All the Buttery Goodness.....

I didn't realize that there was a difference with american butter and european butter, where european butter is made with slightly fermented cream. This was reported in the New York Times

Also when creaming butter with sugar, the temperature of the butter shouldn't rise above 65F since at 68F it will melt and the water and butterfat separates. This might explain why warm dough is a problem with some pastries.

Some butter that is recommended is "Kerrygold from Ireland, unsalted Kate’s Homemade Butter from Old Orchard Beach, Me., and a “limited edition” cultured butter from Organic Valley, made from May to September, when cows are outside at least part of the time, eating grass rather than feed."