Sunday, May 13, 2012
Cheese and Cows
Happy Mother’s Day!
I made chevre on Friday using the milk from Maggie and Tara. The yield was really low because the curds were very runny. I don’t know if this was because of their diet or what, but I am thinking that I need to add just a little rennet to help it along next time. I was going to make another batch today, but Jerry convinced me to make something different. I will be making my first batch of feta today after we get home from our Mother’s Day lunch.
The kids were all here for our annual Mother’s Day Work Day. Jordan says that a birthday lasts for a day, Christmas last for a day, an anniversary lasts for a day, but Mother’s Day lasts for a month. He is referring to the fact that when we have a work day around here, most everybody gets poison ivy and they get to enjoy it for an entire month. This year, John, Jacob and I already have it. I don’t know if anyone else is going to get it, but…well, I guess the goats should eat it down and that our chances of getting poison ivy should be reduced in the future. Yesterday, we working on getting the fence posts sunk for the cattle fencing. We got them all in. All that is left to do is string the barbed-wire and install the two gates. There will also be a barn raising…anyone interested????
The cattle will be delivered on June 1st. We know that little “Super Studley” is our bull. WD Caroline is our pregnant (confirmed) cow. We were getting Sheza Sweetheart, but after spending a year with a bull, she wasn’t pregnant and her days of breeding seem to be finished. That said, we traded her out for a different cow. The new cow is Pacific Maisie and we are also looking at getting Sitting Allie. We hope that they are pregnant (being testing right now) so that we can have lots of baby longhorns in our pasture.
The big news today is that we kept the baby goats away from their mothers last night. When I went to milk this morning, we got just shy of a half gallon of milk. I can’t tell you how exciting that was to me. I guess the babies will be officially weaned starting today and that tonight I should be able to get another half gallon. That means cheese making tomorrow too!
Friday, May 11, 2012
Goats, goats and more goats
I have dabbled with cheese making and it is an enjoyable hobby not to mention a delicious one. I started off with the 30 minute mozzarella kit from www.cheesemaking.com. It was easy and I had really good results. The only problem I ever had was with the curds not getting hot enough and therefore not stretching properly. Of course, the fact that we ate it immediately showed that the curd stretching was not really a problem. How can I describe fresh mozzarella? It is creamy and delicious. When it is fresh from the making, it is also a 3/4lb. ball of melted cheese. Who could resist that???
Mozzarella is wonderful, but I wanted to branch out. So far, I have made ricotta, crème fraise, and chevre. I love the chevre because I can control the texture. I want to be able to easily spread my chevre on a cracker...not too worried about shaping it, so I drain for about 6 hours vs. 12 hours. It is very satisfying. Chevre is made from goat milk and that meant a drive to Short Pump and to Whole Foods. No problem, but I began to wonder if there might be a better way especially since I was beginning to eye the brine rinsed cheeses and the pressed, hard cheeses.
The solution was to establish our own herd of dairy goats. Seems pretty extreme, but that is exactly what we have done. We built a small barn with a milking shed and are the proud owners of 7 goats. Biggest surprise? Goats have personalities and I often know which one is coming around the corner by their voice.
Maggie, Molly, and Max were our first. Maggie is the mother and Molly and Max are her first babies. Molly and Max are twins. Molly is black. Max is white. Molly talks all the time. Max is into everything. We put two lawn chairs in their pen so we had a place to sit and Max and Molly took them over. They climbed on them, fought over them, and when Jerry and I were able to sit down, they took turns jumping into our laps.
Tara, Scarlett and Savannah were our next set. Tara is four years old and Scarlett and Savannah are her twins. As a bonus, crybaby Rhett also came home with us. These four goats are all registered Nubians. Poor Max...he isn't allowed to breed with anyone and so you know what that meant. =(
Tara and her girls are red. Rhett is black with spots. He is going to help our girls make really cute babies. Next year we should have 10 babies and 5 does in milk. It will be a busier place for sure. I am excited about that because right now, it is taking about 4 days of milking to get to a gallon of milk. As the babies are weaned completely, that should go up, but until then, it is a long time between cheeses.
Tara has experience as a dairy goat. I do not have experience as a goat milker. There are sometimes some problems. I give both goats alfalfa cubes to keep them busy while I milk. Jerry built a milking stand for me and it is a glorified raised platform with a headlock. There is a place to put the feed bucket. Today, Tara tried to shift away from me and she tipped the milking stand enough for her to slide off. This means that my largest goat has her head in the stand and her hind end is no longer on the stand. I had to lift her back onto the stand. I don't think I ever envisioned myself bear hugging a goat's back side and heaving it up onto a platform. Everyone should try it...it was very gratifying because it meant that milking could resume.
Goats...
It seemed like a good idea at the time, as many of our ideas do. We wanted to recreate the feel of Italy and so we put in a vineyard. I wanted to make cheese and so we got our first goats. Both seem like quite a jump, don’t they?
The vineyard was easy. We like to grow things. We knew that we wanted blackberries and grapes. I hate snakes and wild blackberry picking is unpleasant because serpents can be lurking in the tall grass and then there are also the thorns. It is dangerous work, berry picking.
The vineyard idea solved several problems. By training the vines (both grape and blackberry) onto wires, we could manage the ground cover and I would be able to see if there was a snake nearby. The vineyard would also be visually appealing from the porch. We were even able to purchase thornless blackberries. Hurray!!!!
The vineyard idea happened quickly. One morning as we sat outside, I casually said (and I know all of you have said the same thing a thousand times…) “I think a vineyard would look nice there.” Jerry agreed and said that he had been wanting to put one in and so we did…in four days time.
The goats were a similar happening. I wanted to make cheese, but needed goat milk. Whole Foods has the only supply that I know of in the area. It is expensive to purchase goat milk, but still cheaper to buy the milk and make the cheese than to purchase the cheese. There was another option…get goats.
I don’t remember ever saying “I want goats” and I don’t remember Jerry saying it either. The goats seem to have sprung from both of our minds. One day we were gardeners, the next Jerry is scoping out goats on Craig’s List. Then we were building a barn and putting up a fence. Before we knew it, we were bringing Maggie and her twins, Molly and Max, home with us.
I would never consider myself to be an animal lover. Some folks just go gooey when they see an animal. Not me, although after our sweet female Corgi, also Molly, I understand just how attached one can become to a pet. Goats aren’t pets, though. They are barnyard animals, right?
Oh, how wrong I was…
Friday, May 4, 2012
wooops....
I don't want to count how many days have passed since my last post. I am pretty sure that my math skills would be put to the test. There have been some very cool developments in my cooking adventures.
The first is that we did purchase the perfect house that Jerry talked about in a post from January 2010. He mentioned a large kitchen and dining room. We have that now. He didn't mention land for a garden, but we were fortunate enough to find our kitchen surrounded by 23 acres.
We have done nothing to the interior of the house save painting the dining room. We have spent all of our time outside. We have a lovely garden inspired by the gardens we saw in England during our trip there to celebrate John's graduation from VCU. We built 25 4'X4' raised beds that are surrounded by ornamental beds on the the sides and corners. It is truly beautiful. It is also productive. Last summer we dined on fresh tomatoes, lettuces, okra, eggplant, peppers of every variety, but very little squash. We learned that humid weather introduces the black rot. Squash doesn't like black rot.
In the fall, we purchased and planted more fruit trees. In addition to the large apple that was already here, we have added three varieties of figs, more apples, peaches, pear and plum trees. We have also planted a bed of blueberries and elder berries.
Jerry and I are not afraid of a challenge. We decided that we wanted a vineyard and in the course of four days, we put one in. It isn't finished (we need to take cutting from our plants to finish off the rows), but it is a lot of fun. We planted four varieties of grapes (5 plants each) and three types of blackberries (five plants each). When they have matured, each of the grape vines will produce a gallon of wine. I can't wait to see how that turns out.
Last year we also had chickens and I did love the fresh eggs. Hurricane Irene blew through and left us without power for nine days and so the cooking was limited. The eggs were a blessing, but I am not fond of chickens. We had the miserable luck to have mean chickens last year. Come October, we were happy to give them away and I swore I would never have them again.
We presently have 11 chickens. They are sweet and docile (no more attacks and escape attempts when I go to collect eggs). We also have three goats and are in the process of purchasing at least one more milk goat. I love cheese and making cheese is a lot of fun. It seemed to make sense to milk my own goats instead of spending a fortune on goat milk. Maggie is the mamma goat and Molly and Max are her twins. Max is going to get "fixed" soon and they will both be weaned so that I can have the milk. Jerry built a milking stand the other night and I am gathering and ordering all my cheese ingredients and equipment. I don't know where this is going. One minute I am thinking that I need more milk and the next I am a bit afraid that I will be making cheese 24/7. That panic increased this past when when I returned from a visit with my former students.
Jerry called me into the office to show me something on his computer. Three things actually. Sheza Sweetheart, WD Caroline, and a year old little bull that we are going to name Super Studley were in their glory. We are finally going to start our Longhorn herd. They are enormous animals and are all registered. They will be beautiful in our pasture. Now, I have to decide if I am going to milk them...8 gallons a day per cow seems like a lot, but you never know when you are going to kick up cheese production and want even more than that.
Well, that is all for now. I have dough for 8 loaves of bread in the kitchen that need my attention. I am making fresh baguettes to go with the shrimp and grits that we will be enjoying tonight. I hope the rain holds off and that some cool air arrives so that there is also ample front porch sitting time with some very dear people tonight.
Have a great day and, for heaven's sake, eat something yummy!
Monday, July 4, 2011
July 4, 2011
The garden is still maturing, but even so, we have had some pretty amazing meals from it. The salad bar is still producing faster than we can eat. I now have a couple of lettuce trees in addition to some more normal lettuces. Jerry is crazy about the dark leaf peppery one. I am not as fond of it so I am making sure that it is torn into small pieces before going into the salad. *FYI...if you don't have a salad spinner, I highly recommend you get one. They are the best way to get the water off of your freshly washed lettuce.
The cherry tomatoes are maturing daily and we have a new crop to harvest each time we go outside it seems. Yesterday I broiled them three different ways so we could get an idea of how to prepare them instead of always having them in salad. This is pretty important as Jordan and Jacob don't care for tomatoes in their salad. I did three varieties yesterday. All started with a drizzle of olive oil. One batch then received fresh basil, salt, and pepper. The second batch received fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, and Parmesan cheese. The last batch was feta cheese. Our favorite was the balsamic vinegar one. I couldn't believe how sweet the tomatoes were! The feta cheese was tasty, but the texture was weird. The cheese was hard after being under the broiler. The basil only batch was fresh and lovely, but there was just something about the balsamic vinegar batch!!!
This is our first really big attempt at a garden. We have had tomatoes and peppers before, but this go around we have some eggplant and that has been an experience. We purchased these plants at J and P here in Mechanicsville. They have been incredibly healthy and are absolutely covered with eggplants. There are bees buzzing around them as the plants continue to blossom, promising more eggplants in the future. We have only eaten three of the eggplants, but they are tasty! We used a couple in a veggie scramble with onions, pepper, and the last time with some okra. I also grilled one of the eggplant with herbs and olive oil. I must say, the grilled eggplant was wonderful, but I blew it when I didn't use fresh herbs.
Jillian loves sun dried tomatoes and with the bumper crop of Roma tomatoes ripening in the garden, I Googled how to make them this way. I think we have a handle on it, but there are several options ranging from using a dehydrator (we don't have) to actually using the sun, a hot car, or the over (all of which I do have). I think the oven is my first choice as I can control the temp and the bugs that way. Will let you know all about it when we get started.
The cherry tomatoes are maturing daily and we have a new crop to harvest each time we go outside it seems. Yesterday I broiled them three different ways so we could get an idea of how to prepare them instead of always having them in salad. This is pretty important as Jordan and Jacob don't care for tomatoes in their salad. I did three varieties yesterday. All started with a drizzle of olive oil. One batch then received fresh basil, salt, and pepper. The second batch received fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, and Parmesan cheese. The last batch was feta cheese. Our favorite was the balsamic vinegar one. I couldn't believe how sweet the tomatoes were! The feta cheese was tasty, but the texture was weird. The cheese was hard after being under the broiler. The basil only batch was fresh and lovely, but there was just something about the balsamic vinegar batch!!!
This is our first really big attempt at a garden. We have had tomatoes and peppers before, but this go around we have some eggplant and that has been an experience. We purchased these plants at J and P here in Mechanicsville. They have been incredibly healthy and are absolutely covered with eggplants. There are bees buzzing around them as the plants continue to blossom, promising more eggplants in the future. We have only eaten three of the eggplants, but they are tasty! We used a couple in a veggie scramble with onions, pepper, and the last time with some okra. I also grilled one of the eggplant with herbs and olive oil. I must say, the grilled eggplant was wonderful, but I blew it when I didn't use fresh herbs.
Jillian loves sun dried tomatoes and with the bumper crop of Roma tomatoes ripening in the garden, I Googled how to make them this way. I think we have a handle on it, but there are several options ranging from using a dehydrator (we don't have) to actually using the sun, a hot car, or the over (all of which I do have). I think the oven is my first choice as I can control the temp and the bugs that way. Will let you know all about it when we get started.
July 4, 2011
The garden is still maturing, but even so, we have had some pretty amazing meals from it. The salad bar is still producing faster than we can eat. I now have a couple of lettuce trees in addition to some more normal lettuces. Jerry is crazy about the dark leaf peppery one. I am not as fond of it so I am making sure that it is torn into small pieces before going into the salad. *FYI...if you don't have a salad spinner, I highly recommend you get one. They are the best way to get the water off of your freshly washed lettuce.
The cherry tomatoes are maturing daily and we have a new crop to harvest each time we go outside it seems. Yesterday I broiled them three different ways so we could get an idea of how to prepare them instead of always having them in salad. This is pretty important as Jordan and Jacob don't care for tomatoes in their salad. I did three varieties yesterday. All started with a drizzle of olive oil. One batch then received fresh basil, salt, and pepper. The second batch received fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, and Parmesan cheese. The last batch was feta cheese. Our favorite was the balsamic vinegar one. I couldn't believe how sweet the tomatoes were! The feta cheese was tasty, but the texture was weird. The cheese was hard after being under the broiler. The basil only batch was fresh and lovely, but there was just something about the balsamic vinegar batch!!!
This is our first really big attempt at a garden. We have had tomatoes and peppers before, but this go around we have some eggplant and that has been an experience. We purchased these plants at J and P here in Mechanicsville. They have been incredibly healthy and are absolutely covered with eggplants. There are bees buzzing around them as the plants continue to blossom, promising more eggplants in the future. We have only eaten three of the eggplants, but they are tasty! We used a couple in a veggie scramble with onions, pepper, and the last time with some okra. I also grilled one of the eggplant with herbs and olive oil. I must say, the grilled eggplant was wonderful, but I blew it when I didn't use fresh herbs.
Jillian loves sun dried tomatoes and with the bumper crop of Roma tomatoes ripening in the garden, I Googled how to make them this way. I think we have a handle on it, but there are several options ranging from using a dehydrator (we don't have) to actually using the sun, a hot car, or the over (all of which I do have). I think the oven is my first choice as I can control the temp and the bugs that way. Will let you know all about it when we get started.
The cherry tomatoes are maturing daily and we have a new crop to harvest each time we go outside it seems. Yesterday I broiled them three different ways so we could get an idea of how to prepare them instead of always having them in salad. This is pretty important as Jordan and Jacob don't care for tomatoes in their salad. I did three varieties yesterday. All started with a drizzle of olive oil. One batch then received fresh basil, salt, and pepper. The second batch received fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, and Parmesan cheese. The last batch was feta cheese. Our favorite was the balsamic vinegar one. I couldn't believe how sweet the tomatoes were! The feta cheese was tasty, but the texture was weird. The cheese was hard after being under the broiler. The basil only batch was fresh and lovely, but there was just something about the balsamic vinegar batch!!!
This is our first really big attempt at a garden. We have had tomatoes and peppers before, but this go around we have some eggplant and that has been an experience. We purchased these plants at J and P here in Mechanicsville. They have been incredibly healthy and are absolutely covered with eggplants. There are bees buzzing around them as the plants continue to blossom, promising more eggplants in the future. We have only eaten three of the eggplants, but they are tasty! We used a couple in a veggie scramble with onions, pepper, and the last time with some okra. I also grilled one of the eggplant with herbs and olive oil. I must say, the grilled eggplant was wonderful, but I blew it when I didn't use fresh herbs.
Jillian loves sun dried tomatoes and with the bumper crop of Roma tomatoes ripening in the garden, I Googled how to make them this way. I think we have a handle on it, but there are several options ranging from using a dehydrator (we don't have) to actually using the sun, a hot car, or the over (all of which I do have). I think the oven is my first choice as I can control the temp and the bugs that way. Will let you know all about it when we get started.
July 4, 2011
The garden is still maturing, but even so, we have had some pretty amazing meals from it. The salad bar is still producing faster than we can eat. I now have a couple of lettuce trees in addition to some more normal lettuces. Jerry is crazy about the dark leaf peppery one. I am not as fond of it so I am making sure that it is torn into small pieces before going into the salad. *FYI...if you don't have a salad spinner, I highly recommend you get one. They are the best way to get the water off of your freshly washed lettuce.
The cherry tomatoes are maturing daily and we have a new crop to harvest each time we go outside it seems. Yesterday I broiled them three different ways so we could get an idea of how to prepare them instead of always having them in salad. This is pretty important as Jordan and Jacob don't care for tomatoes in their salad. I did three varieties yesterday. All started with a drizzle of olive oil. One batch then received fresh basil, salt, and pepper. The second batch received fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, and Parmesan cheese. The last batch was feta cheese. Our favorite was the balsamic vinegar one. I couldn't believe how sweet the tomatoes were! The feta cheese was tasty, but the texture was weird. The cheese was hard after being under the broiler. The basil only batch was fresh and lovely, but there was just something about the balsamic vinegar batch!!!
This is our first really big attempt at a garden. We have had tomatoes and peppers before, but this go around we have some eggplant and that has been an experience. We purchased these plants at J and P here in Mechanicsville. They have been incredibly healthy and are absolutely covered with eggplants. There are bees buzzing around them as the plants continue to blossom, promising more eggplants in the future. We have only eaten three of the eggplants, but they are tasty! We used a couple in a veggie scramble with onions, pepper, and the last time with some okra. I also grilled one of the eggplant with herbs and olive oil. I must say, the grilled eggplant was wonderful, but I blew it when I didn't use fresh herbs.
Jillian loves sun dried tomatoes and with the bumper crop of Roma tomatoes ripening in the garden, I Googled how to make them this way. I think we have a handle on it, but there are several options ranging from using a dehydrator (we don't have) to actually using the sun, a hot car, or the over (all of which I do have). I think the oven is my first choice as I can control the temp and the bugs that way. Will let you know all about it when we get started.
The cherry tomatoes are maturing daily and we have a new crop to harvest each time we go outside it seems. Yesterday I broiled them three different ways so we could get an idea of how to prepare them instead of always having them in salad. This is pretty important as Jordan and Jacob don't care for tomatoes in their salad. I did three varieties yesterday. All started with a drizzle of olive oil. One batch then received fresh basil, salt, and pepper. The second batch received fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, and Parmesan cheese. The last batch was feta cheese. Our favorite was the balsamic vinegar one. I couldn't believe how sweet the tomatoes were! The feta cheese was tasty, but the texture was weird. The cheese was hard after being under the broiler. The basil only batch was fresh and lovely, but there was just something about the balsamic vinegar batch!!!
This is our first really big attempt at a garden. We have had tomatoes and peppers before, but this go around we have some eggplant and that has been an experience. We purchased these plants at J and P here in Mechanicsville. They have been incredibly healthy and are absolutely covered with eggplants. There are bees buzzing around them as the plants continue to blossom, promising more eggplants in the future. We have only eaten three of the eggplants, but they are tasty! We used a couple in a veggie scramble with onions, pepper, and the last time with some okra. I also grilled one of the eggplant with herbs and olive oil. I must say, the grilled eggplant was wonderful, but I blew it when I didn't use fresh herbs.
Jillian loves sun dried tomatoes and with the bumper crop of Roma tomatoes ripening in the garden, I Googled how to make them this way. I think we have a handle on it, but there are several options ranging from using a dehydrator (we don't have) to actually using the sun, a hot car, or the over (all of which I do have). I think the oven is my first choice as I can control the temp and the bugs that way. Will let you know all about it when we get started.
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