Seamus has been talking about making butter for a few weeks now. I’d seen a blog article about it too, so I wonder if one of his teachers didn’t also, and mention it to the class.

So when we were grocery shopping today and I happened to be picking up heavy cream for something else, he reminded me of it.

Sure, why not? So I threw another half-pint into the basket, and we came home to make butter in the mixer.

He did most of it too, although I’m a little possessive of my precious mixer.

I set it up and supervised while he poured the cream in and turned it on.

We both wondered how long it would take, and how we’d be able to tell when it was done. There was a lot of checking and tasting going on, and it turns out that over-whipped cream does taste quite a bit buttery.

But it seems that when it turns, it’s obvious. One minute, white foam and the next, presto! Real butter! We saved the buttermilk for some future project, popped the butter into a container, and Seamus is now anxiously awaiting dinner, where we’ll dine on pot roast with pomegranate and french bread with butter that he made himself.

I’m pleased that he’s interested in cooking; John came over and stuck his head in too, but it doesn’t fascinate him like it does Seamus. He’ll like it at dinner time though; it’s really good!