you do is pour your cream into the container, I used about half a pint of cream. It is generally recommended the cream is room temperature before you start, some people leave it out for a couple hours to add some flavor, however, not sure how well this would work with pasteurized cream from the store, plus I’m impatient so I just let it get to room temperature. This makes it easier to break down the cream.

All creamy and liquidy, but not for long! Slap you lid on, make sure it’s good and tight unless you want cream all over your kitchen!

This lid is stubborn! But once it’s on its time to start shaking! Nothing fancy here, no special technique, just shake it. Shake it like a Polaroid picture! Sorry, had to.

Your cream will start changing, it will go through a “whipped cream” stage (because this is how Whipped Cream is made as well) before breaking down and separating.

Mmm, creamy coating!

It’s whipping!

Now it’s starting to break down, but we aren’t there yet! Keep shaking!

SOO CLOSE! Keep Shaking!

Just a little more! Keep Shaking! And 5 seconds later….

Now THAT’S what I’m talking about!

Let’s strain that sucker! Into a Christmas glass because, why not?

Buttermilk! You should keep this for stuff, like pancakes. You can also drink it, but it is different than the store-bought Buttermilk, just a fair warning.

Try to squeeze out as much Buttermilk as you can, apparently if you don’t the butter will go bad faster.

Using ice water, it’s time to rinse the butter, I just rinsed out the shaking container to save dishes and put the butter lump back in it. Pour some ice water (don’t want the butter to melt!) in there and shake the container (I reattached the lid).

Drain off the “milky” water and repeat the process until the water no longer gets “milky”.

Now slap down some wax/parchment/butcher paper, a plate would probably work too, but hey, less dishes this way.

Dump your lump, we are going to squeeze as much excess liquid as we can from it.

SQUISH! Not a ton comes out, but there is a little.

Here is the point where you can add your optional stuff. The butter has a fresh taste on it’s own, but I wanted to salt mine. Just sprinkle and mix to taste, pretty easy. I’m using ordinary table salt here, but Kosher or Sea Salt works as well if you want a bit less sodium.

Once you have it to the taste you desire, find yourself a “butter mold”…in my case, I am using a glass dessert cup.

Shape it if desired (I made a tree!), cover and stick it in your fridge for glorious consumption. Won’t keep as long as store bought, but hey, you know what all is in it. And plus, you just made butter!

haha!

Bahaha, everyone needs these!

berlinski:

Check out my ad for WVU IMC Masters program where I’m all professional and stuff. Let me know if you want an autographed copy. They are going fast!

Check out this ad featuring my OXO sister!

word

     We ended up adopting 1 puppy, ain’t he cute? Looking at the pictures from the other day, I think this one was “Bandit”, but we have not actually officially named him yet. Right now he is on his 4th nap of the day and he is on my lap. Today there were 4 of them… how did we choose which one?

     Now, I’m not a puppy expert, but I have watched a good bit of dog whisperer and when we saw them today I pointed out that the cute white one would be quite high energy. Their foster “dad” said the white one was the bully…well…I’m not gonna be here forever and the past couple digd we’ve had have been kind of “bad”…though they are also both referred to as “saints” because, bad as they were, each had had their heroic moments. Whether it was the little terrier holding a big dog at bay until the owners could retrieve it, or the beagle taking on the big, mean, dog that had been terrorizing the neighborhood because its owners refused to tie it out properly and let it run loose. Well..we didn’t want the hyper/ somewhat aggressive dog. Nor did we want the fearful pup who was shaking like a leaf every time we picked it up (was also the one most bullied by the white one) because the beagle had been so fearful we could hardly take her anywhere and when we did we couldn’t let people pet her..she abhored strangers and would bite. That left 2 pups…dad liked the one with the white on his nose and since dad was the one who got to pick, the white-nose is the one we came home with.

     The funny thing is he is a Beagle/Terrier mix (technically Rat Terrier) so it is kind of a mix of the last two. On top of that, he is primarily black and tan like the terrier had been, but he has white paws with tan freckles just like the Beagle had…. Lets hope he remains docile as he grows up. Already he loves sticks and kissing you. He has also kissed one of the cats…she wasn’t particularly amused. But he seems to like cats, which is good, considering we have 2, unfortunately the cats aren’t so sure of him just yet.

     Also…he snores…which is friggin adorable!