No one is in the living room. I get Alice’s cookies and put one on each person’s chair. When she shipped them to me, they were in Ziploc bags along with twelve white bags decorated with silver swirls and trimmed with white fur. Now they wait for the party members to claim them.

I return to the kitchen and move toward the group in front of the refrigerator. “Jeannie, I think you’re next.”

Rosie walks into the living room with a plate. When she passes us, she looks down.

“That okay?” I ask Jeannie.

Her smile is overly quick, a nervous twitch. Then she says, “Yeah. I’ll go next.” She meets my eyes and nods.

BUTTER

Butter has a bad reputation. It’s blamed for obesity and, because of its animal fat, for clogging arteries and increasing heart disease. Yet for thousands of years, it served as a preserved source of valuable protein and as a taste enhancer in sauces and baked items. For decades, I replaced butter with margarine only to find out recently that the trans fats in the substitute were more damaging.

In elementary school, Sky had an assignment to make butter from cream; we took turns shaking it in a glass until the butter “came.” From her project I learned that churning fermented or fresh milk produces butter. It can be made from the milk of sheep, goat, and buffalo though we most commonly use cow’s milk. Butter from different species tastes different and, in addition, the diet of the animal, especially if it includes aromatic herbs, affects the taste.

It takes between 2 to 3 gallons of milk to form one pound of butter. Butter is churned agitated cream that has been ripened by the action of lactic acid producing bacteria, which are present naturally in nonpasturized cream. This type of milk makes cultured butter. Sweet cream butter, which is the type in common usage in the United States, is made from pasteurized cream and then flavor compounds are added.

Both types of butter are sold with salt, which preserves it, or unsalted. Another way to preserve it is to clarify the butter, which removes the water. Heat it gently so that the emulsion breaks down and fat rises to the top. If the water totally evaporates, you’ve made ghee. This is what Allie uses in her Ramadan cookies. In India, ghee was an offering to the gods.