Everybody Eats: You butter believe it

When I was a kid, I hated butter. I wouldn't have it on pancakes, I didn't put it on mashed potatoes and I would not touch a dinner roll if there was butter on it.

I don't know why I felt this way. It wasn't even an outright “No butter ever” sort of thing, as I loved cinnamon toast and we all know you need butter to make that.

For years, my parents indulged my whim. It wasn't until summer camp that I changed by mind.

Sunday morning breakfast when the camp cook served cinnamon rolls was a big deal. Each one had a dot of butter on top, which pretty much melted into the flaky crust by the time you got through the breakfast line. Scraping it off was useless, and no one in their right mind would turn down a cinnamon roll, so I took a bite.

Why didn't anyone tell me what I was missing?!

I came home from camp a week later with a suitcase filled with dirty socks, several clay bowls and a new attitude toward butter. I had forgotten about my early aversion until this most recent summer when I judged the honey butter category at the Iowa State Fair.

“They want you to judge butter?” my sister asked. “You hate butter!”

“No, I don't!”

“You used to; remember?”

Oh yeah.

Well, like I said, I was an odd child. If two weeks at summer camp two decades earlier hadn't cured me of my anti-butter beliefs, the sampling of honey butters I tried that afternoon would have. The winning recipes will be published in the new Iowa State Fair cookbook next year. Until then, this one I found online is pretty good.

Honey Butter

• 2 sticks real butter, close to room temperature
• 2/3 cup honey
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar

Place all ingredients in a bowl and beat with an electric hand-mixer for 2 to 3 minutes on medium-high speed. Serve at room temp with warm rolls, scones, cornbread, waffles, etc.

Note: If your butter is too soft, you'll get a sticky mess instead of a fluffy creation. Leave it on the counter for 20 minutes to soften for best results.

Source: Ourbestbites.com