Last year, I added two new rooted blueberry cuttings to the mix including a "Springwide" which I figured would do well down here since it was developed by University of FL.  It's supposed to ripen in early Spring, but I have ripe blueberries in early February!

 

Good size, too:

 


On another note...I've recently been into making my own butter.  I tried it once and it was so delicious compared to store-bought, I'm not sure I'll ever buy butter again.

The recipe is simple, just beat heavy cream until it turns into butter.  No churn required - you can use a cake mixer, hand mixer, food processor, I've even seen it hand-shaken in mason jars.

I find that for every quart of cream I get about 1/2 quart of butter and 1/2 quart of buttermilk, so had been looking for recipes to use the leftover buttermilk.  Last time, I made some buttermilk pancakes that were pretty darn good!

A few days ago, I made a double batch of butter and had a full quart of buttermilk as a result.  I found a recipe for buttermilk bread and the 1 quart was enough to make a triple batch.

I make a lot of bread (I've maintained sourdough starter for years now!) and have to say, this was some of the best I've ever made and absolutely incredible for French toast:

 

Of course, it's also great for sandwiches and with the home-made butter! :)

Here's the recipe for anyone interested:

http://www.food.com/recipe/buttermilk-bread-144544

Very resourceful! I really like the idea of making butter and buttermilk, I think I will give it a try, thanks for the post.

Is the cream that you use from the grocery store or do you buy from a health food store?  All of the cream up here has a thickener added to it.  I have a healthy Patriot Blueberry and a possible surviving Chandler.  I have to wait until the snow melts to look for the Chandler...  Beautiful bread.  Also have a small container of battery acid in the pole barn to dilute once I get my nerve up.  Several posters here said it would be very helpful in acidifying the soil to the correct ph.  I will do this application in a month or two after reexamining the instructions.  Thanks for posting your recipe.

Nice post.  In Miss Schaffer's class, second grade, she put whipping cream in a mason jar, and we all shook it.  It became butter and we had it on ritz crackers.  Fun lesson when you are a kid.  Never forgot.  We have huge dairy farms here West side of town.  They go for miles.  Pretty stinky.  Wonder if I could get some really good cream.  Bet I can!

Actually, I'd like a good recipe using sourdough starter.  Mine has been active since 2008 and has yeast from Denver and So CA.

Suzi

Nice.  How did it taste?  I tried Springwide a few years ago and wasn't wild about the taste.  My blueberries are really early this year as well, we had a really cool fall up here, so I think they got their chill hours early.  I grow Sweetcrisp, Springhigh, Emerald, Sunshine Blue and Snowchaser. 

I think I have pneumonia.  We go to doc tomorrow, but this is a good thread.  Again, post a bread recipe using sourdough starter.  Mine rocks!

I would like the sour dough recipe also.  DesertDance I hope ya feel better soon!   Figaro, my friend in Manatee Co. has a couple of blossoms on her bean plants, Helda.  I am thinking of getting her a Che plant. no seeds...

wow that is early.  I live  1 mile from a blueberry farm and we go pick about 5 gallons around the first of May.  I get a email when they are ready.  I collect cookbooks and have a great one that you probably go to Amazon and pick up inexpensively that has lots of ways to use buttermilk   pies  and breads   cornbread    North Carolina & Old Salem Cookery by Beth Tartan   if you love fried chicken  nothing beats soaking it in buttermilk  drain a little  salt and pepper it     put it in a plastic bag with flour and paprika a little salt and pepper and shake it up     fry away.   

:-) Love that 1-2-3 Method!  Bet I can make that work! 

For pizza dough (which is usually what I make), I use equal parts starter and flour with some salt and olive oil.  My starter is a little wet anyway.  Lots of bubbles.  We grill our pizzas, or stick 'em in the Treager Smoker.  Grill one side, flip and add toppings to the grilled side.  Back in to finish.  Yum!

Here is a bonus for you:

Sourdough Onion Rings

Whenever I have a craving for onion rings, this recipe hits the spot! You will need:

3 onions, peeled and cut into thick slices
2 cups of sourdough starter
1/2 cup cold sparkling (carbonated) water
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more
1 cup all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil for frying (I use canola)

Put oil into deep pan or deep fryer and heat to 375 degrees. Combine sourdough starter, water and salt. Put flour in separate bowl. Toss the onion rings in flour, then put them one by one into sourdough starter bowl and then the hot oil. Deep fry until golden, season and enjoy!


Thanks so much for the bread recipe!  I already copied it all to a word doc so I can try it when I feel better.  Normally, I'd be working now.  I'd have missed this whole thread!  Thanks for the recipe!

Suzi

Yessssss

Homemade butter is the absolute best for when you need brown butter. When simmered over low heat, butter "browns", meaning the milk solids "toast", giving it a caramel flavor. It's kinda tough to get as much of the milk solids out of the butter at home compared to when it's commercially produced, so more milk solids means more caramel flavor.

That said, wrapping a finished butter in cheese cloth and submerging it in an ice bath will help remove some of the milk solids and thus prolong the shelf life, which is really only necessary if you're making a lot or if you can hold onto a little bit of butter for a while. 

After the butter comes out of the ice bath, you can sprinkle the ball with salt and let it sit to develop flavor. 

Also, I remember seeing a recipe somewhere that called for a 2:1 proportion of heavy cream to creme fraiche. I haven't gotten around to it but if that's not a good idea...

Suzi,

I make sourdough pizza all the time and am definitely going to try your recipe.  I basically use the same recipe as I do for the bread so the crust comes out a little "bready" but still delicious.  I need to get a pizza stone for my smoker!

Those onion rings sound awesome and are on the top of my list to try!  Thank you!

Coincidently, I currently have about 25 Yellow Granex ("Vidalia") onions growing in a large container and that sounds like the destiny for more than a few! :)

I hope you're feeling better and let me know how you like that bread when you try it!

We grow several herbs, and I hate to waste them, so I make herb butters.  That preserves them for a long time.  I've always got garlic/parsley butter in the fridge.  I just put it on french bread, pop under the broiler for garlic bread at dinner.  Creme Fraiche tastes a lot like unsweetened whipping cream.  It isn't sour, but has the consistency of sour cream. 

That Brandy butter sounds delish!

Suzi