Homemade Sour Cream
Phew. What a day. For homemade sour cream.Do you ever have those days? Those days when you sit down with aching feet, burning eyes, an uncompleted to-do list, and an unfolded pile of laundry the size of Mount Kilimanjaro?Good. I thought I was alone in this world. Glad to see I'm in good company here.Despite the aching feet, burning eyes, and giant list and laundry pile, here I am. Here to share. Here to write. Here to document. Because something as good as homemade sour cream requires documentation. It's my obligation to mankind to share. 
One of my favorite parts about the 'agrarian', 'from scratch' lifestyle is learning how to do things that I didn't before. I didn't grow up in a traditional foods household. I never made my own bread or (good heavens) brewed my own kombucha. All of that came much later in life, years after getting married. And somewhere in the trail of this lifestyle, I began to learn. I first learned how to bake bread. And then, I learned how to preserve and can. Later came the gardening. And even later came the from-scratch cooking. Since moving the farm last year and acquiring our meat and dairy animals, that from-scratch cooking has even gone a step further. After all, we're given the raw product from the animals and it's up to us to make something of it.Meat turns to supper. And delicious bone broths.Vegetables turn to ferments. And side dishes.Milk turns to butter. Ghee. Pig feed. Cheese. Kefir. And homemade sour cream.I'm sort of embarrassed that it's even taken me so long to share this wonderfulness with you because frankly, it's easier than making a cup of tea - requiring far less mental energy than it's taken you to read this post thus far (isn't that good news? our brains are tired after all, remember? see line #1)It's raw. It's cultured. It's fresh from the farm, baby.
Homemade Sour Cream
You will need: - 1/2 cup sour cream (from previous batch or from the best organic, additive-free sour cream you can find!) - 1 quart fresh cream (from your dairy cow or the very best organic, none-ultra-pasteurized, additive-free cream you can find!)Ladies and gentlemen, meet the players in this game. Previous culture:
And cream. Sweet, sweet, cream. How I desire to bathe in your goodness:
Step One: Pour the cream into a glass jar.Step Two: Add the sour cream.
Step Three: Shake it like a salt shaker, baby. Or like you're trying to combine the sour cream and the cream. Either one.
Step Four: Put a lid on the jar and let it sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours or until cultured (aka: soured) to your likeness. I usually let mine go for 24 hours.YES, leave it at room temperature. The cultures need warmth to work.NO, you're not going to die from leaving it out on the counter.Just do it. Life's too short to live in fear of leaving dairy products out on the counter.Step Five: Refrigerate. Consume. On nachos. Or eggs. Or potatoes. Or taco soup. Or whatever delicious recipes it is that you have planned.See? Isn't it fun to learn how to do new things? 60 years ago I bet everyone was culturing their own sour cream. Yet here we are, totally confused at the process - thinking it's beyond our grasp to accomplish - even though active participation time is about 4.2934 seconds. I'm here, my friends, to tell you that you CAN do it! And the result is fresh sour cream, free of additives and thickeners that most store-bought varieties contain. The result is a beautiful sense of accomplishment and a new empowerment from learning. The result is happiness, even amongst the dirty laundry pile and the weariness of a hard days work. I can sit down in peace for the night, regardless. Because today - cream has been soured. And that's good enough for me.[yumprint-recipe id='4']