Garlic Herb Butter [Recipe]

Garlic Herb Butter from Armelle Blog

Berry Butter

Berry Butter from The Pioneer Woman

Homemade Butter Valentine

Have you ever made homemade butter?  I have only done it once.  Three years ago for Thanksgiving.  And actually I didn't even add the ingredients to the jar, I just shook it until it became butter.  It is actually really easy, and a fun activity for kids.  But it wasn't until I saw this post from Maize Hutton that I thought it would be a cute Valentine:

What a fun gift to give people in the office or your neighbors or even your kids teachers.  Add some red and pink heart printed fabric to the lid of a baby food jar and add the cute Spread the Love label.  You could even bake some cranberry bread and wrap it in this cute wax paper from Martha:

Since Valentine's Day is on a Monday, this would be a fun project for the kids to help with the weekend before.

Thankful for Butter

I am pretty sure no Thanksgiving dinner is complete without butter.  Or at least I am sure that I believe no Thanksgiving dinner SHOULD be complete without butter.  That and real whipped cream.  We will not talk about my very strong dislike for whipped topping.  

I am a fan of butter (just ask my son and even he will tell you that butter makes everything better) and I am always a fan of using your cookie cutters (just ask my daughter who now requests that every sandwich that meets her lunchbox to be cut into some shape other than square), so of course I love this idea from Better Homes and Gardens to dress your butter up for the dinner table:

Flatten chilled butter with your hands or a rolling pin to about 1-inch thick, then cut with a cookie cutter. Drizzle with maple syrup just before serving. The combo is especially yummy on corn bread, rolls, or yams.

My MIL has a pumpkin butter recipe that is yummy.  I will have to dig it out and try the cookie cutter method on it.

But for Thanksgiving dinner, I am still holding out hope that I will find this sculpted turkey butter at my local HEB this year:

Keep your fingers crossed for me.  If not, out come the cookie cutters!

How to Soften Butter in a Jiffy

I always get the urge to bake late Friday night. And although we don't usually have a bed time on Fridays, I don't want to wait around for an hour while the butter softens. So I love this idea from Elise at Simple Recipes:


You put the butter in between to sheets of wax paper and roll it flat like you would a pie crust. You then peel it off the wax paper and put it in the bowl to cream.

For the best results, you have to have softened butter. Creaming the butter and the sugar is actually a really important step. You want the sugar to be able to punch a million little holes into the butter. These air pockets help the cookie rise and make them light.

Have I ever told you guys how much I love Alton Brown? My obsession with Good Eats is where I got that lovely piece of information and it has served me well.