When you are (and when I say You Are, I mean I Am) suffering from feelings of inadequacy (long story, work-related), the best thing to do is eat fig marmalade with a friend and treat yourself (i.e., myself) to a butter keeper, also known as a keeper of the butter, also known as a butter crock. (Crock isn’t a good word for me today, as so many things could be described as being A Crock, and suddenly we lack creativity.)
It’s true that the vegan side of me rarely uses butter. (The clean eating side of me doesn’t mind it in small doses.) It’s also true that I’m intrigued with Little House on the Prairie stories of butter sitting around in a house all day and not getting nasty, where nasty = rancid, Miss Jackson. Anyway, in an attempt to rid my house of unnecessary things, I decided to purchase something that I won’t use very often! I am a walking contradiction (with soft and spreadable butter).
(You’ll have to cut me some slack. The whole Feelings of Inadequacy thing that I mentioned up there at the top has been weighing heavily all day. Lucky for me, I have a marmalade loving friend who presents worry stones with perfect timing and another friend who presents me with frequent knitting challenges. Also lucky for me is the fact that I don’t have to work in an office, so I can pepper my day with canine Wubba tosses. All is well.)
I visited a brand new book store in St. Louis this afternoon (before I became the owner of a butter keeper), and I’m in LOVE with it. Their journal selection was incredible, and they carry a really great blend of heady and quirky. Most stores in this particular location don’t last very long. I hope they are the exception. If you’re a local, please visit STL Books on West Jefferson in Kirkwood. Often.
Let’s talk about knitting tomorrow! ‘ ‘ ‘text/javascript’>
Yay knitting!
btw, salted butter doesn’t go rancid. that’s the way we roll in this house. But props for mentioning Little House which took over my life last year around this time.
Buck up trooper. :)
We store butter – 1 stick at a time – outside of the fridge. Always soft and spreadable! A couple of times in the summer when it sat out for over a week the color started to go off, so we threw it out. My apartment doesn’t get very cool so the higher temp probably contributed. Not sure if it actually was rancid but wasn’t going to conduct an experiment.
When I was growing up……..HA! We left the butter on the counter, along with lots of other stuff. My son still prefers I leave his chicken tenders in the microwave rather than the fridge. Me? I’m food OCD so …. but I would leave the butter in a crock. Also, I use Kerrygold Butter and it doesn’t seem to get so hard in the fridge that I can’t spread it.
I bought a cheap butter crock once and ended up with rancid butter. Now I just keep ghee around. I have a love affair with ghee.
You are wonderful and amazing and super smart. I’m kicking your inadequacy feelings to the curb.
I also store butter outside the fridge with no issue. I keep it in a plastic container–so that if it gets left on the counter and the cats knock it to the floor, they can’t break a 3rd butter dish. In any case, YUM! Hope you like the butter keeper! Thanks, also, for linking to the Trephine yesterday; I used to follow Jen way back in her roller derby St. Louis days and never realized she had returned to blogging. It was nice to catch up a little. Did you ever meet her when she lived there? (You do not have to answer. I will not consider you inadequate in the least if you do not have time to answer!)
“…in an attempt to rid my house of unnecessary things, I decided to purchase something that I won’t use very often! ”
Oh, you shouldda seen me eying the vintage ice bucket at Goodwill today. But with my newly clean cupboards in mind, I resisted!
(Not saying I might not go back for it tomorrow though)
I have totally wanted a butter keeper (not crock.) I’m now adding this to my Christmas list!
My mom and my sister both have had butter keepers for years and they seem to love them. Good luck to you. And your butter.
I’ve had a butter crock (let’s call it a butter bell, because “bell” is nicer than “crock” and that’s what was on the package when I bought it) for years and LOVE it. The key is to replace the COLD water every single day. I … do not always do this, and then I feel sad, because that grassfed crappe ain’t cheap.
Where I live if I leave butter outside the fridge for more than 5 minutes it is liquid.
Which is why most of the butter I consume is on hot toast ;)