I’d like to introduce you to my new favorite piece of pottery.
The butter bell is an old fashioned thing (I like it already) meant to let you store your butter at room temperature without it going rancid.*
Water goes into the base, and the bell turns upside down and goes into the water. The butter stays dry**, and the water acts like an airlock.
That’s not why I like it though. I like it because it means my dogs don’t steal the butter off the counter anymore. With the plain butter dish Neil*** would forget it on the counter, or leave the lid off, and the dogs would eat an entire stick of butter. Something about the butter bell keeps us from forgetting. Either because it’s a new toy, or because it looks precarious all opened up. Either way dogs-not-eating-butter is something we can all get behind (well, except the dogs)
*seriously, does anyone go through butter that slowly?
**mostly, if you try to get an extra tablespoon or two into the bell it gets wet. But good news, butter doesn’t dissolve.
***or me
* yes, but that’s because I’m the only one who eats it.
** I used to have one of these and no, the butter doesn’t dissolve, but the water gets slimy, ew.
*** I don’t believe it.