I like to live by my principles. I’m an earth loving, animal admiring, person who wishes to live a balanced life.

It is my pursuit for balance which leads me to shop local, work the land, and connect with my community. I love all people, of course, but self-sufficiency allows me to help others. Whereas dependency on the system left a lot of people hurting last year, my family and I didn’t experience many changes. If anything it just pushed us to strengthen our ties to each other, the land, and others in our area.

Farmer’s markets and local farms have provided so much for us. But best of all, they are cleaner, healthier, and more balanced than products and food shipped into grocery stores from factory farms.

I’ve been buying raw milk for some time. There are plenty of people with serious concerns about unpasteurized milk, but raw milk is full of healthy bacteria needed to fight off illnesses and even cancer and other diseases. It makes the body stronger and the older I get the more value I find in the lives my grandparents led before the government had to step into everything.

The corners my parents cut to save time only save about 5-10 mins per item. Sure this can add up, but taking those few extra moments to ensure that I lead a healthier happier life means more to me.

So I finally, finally, finally, after months of wanting to do it, made my own butter! haha

It was so simple I feel like I should have been doing it my whole life. I’m like a pioneer woman now! And the process reminded me that sacrificing just a little extra time offers so many more returns.

Finding a raw milk farm is easier than it was in previous years. Online searches produce results all over the nation. It will be more expensive since raw milk is not subsidized by the government, but do you really want to drink government funded, sterilized milk? It has fewer nutrients and you can’t make your own butter…

Saving up to buy milk is worth it IMO.

Once you find a farmer you can trust and you buy some milk, just test it out a bit and make sure it’s for you. I’m not a doctor, so if you want medical advice, consult someone more qualified. I am a bit of a healer though, so if you trust your body and nature, just test it out before you go all in. Just to be safe. A lot of modern farms test bacterial levels to make sure they’re safe before sale.

When ready for the buttering (my new favorite made up term), you let the milk sit in the fridge until it separates. I usually wait at least a day. Then spoon the cream off the top into a jar. Any jar will do. I like using an old salsa jar for some reason.

Let that sit overnight. Or at least a few hours. I usually do it before bed, then wake up and start buttering.

All you have to do is shake the jar rigorously for about 5-10 mins. I like doing it during my morning walk with the dog, but if you want a more laid-back approach you can sit and shake it for 10-15 mins instead.

The butter will clump together. Then you strain it from the buttermilk that separates in the jar.

Rinse it with cold water. (I did hot water on accident this morning and my butter started to melt haha)

Work in a few sprinkles of salt. This helps preserve it and it’s like playing with playdough. Squishy but fun.

Then you can shape it or mold it however you like. Put it in the fridge if you’re not going to use it right away.

That’s it.

(Best of all you get buttermilk too, which is great for pancakes and baking)

I find that I get about 1/4 c of butter from each gallon of milk but it may vary.

Have fun! Buttering or no buttering