MEANDERINGS

 

It’s Easter. I watched a segment of Watter’s World and it was so disturbing, I have no words. The people he talked to had no idea what Easter was about, or anything about Jesus himself. We are living in a post Christian era. That’s not a scary thing for Christians, it’s a horrifying thing for those who aren’t. He will come for us, whether we believe in Him and accept His sacrifice or not. It just made me very sad. I know the difference He made in my own life, after living 46 years without Him. And this life is not the big deal. It’s the next one that lasts forever that matters most. My greatest wish is that my children and grandchildren follow Him, and my friends as well. I pray for them. That’s the best I can do. I complain about many things but I know I have more than I deserve, only by His grace.

I’ve much to be grateful for, not the least of which is my young granddaughter didn’t step on this beast yesterday when she was squirrel hunting.

TheMan vacuumed the house for me which is a HUGE deal as I can’t usually do it and the big dogs don’t just bring in big chunks of hair and mud, but leaves, large pieces of sticker bushes, tumbleweeds etc. and it remains on the carpets. It’s frustrating because they really don’t belong in the house, they belong outside with the stock, but since we have no stock, TheMan lets them inside. The Heathen sheds something awful on his own, so running the vacuum was a real blessing. I dusted what I was able while he did so, and worked on cleaning the kitchen and getting dinner for tonite made. That part took me most of the day but was easy.

We’re having a leg of lamb which is super simple to make. I make about 7 slits and put a clove of garlic in each. I rub a little mix of salt, pepper, thyme and garlic powder. Mixed with oil on the outside, then put it on a rack in a pan, in the oven at 375 to sear the meat. After 15 min, turn the. Heat down to 350, pour in a 1/2 cup of water in the bottom of pan, cover it and bake for 25 min per pound. The drippings I use to make gravy.

I got applesauce made this morning in the Instapot. It was the first time I made it that way, but it won’t be the last. I just peeled 6  Granny Smith’s with my much loved apple/potato peeler, tossed them in the pan with 3/4 c water and tsp of cinnamon, 3/4 Tbl of lemon juice, turned it on for 8 min. Did a pressure release and Tah dah!! Applesauce!

Lastly we made loaded cauliflower which is our new favorite. We do Keto on and off and this was our favorite recipe.

I got this awesome new tumbler. The first on we got, the motor burned out and it costs almost as much to replace it as to buy a new one. A wonderful friend gifted me a nice used Lortone which is one of the most popular you can buy, but it takes a month to do 3# of stones which isn’t many. We saved up and got this monster that I am absolutely in love with! He’s made in America, (as is Lortone) and is heavy duty and well put together. The best part? He holds 5x as many stones as the other one. It still takes a month but it makes me feel so happy to know a big batch of rocks is getting done. This thing is not going to break down like the cheap one we got at Harbor Freight that was most likely made in China. 

I had a very large Creeping Charley that hadn't been doing well. It was dropping a lot of leaves this year and the leaves were getting smaller and were not glossy. I decided to repot him so had TheMan carefully take him down and we painstakingly worked him out of the macrame hanger. He definitely needed a larger pot with better drainage so I put him in one and watered him in good to take care of any air pockets. We left him on the porch to drain while we both rested our sore backs and i found a pot saucer. 

When I got back out to get him, I found the Maremmas had been doing cat imitations and had knocked him off the porch.

Here's the before 

and after pics...

pitiful, I know. But if he doesn't grow back thriving, I will start another from cuttings as the plants keep outgrowing their spots and I have to keep pruning them...and being a waste not person I don't have the heart to throw out the cuttings so I keep starting more plants...

Now it's Tuesday. Monday was a wash because weather and exertion resulted in a ton of pain, so I never moved all day. Just laid here and moaned like a sick cow.

Today is better so I took Heath for another cruise with the wheelchair and we found 

A GEODE!!

Right there on the ranch road heading to the corrals. Never know what you might run across out here. Sadly the picture doesn't do it justice at all. You can't see all the sparkly inside. But its there, and it made me happy to find it.

Hope y'all have a great week/month or whatever until I get back to you!

Petey & the Heathen 

Rolling in Dough

As a follow up to prior blog, the rock tumbling was successful. A few of the rocks I gathered here at the ranch proved worthy, and many of my granddaughter's rocks, mostly quartz, from the ranch her Daddy works on were very pretty. Unfortunately the pictures don't do them justice and a few of them could have stood to be tumbled longer to get all the scratches off of them, but it was a great learning experience and I hope to do better. Meanwhile, I learned how to drill holes in the smaller ones to use them up.

As everyone has been home bound lately, I assume many are getting to the point they might decide this is the time to be a tad more self sufficient. Having lived 4 hours from town for the past 13 years, I’ve got that nailed down pretty well.

 So today, we will talk about making bread.

There are so many choices and recipes to choose from, all equally delicious.

Let’s start with a basic white bread.

There are different kinds of flour. All purpose flour is fine, but bread flour is nice for loaves as it has a bit more gluten and rises better, making for a lighter loaf. If you have a grain mill, you can also make your own flour out of various things, wheat, almond, rice, etc. I prefer wheat. I usually buy #25-#50 of wheat berries at a time. I have soft white, (for cakes, pastry, etc) hard white (for white bread) and hard red (for stronger flavored wheat breads, great in waffles) on hand. However, if you are milling your own flour you are probably already an expert and don't need to read this blog. So lets stick with all purpose, bread flour, or commercial wheat flour which is nothing like the flour that is ground at home as both the hull and the wheat germ have been removed, along with much of their nutrition.

Yeast comes in different forms as well. You can buy it in packets, jars or bricks. It can be kept indefinitely in a freezer and for a good long time in the fridge. You will find Active Dry, Instant Dry and Rapid Rise Yeast. I use the Active dry as I buy it in big bricks so I always proof it. The only difference is that Active Dry requires activation by proofing in warm water while Instant Dry does not. The Rapid Rise is usually used in bread machines, which I don't really care for myself.

Keep your yeast tightly sealed. Mine is kept in a little crock with a rubber seal.
Yeast is a living organism. Baker's yeast began to be made and used in 1857 or so, making leavening bread faster and more reliable, but at some cost to both the. nutrition and flavor of the bread itself. But, I digress. We are talking first about bread made with commercial yeast, so...
let’s assume your yeast is good.

Most bread recipes have sugar or honey in them. Primarily, sugar is food for the yeast and speeds up the yeast breaking down the starch in the flour. Honey does the same but also adds a nice flavor to wheat bread.

Salt regulates the yeast activity, helping the yeast to ferment more evenly. It also assists in shelf life and gives the dough body as well as enhancing flavor.

Oil/Lard/Crisco also helps keep the bread from drying out and going stale as quickly as it would without.

You will need something to cook your bread in. Bread pans are the most popular, but different recipes can be cooked in a dutch oven, in baguette pan or even free form. Some require a brotform which is a type of basket the bread rises in then is quickly dumped onto parchment paper on a hot stone.

You will need a serrated bread knife or slicer. I use both.

 The first two recipes will only need a pair of bread pans as they make 2 loaves.

The first thing I do, is to “proof my yeast” in a bit of warm water. You don't want the water too hot or it will kill the yeast. If the recipe uses milk and egg, like most white bread and other recipes, you will use less water to proof the yeast and usually scald the milk on the stove before adding the fat, sugar and salt to it. Let those cool before adding to the proofed yeast.

It will look sort of poofy-ish on the top of the water if it is still good.
If it doesn’t, you need fresher yeast.

Yeast is a living organism. Baker's yeast began to be made and used in 1857 or so, making leavening bread faster and more reliable, but at some cost to both the. nutrition and flavor of the bread itself. We are talking first about bread made with commercial yeast, so...
let’s assume your yeast is good.

Add your salt and about 2-3 cups of your flour to start making your dough. I use a stand mixer, but used to do it all by hand.

I have both a KitchenAid and a Bosch Mixer. The KA can make 2 loaves nicely, but my Bosch makes 4 and is easier both to use and to clean up. Trust me, if you are looking to purchase a mixer, go for the Bosch. It can do SO much more! It also has an 850 watt motor as opposed to KA's 250watt. I made bread for decades without a mixer, so it's not a deal breaker. But with RA and PsA, my hands can no longer do the work without great cost. I can make 4 loaves at a time in the Bosch, then I slice, wrap and freeze it and have a month's worth of homemade bread done in an afternoon, for pennies.

The Bosch isn't pretty but its worth its weight in gold

 By hand, use a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon. Slowly add the rest of the flour until the dough is rather stiff and not too sticky.

If using a mixer, do the same on low power using the dough hook and after adding all but the last cup of the remainder of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, start adding the last cup of flour a couple of TBL at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Too much flour will make the bread heavy. Too little and it will be too sticky to work with. The weather can affect your bread making, so that's why I recommend adding the flour in this way. It may take a little more or a little less than the recipe calls for.  I made many brick loaves in the beginning before I figured this out.

Once the dough is not too sticky (a little bit sticky is good) flour your hands and dump it on a lightly floured surface and begin kneading. The more you knead the bread, the less sticky it will be. Flour your hands rather than adding flour to the dough as the latter will make for a dry, heavy bread.
Using the heels of your hands push down on the dough, fold it over on itself, turn it 1/4 turn and repeat over, and over until it “pushes back”. Kneading not only mixes the ingredients well, but develops the gluten which allows the dough to become elastic and rise without the strands breaking. Without the gluten strands developed, your bread will be hard and flat. You cannot over develop it kneading by hand, but you can by machine, so be careful not to overmix once the dough pulls away from the sides of your mixer bowl. I like to dump it out like when I hand knead and see if the dough is, indeed springing back to my hand. The kneading is a crucial step of breadmaking. If the gluten strands are not developed enough, your bread won't be very good.

Once the dough is elastic and springy, silky (it will feel both smooth an HAPPY) grease a bowl, dump it in, turning it once, and cover, setting it in a warm place to rise. I like to use a cotton cloth, like an old fashioned diaper, that has been soaked in warm water and well squeezed out, to cover my bread. You can also put a bowl of hot water in your oven and set the dough inside to rise. When yeast acts on flour, it converts natural grain sugars and starches into carbon dioxide, which creates air pockets that make the dough rise.

Let it rise til double. You can push a finger into the dough and if it leaves an indent it's ready to dump it out again on your pastry cloth or floured counter top. Punch down, cover and let rest for about 10 minutes.

finger print after second rise

I then fold it all up and cut it down the middle with a dough scraper.

Using my hands, I flatten out the dough into a rectangle, making sure there are no big gas pockets. I then roll it up, pinching the bottom together and folding the ends and pinching under before setting in well greased pan to be covered and rise again until double. Using the finger print method again, I check to see if it’s ready.

Then into the oven it goes.

so let's condense this...

WHITE BREAD

Ingredients:

2  1/4 tsp or 1 package yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups milk, scalded
2 Tbl sugar
2 tsp salt
1 Tbl fat (butter, crisco or lard)
5 3/4 to 6 1/4 cups flour

Directions:

Proof yeast in water in large bowl or mixer bowl
Combine hot milk, sugar, fat, and salt, cool to lukewarm
Stir in 2 cups of flour, beat well, then add to yeast mixture
Add flour to make moderately stiff dough.
On lightly floured surface, knead until smooth and springy, 8-10 minutes
Set in greased bowl, turning once, cover and let rise (about 1 hr)
Punch dough down, dump out on counter and cover. Let rest 10 minutes.
Divide dough in half, press down into rectangle with hands, popping any
gas bubbles.
Roll into loaf, pinching bottom together and tucking ends underneath.
Put in greased loaf pans, cover and let rise second time (about 40 min)
Bake @400 for 35 min. Loaf should sound hollow when tapped.
Take loaf out of pan on rack or wooden cutting board. Immediately
rub a cube of butter over tops of loaves and let cool before cutting.

RANDY'S FAVORITE HONEY WHEAT BREAD

Ingredients:

3 cups WW flour
3 cups Bread flour
2 cups warm water
1 cup buttermilk

next day:
4 1/2 tsp yeast
1/4-1/2 cup warm water
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup butter (or oil, lard)
1 TBL salt

Directions:
Mix flours and liquids and let soak overnight or up to 24 hours
Next day proof yeast in water, add remaining ingredients, then mix with flour mix

As with White Bread recipe above, knead, rise, shape into loaves rise, bake 45 min @ 375

Let me know how it goes. The Honey Wheat bread recipe uses what is known as a "levain" which is a bit like a sourdough starter as it captures wild yeast out of the air, adding to both the rising and flavor of the bread.

Let me know what you think, and how it goes!! And any of you experts, if you have something to add or a super special commercial yeast recipe, please chirp in, to help out my readers who are here trying to learn a new skill!

Next blog will be no-knead bread and sourdough.

Happy baking, from our range to yours!

Me & Heath

1.  

Petey's Most Awesome, Pretty Good Day

The freezers are full. In order to relieve some of the ‘congestion’ I grabbed the few chicken carcasses left from when I parted out meaties and tossed them in the stock pot, along with some onion, peppercorns, carrots, a couple ribs of celery, fresh from the garden thyme and parsley, a little rosemary and some garlic. I added a couple of necks and of course, the feet, which had been cleaned. Chicken feet make the best kind of stock because they are mostly cartilage and supply all the glucosamine and chondroitin you could want. I let it simmer all day and the smell is heavenly. Once it is done and everything has been pretty much leached into the broth, I let it cool down some, then strain it into another large stockpot. That goes to the walk in to chill, while I pick through the solids that remain, putting bones in one bag, the veggies in a bucket to throw on the compost and the meat into a bowl. I gleaned enough meat off of the 3 carcasses to make  Chinese Chicken Salad, with more than half a bowl left over. This is one of my favorite summer salads so I was tickled to have it readily accessible. The only things I don't always have on hand are fresh celery, bean sprouts and the chinese noodles, but I grabbed some last trip to town. The dry noodles will keep a pretty long time so I’ll be picking up extra next trip and I have ordered mung beans to make our own sprouts, as they don’t last long and often, I can’t find them in the stores I go to. Green onions are always available in my back yard, winter and summer. I always have dry celery on hand, but not fresh, so that is something that is always on the grocery list and I always make something that requires it when we get it home. Then whatever is left over, goes in the dehydrator for soups and stews later on.

Uncharacteristically, I awoke before dawn one morning and not from being in any pain. In fact, I felt like a million bucks, so I quietly snuck outside in the dark under what was left of the moon and headed to the back pasture. I’d heard Cletus barking so I figured something was out of place back there, although he was quiet again so whatever it had been, had already been handled. I snuk up to the alley fence and peeked over to see all the sheep had been huddled together out in the open at the top of the pasture. Both Maremmas were trotting toward them so apparently it had been an encounter of the sheeple-threatening kind. The pups suddenly became aware of me and seconds later I was met in the corral by 200+ lb of highly enthusiastic, wagging polar bodies. After establishing that our infatuation for each other had not dimmed, we watched the sun rise together. It was a wonderful beginning to the day.

EmmaLouMoo has been out back with the bull and about a dozen cows for the past several weeks. SushiMoo has been isolated as she is too young to breed, and we were using the opportunity of her being lonely to get her to bond with us and become a bit more social. She was able to come and go from the corrals and out to the horse pasture as she pleased. Unfortunately, she found a way thru the fences and was loose out with the rest. I was able to capture Wimpy and saddle him (something I had not been able to do in months) and rode down to bring all the cows up from the bottom of the pasture and separate Em and Sushi out into the corral. They tried to pull a sneaky by racing back around the octopus tree and trying to double back on me while we were caught up in the wet, mucky ground, but Wimpy was a good boy and we managed to head them off and accomplish our objective. It made me a very happy camper.

A couple of days later Sushi came in heat which was a relief because #1 she for sure didn’t get bred over night and #2 it means she can go back out there for a couple of weeks until she is due to come in again, at which time I will bring her up and separate her again until her heat is over and turn her loose again. It makes her a much happier little cow.

The Red Rangers are STILL not ready to butcher. We definitely won’t be buying anymore of them as they don’t hold a candle to the cornishX as far as being economical and quick to finish. I know a lot of folks like them because they are hardier, but as we’ve not had problems with the CX, we’ll happily stick with them. 

When I had gone to visit Wimpy and Mister, Thomas followed me into the big corral and waited at the gate. When I returned, he wouldn’t let me pass. The next thing I knew, he began attacking me. He was running at me and jumping up, flapping his wings and kicking at me with his feet. I was using a foot to kick him back each time but he continued. I finally hollered for Bruno, who rescued me by body blocking Thomas and keeping him from getting too close to me. The heavy socialization and bonding I did with the Maremmas, once again paid off. It looks like Thomas might grace our Thanksgiving table, after all. He’s happily residing beneath the raspberry bushes with the Rangers for now.

It’s been unusually hot this summer and the garden has suffered for it. The flowers and hidden veggies have been making a valiant effort to survive and compete with the weeds.

I love sneaking stuff like cabbage and squash into the flower gardens

Hopefully, next year I will be more successful in my battle with weeds and dirt. For now, I'll just settle for what we have and plan on starting more perennials next spring to fill in the spots that need it.

Going out with Randyman to feed the other night, Cletus roared and took off out of the corral toward the orchard. He was upset because THIS guy and his co hort were parked in the trees. Apparently, Cletapotamus has not forgotten that they killed a bunch of his meaties and he was unable to stop them.

As for the rest, he's been fairly vigilant so I've got no worries.

Yesterday I pulled the stockpot out of the walk in, skimmed the fat off the top and canned  2 gallons of chicken broth as well as 7 qts of mixed veggies-carrots, potatoes, corn, peas and butter beans. The plan is to be able to grab a jar of veggies and a jar of chicken I have canned, dump them in a pie crust with some gravy and have a quick chicken pot pie. I tested the theory last night and it was a GOOD plan!! I think I will can more veggies and perhaps a couple different mixes with mushrooms and such as this would be good for sheperds pie, beef pot pies and some other stuff too. It's been a pretty good week for me and I'm looking forward to August!

 Hope you are too.

The Beauty of Butter

One of my favorite cow-gifts is butter. The politically correct “eat engineered food” crowd has viciously slandered butter. The misconception that it is unhealthy (most anything can be unhealthy if not taken in moderation) is false. Real butter is rich in vitamin A, and D, E and K2. Real butter contains iodine, lecithin and selenium, which is an anti-oxidant. It has more selenium per gram than wheat germ, whole wheat, or garlic.

Butter's butyric acid is an anti-carcinogen, and the lauric acid in butter is both anti-fungal and anti-bacterial. There are also elements, which protect from gastro intestinal infections. The saturated fat in butter, once vilified, actually has  anti-tumor, anti-cancer properties.

Butter from grass-fed cows contain a great deal of CLA which helps the body build muscle instead of store fat.

Most importantly to MY own situation, raw butter has something called the Wulzen factor. It helps prevent arthritis and ensures the calcium in your body goes to bones not into joints and tissues. Pasteurization destroys this.

Butter actually promotes good health. Medical Research Council found that men eating butter ran only half the risk of developing heart disease as those eating margarine.

Margarine, on the other hand, contains man made trans-fats, (unsafe at any level), free radicals, synthetic vitamins, preservatives, BHT, bleach, artificial flavoring, and other properties that are not conducive to health.

So, here is how I make this incredibly delicious, healthy and delectable delicacy.

After milking my cow, I strain and quickly chill the milk which then goes in the milk fridge. The following day, I skim the heavy cream off the top of my gallon jars. This cream is so wonderfully thick, I have to use a spatula to push it off the spoon!

When I have as much cream as I want, I set it out to ‘ripen’ and come to room temperature.

Then, into the KA. I usually pour about a half gallon of heavy cream in.

Turn the mixer on low, and wait from 3 to 20 minutes, depending on several factors…temperature, stage of lactation, etc. Usually my butter breaks between 5 and 10 minutes. I fill a container with cold water and dump my paddle and butter molds in it to soak.

Once the butter breaks, which is when there will be blobs of butter and the rest of the liquid separates off, I take the bowl to the sink and drain off the buttermilk into a container to use later. I then put some COLD water in the bowl and begin to paddle out the extra buttermilk. If the buttermilk isn’t all squished out of the butter, it will go rancid quickly.

After the water is coming out pretty much clear, I add a little vitamin E oil, and if I am going to salt it, I do it now. I mix it in well, then fill the butter mold. Both help to preserve the butter for a longer time.

I press it out and OOO la la!! I  have a lovely pound of butter! I then wrap and freeze it for later use. The left overs I made into little pats or balls for using with our bread, or pancakes, or whatever. My 1/2 gallon of heavy cream makes me 4 and a 1/2 lb of fresh, homemade butter and the left over buttermilk is great in pancakes or bread.

 

It really is this beautiful yellow color naturally. But with the flash on, you can't see the nifty stars from my mold...

Which, look like this. :)

Love it.

Thank you EmmaLou and DollyMoo.

Life After Pizza

Following up on our post about making Mozzarella, I have to make note that we cannot have pizza everyday. It just wouldn’t be right. So, aside from using as a topping on Italian dishes, we need another outlet for our Mozzarella madness.

The first step of this process, is to send your Guard Chicken back outside to keep watch at the door for any intruders.

If you don’t have a Guard Chicken, then just proceed with step 2.

Cut the mozzarella you made up into sticks, like so.

Make some seasoned bread crumbs. . Just take some stale bread or lightly toast some, whirl in the Food Processor and add some seasonings. I like to add a lot of parmesan cheese to the crumbs also. 

I use metal pie tins for this, and always have 3 around. I have no idea where they came from, but they are sure handy for stuff like this.

In a second tin, mix some flour with a little bit of cornstarch, and in the third, beat up a couple of eggs and add a little water.

Place a sheet pan near to set your sticks on, once breaded.

Roll sticks in the flour mix, then the egg mix, then in the crumbs. I pat the crumbs on pretty well. Place on sheet pan and put in the freezer. These keep well and go straight from the freezer to the stove. Even if you are going to make them tonite, freeze them first so the cheese doesn’t melt out of your coating and make a big gloppy mess. I freeze them for a few hours then put them in a ziplock bag, marked with the date.

When you decide to fix some up its easy to grab however many you want.

Heat some oil until it sizzles and add a few sticks at a time. It doesn’t take very long for them to brown, then set them on a plate. Cook the rest. The cheese will continue to melt a bit after you take them out.

 

You can now blow on them a little, then burn your tongue anyway, because they are really good and you know you can’t wait. If  you weren't in such a big hurry, you could take a picture of them, but you have no self control.

Dip them in a little homemade marinara or other sauce and once again, thank your goat or cow for providing you with such good stuff!

REAL Homemade Yogurt

I confess. I love dairy. Ice cream, cold, creamy milk, whipped cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, all kinds of cheeses and yogurt.

Yogurt is a great food. It’s filling and it has essential bacteria needed by your body for healthy GI system and proper digestion. It boosts health, helps and speeds healing from intestinal infections, helps prevent yeast infections, lowers cholesterol, and provides calcium and protein.

When my calves or baby goats get sick or stressed, they get…you guessed it, yogurt.

It can be subbed for sour cream, strained and used like cream cheese, used for marinating lamb, in salad dressing or just as a snack. I love it for breakfast with raw honey and granola mixed in, or even better, a tablespoon of homemade fruit jam. It even lends itself well to baking muffins and such. It can also be used as a thermophilic culture for making cheeses.

It isn’t necessary to pay a buck and a half for those little bitty cartons of yogurt, when it’s so easy and inexpensive to make your own.

 All that is required is liquid milk, a bit of powdered milk, (which helps provide body), culture, a thermometer, and an incubator of sorts. Some folks use the oven light, others use a heating pad, and some even have a big enough food dehydrator to make their yogurt in. Whatever it takes to keep it at a steady 108 degrees. I have a Yogourmet Incubator because I use it a lot, and I can make a 2 qt. batch at a time.

You CAN use store bought, pasteurized milk.

I, however, prefer to procure my own milk, raw, with all the healthy vitamins, minerals and probiotics it contains. Plus, it has natural cortisone in it, which helps with my pain levels. Pasteurization is a necessary evil in most commercial dairying, due to sanitation hazards. Pasteurizing milk also kills all the beneficial bacteria as well as the vitamins. That is why vitamin D has to be added back to commercial milk, because your body cannot take up calcium without it. The difference is like fresh vegetables vs fastfood. The practice doesn’t do your milk any favors.

Having my own milk goat or cow is a privilege for which I am very grateful. It’s one of the greatest luxuries of my life, as well as one of the greatest pleasures, but I digress.

Currently, my cows are both dry and not due to calve until July. My little bummer lambs are just about old enough to be weaned, so we are finally getting a little hard earned goats milk for our OWN use.

Greek yogurt is made with sheep or goats milk, which is one reason it is so smooth. I can definitely tell the difference between my goat yogurt and cow yogurt, although both are good. Today, I have surplus milk, so I made …tadah!! YOGURT!!

Here are the steps.

I have 2 big Nubian doe goats…sisters. I call them “Scarlet and Prissy” after the ladies on Gone With the Wind. Scarlet is unflappable and greedy, and Prissy…well…Prissy is a drama queen who has panic attacks and can’t truly do anything right. She is the most insecure goat I have ever known, screaming loudly if she thinks she is alone in the milk shed, crying if someone else is getting fed first and generally just being a pain in the caboose. She had triplets her first birthing and because they caused her some discomfort, she immediately freaked out and rejected them. Hence, I had to milk her by hand twice a day. She gives a surprising amount of milk, (1 ½ gallons daily) with an unprecedented amount of cream for a goat. I just let Scarlet feed her twins, as we have enough milk from one goat for our needs, now that the lambs are older.

As with most things, there is a price for this wonderful milk. Prissy hates having her udder touched. She has tipped the milk stand over multiple times with her tantrums and gymnastics. It is necessary to lock her head in, tie her hind legs together, and chain them down to the floor. Then milking can commence. She can only lift her feet about 4 inches in this manner, and only kicks about 80 or 90 times before I am through. She rarely picks up both hind feet at the same time anymore, lifting up the milk stand and slamming it back to the ground with a bone-jarring crash, spilling milk all over me and the pups, who learned early on there might be a spill to clean up and valiantly volunteer. We have only been enjoying this routine for 5 months now.That would be a mere 300 or so milkings in this manner.

Here is where we will begin:

1. Grab a stainless steel pail and a bucket of grain, let your goat in on the milk stand, wipe her down, set yourself down and fill your pail with nice, fresh squeezed milk. Then take it to the house and strain it, just in case any hairs or pieces of hay fell in. Goats are usually cleaner than cows. Probably because they don't produce nice warm 'goo pies' that they then lay in, immersing their entire  udder so you can spend an hour cleaning her up before you start to milk. You can either chill it now, or put it right in the pot.

You could also go to the store and just buy 2 quarts of milk, but for me that would be ridiculous, as it would cost me about $200 in fuel.

2. Put your 2 quarts of milk, and about 1/3 cup of powdered milk, into your pot and heat over med heat to 170 degrees. A candy thermometer is fine for this. Stir it once in awhile. I use a cheese thermometer that has an alarm on it when it reaches temperature, as I have a very short attention span and will find something else to do while the milk heats.Oh look! A squirrel!

I usually practice deep breathing to follow my fabulous daily goat milking experience. It helps take the redness out of my face and lets my hair go straight again.

Meantime, get your culture ready. You can buy culture tablets, or you can do what I do, and just buy some commercial, live culture, plain yogurt at the store. You can use Fage, Greek yogurt, or Cheap-o yogurt, just make sure it is live culture…my very favorite is Tillamook. They have excellent dairy products.

 I take about ¼ cup and put it in a glass-measuring cup, then put the rest in ice cube trays and freeze it for later use. This way I don’t have to keep buying yogurt, to make yogurt. The next batch, I will save some of this batch as the culture for the next, and save the frozen cubes for when I either run out, or the culture finally weakens.

After your milk hits 170 degrees, cool it back down to 108 degrees. I place the pot in the sink and fill the sink with some cold water and keep stirring until my milk cools down, as I am very impatient, and “Oh LOOK! A butterfly!”

 

Once the milk is 108 degrees, I pour a little into my cup with the culture and mix it up good. This is like tempering eggs. Then pour the mix in the cup back into the big pot, stir it all up, and pour it into my big container, which I then place in the incubator for 4-6 hours. The longer it incubates the sharper it will get. Six hours seems to work fine for mine.

After the 4-6 hours are up, place the container in your refrigerator and let it cool and set up.

Next morning, you will have a nice, thick, smooth yogurt. You can dish out and flavor anyway you want. A tablespoon of homemade jam mixed in is fantastic. You can use syrup, honey, Jell-O, Vanilla, or any combination or number of things.

Welcome to REAL food! Caution though…you might get hooked!

Let’s recap, shall we?

Homemade Yogurt

2 qts milk

1/3 c dry powdered milk

live culture yogurt or other yogurt culture

Heat milk  w/ powdered milk to 170.

Cool to 108, temper culture.

Mix culture back into milk and incubate for 4-6 hours.

Refrigerate.

Dish up and flavor as desired, or use plain.

Enjoy.