Butter Bells, Making Butter and a Giveaway!

I have always wanted a Butter Bell - you know those totally cool French crocks where you can keep your butter out so it's nice and spreadable but it stays cool and fresh. I think they are about the spiffiest things invented. But it was just never something I bought for myself.

I have a friend with a milk cow as I have mentioned in a previous post. I have been trading eggs for cream and I have been making my own butter. Rich, sweet, FRESH, cream butter. The perfect product for a lovely crisp, classic white Butter Bell.

Well, my desire and my butter have met! Thanks to the wonderful owner of Butter Bell I have been given the opportunity to review one and to give one away to you! But first I thought you might like to see just how it is I make my butter. Don't worry, you don't have to see the milking of the cow!

This time around I had about a gallon of cream. I was (truth be told) rather shocked to learn that to make tastier butter you need to let the cream sit out overnight before you make your butter. The stronger smelling the cream the better taste in the butter. This little tidbit shocked this city girl but it has proven true and I am still living.

I pour the cream into the fill line of my Cuisinart, turn it on and then go do, well, whatever needs to be done. This takes a bit. The first time I made butter I stood and watched and was all - what's up until I learned the pace of it. It first whips...

...then breaks. I now can hear the difference in the motor.

I strain out the buttermilk and put the butter in a bowl.

It still needs to be washed. You can see how cloudy the water is at first.

After a few rounds of  cold water and lots of squishing

The water is clear and the butter is ready. The gallon of cream yielded a pound of butter.

I decided to make some seasoned butter this round for all those chickens I have in the freezer so I added about 1 1/2 teaspoons of dried tarragon and about 1/8 teaspoon of salt to 1/3 pound of the butter and mixed it all up. That will taste sooooo good under the breast skin of the chickens. The Butter Bell site has a whole section devoted to butter recipes. YUM!

The rest of the butter was salted to taste. It doesn't take much salt at all.  And I, of course, put some in my beautiful, new Butter Bell!

You can win this gorgeous Butterbell!

Wouldn't you just love to have one of your very own? And you don't have to make your own butter!

Here's how to enter...

MANDATORY ENTRY:

Go to the Butter Bell site and tell me which other Butterbell you would like to own. Please leave an email where you can be contacted in case you win.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

1. Follow my blog publicly. If you already follow, just say so. And thank you.
2. Follow me on twitter and tweet about the giveaway(one per day) - @BrokenTeepee and Butter Bell are giving away a classic,painted Butterbell @ http://tinyurl.com/ykpccdy #giveaway

3. Sign up for the Butterbell newsletter and leave the email with which you did so (good for three entries so leave three comments)
4. Blog about this giveaway with a link back to Broken Teepee and Butter Bell  (this is good for 6 entries so leave 6 comments)

5. Follow my goat Pricilla's Blog publicly. If you already do, just say so. And thank you.

6. Enter any of my other current giveaways. Good for one entry per...
7. Put me on your blogroll and leave a link. 




All entries need to be in by Monday, November 23rd at 9PM MST, when I will go to Random.org to pick the winner.  GOOD LUCK!!!