Hey guys! I have (finally) caved in and started an Instagram account, Oribella616! Just another way to connect! See you there!

Over the last two years I have developed a love of gardening. I completely converted my small backyard into an organic vegetable garden, with peas, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, blueberries, and much more growing side by side. It’s become something of a secret garden!

My goal is to transition into being 100% organic (including body care products). I’ve found that the cheapest, quickest, and easiest way to do it is to grown your own fruits and veggies. Not only do you save tons of money by growing your own foods (you can buy meat and dairy at the organic/farmers market), but it’s also a great workout! Everyday I get a bunch of “visitors” to my garden- butterflies, bees, dragonflies, turtles, and all types of birds (inc. hummingbirds<- my favs!). If you don’t have a yard, you can always look into container gardening, where you grow your plants in planters on terraces or windowsills! There’s nothing like making a meal out of produce you grew yourself!

Making butter invokes visions of sitting on the front porch of an old farmhouse on a warm summer day churning away. Well, for me at least, it did. But, thanks to modern technology (yay, Kitchenaid!) you really don’t have to do much of anything to create smooth, creamy butter in a matter of minutes.

To make one cup of butter you will need two cups of heavy cream.* Simply, place the cream in the mixer bowl and using the whisk attachment begin to mix the cream. Start on the lowest setting gradually moving up. Be careful, because the cream can splash if you move up too fast! Once the cream forms hard peaks and begins to turn into butter, change to the beater attachment. You will know when to do this because the butter will clump up, leaving buttermilk at the bottom of the bowl. Stop and pour the buttermilk into a container to be used for something else (I use mine to make biscuits). Start mixing again. While the butter is mixing get a glass of ice water and pour a small amount of water into the bowl. After a couple rotations stop and pour the water out. The water will have a milky appearance. Repeat the water step a few times until it runs clear. This will ensure that you have removed all of the buttermilk from the butter. Take a wooden spoon and press down on the butter to squeeze out as much of the water that you can. After you squeeze out all of the water, you’re done! Place the butter into a container and put it in the fridge.

If you want to get fancy you can add various herbs or honey to make flavored butters to use on breads or meats. The process is the same, you just add them after the water has been squeezed out. All in all, the process should take about 5 minutes.

* Heavy cream is the thick, fat-rich part of milk, which rises to the top when milk is fresh and is skimmed off. You can find the cream in grocery stores, farmers markets, and the like. I bought the Giant store brand. It was 1.99 for one pint. The next time I make the butter I will buy the quart size that way I can make a couple batches for just 2 dollars more.