When DH gets up in morning he just pulls butter out of fridge when he gets cream for his coffee. Spreadable by the time we have breakfast. We use nothing but butter. Had to cut back on fat and salt. So we just use less. Can't tell you the last time we had any of the substitutes in out home. We have made our own honey butter. Just have butter at room temp then add a tsp of honey to one quarter/stick of butter. Put back into fridge to harden a bit. When I fix biscuits, I like to take the honey butter and brush over the biscuits while they bake. Have done the same to make garlic butter. Just a little minced garlic mixed into room temp butter. Going to have bread sticks? brush on the breadstick dough before baking.

Thanks, tessagin, the correct measurements were what I was looking for. I'll be trying this out sometime this week when I get up early enough to have breakfast before DH heads out to his ramblings.

I use a Butter Bell, the butter is always perfectly spreadable. To make your own, use a small condiment size bowl and pack a cube of softened butter into bowl then turn it upside down into a larger bowl with about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of water ( just enough to make a water seal but not overflow). The water keeps the butter fresh and soft. I have found Butter Bells at specialty kitchen/gourmet shops in shopping malls.

Thank you all for your suggestions..I appreciate your answers. I like the sound of the butter bell...this is new to me. We love the taste of good, real butter and do not really like the idea of adding oil...nor anything else. The bell is the answer. Thx again for your comments.

I leave my sticks of butter sitting on my counter in a glass container with a lid. My friend has done this for 50 years...or at least as long as I have known her and she did not have AC years ago. Never went bad and always soft for bread.

I have started doing this as well. One stick at a time doesn't go bad. I tried a "butter bell" type thing, butter fell out.

Of course you have to be careful if you have "counter critters" - anything that creeps around the counters at night and eats what is left out.

Here's what I use to keep butter soft....I absolutely LOVE it!!

http://www.amazon.com/Butter-Bell-Cr...8MG4CN79GJ3EBW

Jan in VA

We left butter in the cupboard the entire time when I was growing up. Never had a problem. Now I keep it in the fridge as I don't have space for it anywhere else. I microwave the amount of butter I want in a ceramic dish in the microwave when it comes out of the fridge. I find that using melted butter reduces the amount of butter I use a lot as it spreads waaay farther than solid butter.

I had some artichokes today and made the following observation - the foods that are labor-intensive to eat, like artichokes, lobster, and crab claws, all can be dipped in melted butter. It's like a reward - "here, this food takes some effort to get at, but you can eat pure butter with it!"

Barb,
How do you fix your artichokes ....as you say they are labor intensive?

I trim the pokey points off with kitchen shears, trim the bottom nearly even with the base, then boil upright - about half covered - in water for 25-40 minutes.
We serve them with a family Hollandaise sauce recipe that I've rarely seen written anywhere else but in my Bama's recipe box.

1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Blend together well in small sauce pan.
Place small pan over simmering water in a larger sauce pan (or over the artichoke cooking pot).
Slowly add 2-3 tablespoons refrigerated salted butter and stir until butter melts and egg begins to thicken. It's best not to rush this step as cooking the egg is what makes the sauce thicken.
As the sauce thickens a bit, add more butter - 1 tbsp. at a time, stirring continuously, until you've added about 1 stick of butter total.

Serve in little cups or the sauce section of artichoke plates, dipping each leaf in sauce before pulling thru your teeth.

Leftover sauce keeps well in the refrigerator and is great on broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, Eggs Benedict and STEAK!

Jan in VA