April Birthdays!  We have four of them in my family - my Toms – husband and son; daughter, Mary Kate; and our son-in-law, Jason.  In addition to sharing close birthdays, they also share a love of breads. 

Frequent blog readers and clients know I rarely advocate eating bread.  However, if I do, I advise eating breads that have been freshly baked, such as that made by a local bakery. They won’t have a lot of additives and stabilizers in them, and will taste delicious!

When we are stressed, which everyone is right now, we crave carbohydrates!  They make us feel good!  If you are a bread lover, one of the best ways to eat it is to slather it with good, organic butter.  This will provide some excellent fats, and will help lessen the effects of the quick carbohydrates in the bread.

In honor of my April birthdays, here are a few great recipes to spruce up your butter to make it even more delicious and nutritious!

Start with good butter.  It’s your choice to use salted or unsalted.  Since you’ll be adding herbs and spices, you may want to use unsalted.  I normally use salted. As you add your favorite things to your butter, you can allow it to soften and mix by hand, or use a hand mixer.  After mixing your butter, allow it to sit in the fridge for a day.  Butter is always better and easier to spread if you allow it to temper outside the fridge for about 15 minutes, too.

• Honey Butter. Simply mix equal parts of butter with local honey and mix well.  You can add chopped or minced nuts, too!
• Cajun Butter. We like all things spicy, crabby, Cajun-like!  Make a delicious Cajun butter by starting with ½ cup butter, and adding 1 tsp. garlic powder, ¼ tsp. black pepper, ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper, and dashes of ground ginger and ground cloves. 
• Chive Butter. Really, really good on corn, too.  Add 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives, ¼ tsp. black pepper and 1 tsp. lemon juice to ½ cup butter.  Mix well and refrigerate.
• Herb Butter. Herbs will be in season very soon.  If you grow your own, use what you grow.  If you buy, buy your favorites!  It’s easy to take a stick of butter, add 1 tsp. lemon juice, and 2 Tbsp. of your favorite chopped herbs.  Some suggestions:  oregano, basil, parsley, rosemary, sage, marjoram.  You can add a pinch of garlic salt, too. 

Store your butters in a glass container or a cute crock.  You can roll your mixed butter into a log, too, and you can even freeze your butters.  Just wrap it in plastic wrap, label it, and freeze away! 

If you love bread like my birthday people, add some delicious butter and you’ll love it even more!

To Your Vitality!