Grandson and Buttermilk

 See this face?  It is an awful face!  This is his reaction to a sip of buttermilk, he makes me laugh!  When I asked him if he wanted another drink he politely replied "No thank you."  That was also my face when offered buttermilk.  Eewww.  Old people drink buttermilk and love it.   In fact they can tell you that homemade buttermilk is far better then the stuff you buy in the store.  How do I know?  I happen to know 2 buttermilk experts, Evelyn and Marvin. They both can  tell you how you  churn the cream into butter and the liquid that is leftover is the buttermilk.   Evelyn and I work in the Family History Library up to the church, Marvin is this old cowboy who comes in to work on his family history.  He would always bring me a Coke and he and Evelyn and small carton of buttermilk and usually some frosted sugar cookies from Smith's.  He would always offer me his buttermilk and the face of my grandson would be on my face.  Then Evelyn would say "She doesn't know what she is missing does she Marvin?"  She was right..sort of.  I would tell them both that I liked my buttermilk in Red Velvet Cake and in Ice Cream/Pancake Syrup.  Then one day while I was making Red Velvet Cake, I decided to give it an honest taste test.  Ya know what?  It really isn't that bad.  Then when you combine a small glass of buttermilk with a toasted peanut butter and jelly sandwich, well that my friends,  is a slice of most delicious heaven! 

This is the strawberry shortcake that Peyton and I made.  It went quite well except for when he dumped the egg into the wrong section of the food processor!    This shortcake recipe of from a cookbook I have called Baking by James Peterson.  It is a great big  cookbook and boasts '350 recipes and techniques, 1500 photographs, one baking education'...It does not however, come with a certificate of accomplishment if you read the whole thing!  Here is the shortcake recipe and also the buttermilk syrup recipe.  Enjoy!
Strawberry Shortcakes
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup col butter, thinly sliced
I whirl this together in the food processor til crumbly, the book says use a pastry blender. 
Add:
1 egg
3/4 cup buttermilk
Mix well.  Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead two or three times and pat out 3/4 inch thick.  Cut with a round cutter, brush tops with buttermilk and sprinkle with coarse sugar.  Bake 375 for 20 minutes.  Slice, fill with strawberries, whipped cream and enjoy!

Buttermilk Syrup
In a large heavey pan combine 1 1/2 cups sugar, 3/4 cup buttermilk, 1/2 cup butter and 2 tbsp of corn syrup.  Boil for 7 minutes.  Remove from heat and add 2 tsp of vanilla.  Oh my gosh...this is truely most delicious!