Had I been present at the creation, I would have given some useful hints for the better ordering of the universe. -- Alfonso the Wise [Quoted in "VMS Internals and Data Structures", V4.4, when referring to operating system initialization.]
Butter Mystique
"She brought forth butter in a lordly dish," (Judges 5:25)
This passage was written 2000 years before Christ. Butter was discovered by accident. Theoretically when men checked their flasks of milk at the end of a bumpy journey they found a coagulated lumpy substance instead; butter. The word butter is originally from "bou-tyron" which means cow cheese in Greek.
The Greeks scoffed at butter eaters and believed them to be low class referring to these barbarians as "butterophagous gentry." The people of the south preferred olive oil to barbarous butter.
Mediterranean's believed butter caused leprosy, but the people in the north worshipped butter; it represented purity, innocence, mother, and wholesomeness. Butter stands alone and despite many tries can not be duplicated.
Butter and honey are the only two foods created exclusively for feeding young animals. Butter is a highly concentrated form of fluid milk. It breaks down as 80-82% milk fat, 16% water and 2% milk fat. Butter contains vitamin A, D, and E as well as protein, calcium and phosphorous. It takes 21 pounds of milk to make one pound of butter. Lactose also aids in calcium absorption. It was believed butter possessed certain medicinal properties. It was used for rashes and burns, kept down vermin.
Up until the early twentieth century in Europe and America, farmers believed that butter, being magic and a mystical substance, was highly susceptible to sorcery and witchcraft. If a cow "went dry"and provided little butter or the butter would not coagulate, sorcery was at work! Witches would transfer the farmer's milk to her cow and curse the churn so no butter would form. To counter-attack one must plunge a piece of hot iron or a crooked sixpence into the cream. However, the most popular "sorcery preventative maintenance," is a handy piece of mountain ash; rowen. Eventually churns were made with rowan wood handles.
In Germany they prayed to the butter saints while churning, Azeca and Haceka who could change rancid butter into sweet. Or there's the Irish St. Brigit who could magically renew empty butter stores.
The most common Enlish charm still used in 1929 is to sing this while churning, Come, butter, come... Come, butter, come, Peter stands at the gate, Come, butter, come, An Old Dutch proverb went"Eat butter first, and eat it last, and live "til a hundred years past."
Dairy life in the old days was hard, you were up before the crack of dawn, milk cows, slop hogs, make butter and cheese, plow the fields etc, etc. Men would have laughed the thin frail models of today; she would be considered weak, and useless. They wanted big brawny chicks. In one-village women had to lift a huge heavy lid off of the parish chest with one hand to show how desirable she was.
The word dairy is from Middle English "Dey" meaning female servant. Milk was defined as female, therefore the milking and butter churning was women's work.
Butter varies in color depending on what the cow eats, it was once believed that butter was yellow because cows ate buttercups; this is where the flower got its name.
So don't forget "which side your breads buttered on", and be sure not to "butter your bread on both sides". And if you'd like to "butter some one up," make them some of my "Nuttier Than a Fruitcake Cookie Bars"
Preheat oven to 350°
Crust:
1 ½ cups flour
1cups oats
¾ c. melted butter
½ cups sugar
½ tsp. Baking soda
¼ tsp. Salt
2tsp. Almond extract.
Cut all together with pastry cutter, reserve ¾ cup and press the rest into a 9 by 11-inch baking dish.
Mix together:
1 c. harvest medley dried cranberries, cherries and apples
1c. Crushed nuts
1 chopped apple
¼ c. coffee liqueur
Spread on crust. Top with remaining crumbs and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Bake in oven for 25 minutes.
Enjoy!
To reach Crystal Hayes via e-mail crystalhayes.peak.org
Added 07 June, 2007 by Crystal
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