butter

you'll need two jars and a pint of heavy cream

fill the jars a quarter to halfway with the cream 

put lids on jars and secure them tightly

shake, vigorously. you will need to shake the cream for about 20 minutes- it will slowly become thick like a whipped cream consistency (this is when the shaking gets hard) and then...

the butter will become one big clump and separate itself from the buttermilk

use a strainer and a bowl to strain the milk from the butter, we saved the buttermilk to use later on

rinse the butter with a tiny bit of cold water and repeat the process of straining- this helps remove any excess milk from the butter

knead the butter with a wooden spoon to get the very last bit of milk and add sea salt, we used about a half tablespoon which was plenty

enjoy!

lighthouse dinner

Coming from such a large family, sometimes it's hard to get everyone together for dinner these days. Especially during the summer there is so much going on during the week that more than likely not everyone will be home around dinnertime. So the other night my momma and I decided last minute, after a busy day for everyone, that we should pack a picnic dinner with whatever we could possibly put together from our fridge and kayak to the lighthouse and have dinner there. So her and I as well as my dad and one of my four brothers (oh yeah, and Avett) drove to town and parked our car near the creek where we kept the kayaks and paddled the 20 minute trip to the lighthouse where we found a few other people who had the same brilliant idea as us. We've done this before, last summer, and it's something that I love to do and I wish we did it more often. It's somewhat romantic.