Could you please pass the....lamb butter?

Has anyone else seen the lamb-shaped butter for sale at the grocery store?  It kind of creeps me out.  

I looked it up, and it turns out that lamb-shaped butter is sold by a company named Keller during March and April, turkey-shaped butter is sold in October and November, and Christmas tree-shaped butter is sold in December.  I also found out that this making lamb-shaped butter is a tradition for many people celebrating Easter.  I have never heard of this!  Am I alone in thinking this is odd?  Have I somehow just missed the boat on this one?

Check it out for yourselves, and let me know what you think!  

The promised recipe

Here is the promised compound butter recipe. It's really quiet delicious on bread and pasta.

Shallot-Parsley Butter

ingredients:
8 Tablespoons plus 1/2 Tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large shallot, minced to yield 3 Tablespoons
1 Tablespoon dry white wine
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Heat the 1/2 Tablespoon butter over medium heat in a small skillet. Add the shallots and cook until soft, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the white wine and cook until the liquid has evaporated, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt. Cool completely.
Placed the remaining 8 Tablespoons of the butter in a medium bowl. Add the shallot mixture and the parsley. Smash with the back of a fork or wooden spoon until well combined.
Transfer the butter mixture to a sheet of parchment or wax paper. Roll into a 1-inch log and refrigerate until ready to use.

Charlie made this last week, and it was just wonderful. It could certainly be changed up by adding different herbs and spices.

Cheese plates and compound butter

My wonderful husband, who is a very good cook, put together a beautiful cheese plate for dinner last night. It was so lovely that I thought I would share a few photos.




The cheese plate includes gorgonzola, goat's milk brie (a great find at Trader Joe's), grapes, carrot sticks, and rosemary bread. It was such a fresh, yummy dinner!

Charlie also made a delicious compound butter a couple of weeks ago. It's fabulous on bread or simply tossed with hot pasta. The photos below show a big chunk of the butter next to a bit of it smeared on rosemary bread.





Yum! Compound butters are flavored butters. They are fairly simple to make and the can add a lot of flavor to cooking. The butter above was seasoned primarily with fresh dill and shallots, but any combination of herbs and spices can be used. I'll post the recipe for the dill-shallot compound butter that Charlie made soon.