Chemistry of Cream

So, there was a Tasting Table recipe for making butter out of whipping cream, some salt, and a jar with a tight lid. I had to try it.

Though I didn't have an odor-free jar. But I do have an oversize glass cocktail shaker. And some packing tape. Shake it, shake it!

Shake it for half an hour, until your arms burn. Respect those farm women, churning butter much better than my butter.

I turned into whipped cream almost instantly, then gradually into butter. I poured off some butter milk, rinsed with clean water, then shook more. Forgot about the perforations in the top of the cocktail shaker; removed the little metal cup to find a blob of perfectly formed butter.

Transferred butter to a shallow container and chilled. Voila, white sweet butter of the sort you might find in a fancy restaurant. Hard to spread, very light. I'm going to use it in some chocolate butter cream frosting, I've decided. On top of lemon cupcakes. Should be delightful.

Using a smaller portion of the remaining cream, I whisked up some sweet whipped cream to spoon over some organic strawberries. I needed a pick-me-up after reading Water: A Natural History. (It goes into my Top 50 Books Of All Time category, and it was extremely well-written, but also simply devastating.) Thus, organic fruit and cream.

DELICIOUS. Holy shit.

I also made some brown rice and black beans, some spinach and garlic, and more ass-kicking salsa. This time I used:

4 scotch bonnets
4 jalapenos
8 cherry tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
1 lime

I was sadly out of poblanos. I didn't want to buy more - it was exciting to use leftovers from last week. So my salsa is the hottest I've ever made, but it's very tasty on chips. I am acclimating to the heat. Go, capsaicin!

If I get that job at Pine Manor, I'm going out for a fancy dinner and champagne. Seriously.

Edit: The butter went into a chocolate buttercream frosting, which was itself the filling for Southern Tea Cake sammiches. INSANE. My eyes bulged with pleasure.