A MODERN DAY MS. MUFFET

Do you know Little Ms. Muffet?  She was the little girl in the nursery rhyme of the same name.  The origin of Ms. Muffet remains unclear, with a few urban legends chronicling her authenticity back to the 1600s.

Although Ms. Muffet’s origin may remain an unknown, the two knowns in this nursery rhyme are “curds” and “whey”.  Curds are a solid cheese-like substance and whey is a milky liquid.

Over the Labor Day weekend, Old Mother Frugal channeled her inner Ms. Muffet.  After a little bit of research…the internet can be a wonderful thing….she got off her tuffet and into her kitchen for the creation of a milky solid and a liquid by-product.

Yes, the creation of butter and buttermilk! 

Having used heavy cream to make homemade whip cream for a chocolate cream pie the week before, an inch or more of heavy cream remained in its container.  Like the internet, boredom can be a wonderful thing. 

The pantry contained the two key ingredients for butter: a hand-held mixer and the aforementioned carton of heavy cream.  In a matter of minutes, a solid was appearing and a liquid began to formulate in the same bowl.  It was butter and buttermilk.

At the completion of the mixing process, 2 generous tablespoons of butter remained at the base of the bowl immersed in one-third cup of buttermilk. The two were then separated at birth: one in a square of cheese cloth, the other into a measuring cup. 

The butter was molded and pressed into a small finger bowl while the buttermilk remained in the refrigerator until used in a batter of blueberry pancakes.  Old Mother Frugal had indeed become a modern day Ms. Muffet.

SOUND THE BUGLE!  When using heavy cream to make whip cream, place a metal bowl in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. If you don’t have time, you can still successfully make whip cream by skipping this tip.  To one cup of heavy cream, add 2 TBS of sugar.  Using a whisk or hand-mixer, begin to mix.  Be careful not to over mix or you will make butter. If you make butter, the liquid by-product is buttermilk. This can be refrigerated and used within a few days, in any recipe calling for buttermilk.