Powdered Buttermilk

Have you ever walked by a product in the grocery store and told yourself that someday you would have to try it? I have been passing this product by in my grocery store for years, always wanting to try it but never seeming to grab a can and have it make it into my shopping basket. Well that ended the other week. I grabbed up a can on my way through the baking aisle.

It works great! I have used it a couple times, once because I forgot to buy buttermilk and once because I forgot I had buttermilk...that's the way I roll. I used it last night to make one of my latest favorite quick bread recipes to go along with a pot of white beans and ham soup. The weather is playing hot and cold with us, so one day we will be 70 and the next we soar back up to 90.

The white bean soup is simple enough. You take one pound of dried white beans (I used northern beans) 1 medium sized smoked ham shank (I had the butcher cut it into 3 pieces), salt, pepper. Take the beans and rinse them good and add them to a large pot, nestle the ham shank sections into the bean and add enough water to cover the beans. Turn the pot on and bring to a boil, when the pot boils turn down to a simmer add the salt and pepper (to taste) and put a lid on it. Check the pot every so often to stir the beans and add water when needed. When meat is tender pull it from the soup, take the meat from the bones and put it back in the pot. When the beans are about an hour away from being done add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar. adjust your salt and pepper add more if needed. Cook until you reach the desired consistency.

Short and sweet this week. I have been exceptionally busy, but hope to make a little more room for new recipes with fall around the corner. Have a great rest of the week.