Friday Favorites And A French Butter Press

Happy Friday everyone. I will get to the French Butter Press in Just a moment. It was one of my favorite Christmas presents. But let me show you a few other favorites for this week.

You have probably heard me talk about my Kitty Gus and that he is a very large boy. Probably about 17 pounds. He and Kitty Kitty share a litter box. At one time they each had their own box but they completely stopped using one of them so I took it up. Their box is pretty much the standard size with a domed top. We noticed that Gus was having issues turning around and getting in and out. We bought him this jumbo litter box. It is for both of them. And they love it!!! It is a few extra inches on the sides and the length and the opening is bigger. It was $49.99 from Amazon and totally worth it for their comfort. Especially Gus since he is such a big boy.

Last week a coworker’s mom sent us some leftover treats from Christmas. We love it when she bakes a lot around the holidays. She always sends us the yummiest treats. We call her Martha Stewart. She always packages everything so nicely.

My orchid Zsa Zsa has now become two orchids. Well she really was two all along. She was a gift when my sister passed away almost two years ago. I always suspected that Zsa Zsa might be two orchids but I didn’t find out for sure until I repotted her last night. The repotting was not pleasant and I will tell you more about that in a future post. But now that she is two I have decided to name her after another Gabor sister. I named her Ava.

I looked out the window this morning and I saw the most beautiful sunrise. I have probably taken pictures of the sunrise in this same spot a million times but it always makes me catch my breath when I see these beautiful colors.

And now for the French Butter Press. I had never heard of one. My nephew and his wife gave it to me for Christmas. I opened the gift and just thought it was a cute urn of some type with a lid. My niece said “do you know what it is?” I didn’t. She told me and explained how it works. You may have one and use it all the time. It is new to me and quite wonderful. 

The top comes off and you pack butter into the top, the lid. It will hold an entire stick of butter. The bottom of the press is filled about 1/3 full of water. Then you put the top back and it forms an airtight seal. The butter stays soft without becoming rancid. I love real butter. None of that margarine stuff for me. So this keeps the butter nice and spreadable.

Here are some great tips when using the French Butter Press taken from the Facebook page of James Sloss Pottery. 

How much water and how often do I need to change The water should at least cover the little hole in the cone. Water should be as close to or touching the butter as possible.
The water should be changed at least once a week.Do you pack the butter into the crock right out of the refrigerator, or do you wait until the butter reaches room temperature?  Also, is there a problem with water getting into the butter, thus onto the bread, etc.?    Let the butter warm up a little before packing it in to the lid, but not so long that it is completely soft.  Sometime, if I do not have the time to wait, I’ll pack it in right out of the refrigerator.  Water and butter (oil) will not mix so there is no problem with water getting into the butter.Put a small amount of salt in the water to stop mold
A long time ago a customer bought two butter dishes, one as a present for his sister and one for his himself. He wrote, asking me about mold in his butter dish. He then asked his sister if she had the same problem. She did not, but she was using a different brand of butter. He switched to her brand and the problem went away. I have talked with a woman from the Alsace region in France. She told me her family always added salt to the water in their butter dishes. It came to me that the salt in the butter keeps the mold away.  I ran an experiment with two butter dishes using unsalted butter.   I put salt in the water of one and not in the other.  There was no mold in the butter dish with salted water!  There was mold in the other dish!  I now always put salt in the water, even with salted butter.  So low salt and unsalted butter is causing this problem.    A process of evaporation takes place through the pottery (helping to keep the inside slightly cooler). This happens more with some glazes then others, and if adding too much salt it may precipitate to the outside leaving a floury powder.Also, French butter dish user Julie sent this in: I find that if you aren’t careful to keep bread particles out of the butter (kids!), you get mold.
HTH–JulieThe butter in my French butter dish started falling into the base, is there something wrong? When the temperature approaches 90′ F the butter will become to soft to stay in the lid.  If you do not have air conditioning you will need to put the butter dish in the refrigerator or add ice to the water in the base.
Butter mixtures like “Land of Lakes spreadable” have margarine blended into the butter.   This makes the butter to oily to stay in the lid.  Only pure butter will work in a French Butter Dish. (butter bell)What is the difference between Porcelain and Stoneware?:Stoneware is a little stronger then porcelain but that is only relevant if the pottery is used for cooking.  Porcelain is a finer clay body with less impurities then stoneware.  The porcelain clay body I use is white when fired and therefore the glazes can be more vibrant and colorful. I use two stoneware clays, a buff white and a high iron red.   I use the high iron red for the stony gray (I also sometimes us it for copper red and the odd one of a kind piece.  The iron bleeds through the glaze to its surface for the stony effect.  I use the same glaze over the buff white stoneware for the stony white butter dishes.  To sum it up: the stoneware clay is for earthy colors, the porcelain for brighter and shinier colors.What is the difference between a French Butter Dish and a butter crock or bell
There are numerous manufactured versions of the French Butter Dish that use copyrighted names like the “Butter Bell”.  The difference is that manufactured versions can not create a cone shaped lid like our hand made butter dishes therefore they must be smaller or the butter will fall out.
 Is the French butter dish dishwasher safe?
Yes, it is dishwasher safeCan I use margarine (or other spreads) in a French Butter Dish?
French Butter Dish works best when real butter is used. Margarine does not have a spreadability problem and is then butter s will not stay in the lid very easily. Do not store other processed spreads for any length of time. Processed spreads like cream cheese need refrigeration to stay fresh for extended periods of time. You can use a French Butter Dish for special spreads if you do not plan to store it for long. For example use a French Butter Dish a serving piece at an evening dinner party for a special dip or spread that you create. It also works for Coconut oil.What is the size of your butter dishes
 They are about 4 1/2″ round by 4″ high.  Since they are handmade they are not exactly the same size.

So those are some of my favorites for the week. What have you been enjoying this week?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!