Farm "Flowers" and a Cocoa Mix Recipe

After an amazing Thanksgiving holiday, it's time to get back in the saddle.

If I had a saddle anyway.

Of course, then I'd need a horse too. Maybe I should just say, "It's time to get back into the routine of normal life."

But then, I'd have to define normal.

Monday may be harder than I expected.

Thanksgiving for me is an excuse to overeat. Because apparently, a person is only allowed to have roasted turkey, cranberries, stuffing, and pumpkin pie once a year. I think it's a law or something. So I indulge. Which leads to guilty days spent lying on the sofa, wearing dirty yoga pants, and watching Christmas movies on Lifetime. It's only on Sunday when I awaken from my turkey-induced stupor and begin to function again.

Since I had worked so hard on our Thanksgiving dinner, my Mister decided to bring me home the farmer's equivalent of a bouquet of flowers.

Meet Flower. He's a rooster. As in, a boy chicken. And yes, that is my kitchen table and I am inserting a little sarcasm here. (Because we now have 6 boy chickens.) Flower was living a life of luxury in town when his owners discovered his incredible singing talent. Since town-dwellers are only allowed 3 hens inside the city limits, Flower had to go.

Somehow, he ended up here. As my gift. My Mister is either a softie at heart, or he just gets me. Chickens, cows, and chocolate...that's all I need.

Speaking of chocolate...

I love it. Especially hot. What I don't love is all of the ingredients on the can of mix. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why partially hydrogenated anything should be in cocoa mix. It makes about as much sense as the anti-caking chemicals they also add. Seriously? Is caking cocoa really a problem? Could it be because there is hydrogenated fats in it?

Hmmm....something to ponder.

Before you go and buy another can of chemically-laden hot chocolate mix, give homemade a try. And because there are only 5 ingredients in this version, I'm calling this a health food.☺

  ~Hot Chocolate Mix~

 

The Players

 

1 (26 oz.) bag of Bob's Redmill Non-fat Dry Milk Powder

~or~

5-1/2 cups dry milk powder of your choice

1-1/2 cups organic sugar

1 cup unsweetened organic, fair-trade cocoa powder

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I get organic in bulk at Whole Foods.)

1/4 t. sea salt

 

Into a large bowl, mix all the ingredients. Put 1/3 of the mixture at a time into a food processor and pulse until chocolate chips are powdery. (They will cease to make that obnoxious racket that chocolate chips in a food processor does!) Pour mixture into another bowl. Continue to process 2 more batches until all of the mix is done.

 

 

Pour into a lidded canister or jar.

 

To make cocoa: Add 3 tablespoons of cocoa mix to a cup of hot milk or water. Stir well.

 

Don't forget the whipped cream!

 

Enjoy!

This post is linked to The Homestead Barn Hop.

Cleaning & Curing Walnuts

(Photo credit)

I like nuts. Of course, I'm from a long line of nuts, so it figures I would like some of them. But I'm not talking about those nuts, I'm talking English Walnuts.

English walnuts are high in omega 3's, vitamin E, and minerals such as; manganese, copper, iron, and selenium. They have been shown to help lower LDL levels of cholesterol, are high in protein, and are a rich source of anti-oxidants.

But that's not why I like them.

They're just delicious. Besides adding walnuts to baked goods (especially chocolate chips cookies!), I like to substitute them for pine nuts in pesto, toast and add them to sauteed veggies, and sprinkle on top of ice cream. For the holidays, my family likes walnuts that have been dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with coarse sea salt for a treat.

Last week, we had the opportunity to pick walnuts with some family members. I was so excited about picking the nuts that I forgot my camera, but don't worry, I'll create a visual for you...

Imagine 6 adults, bent over in a cow field, chucking nuts into 5 gallon buckets, for 2 hours straight.

No pictures needed. You're welcome.☺

When picking walnuts, it's important to wear gloves. Since we were in a cow field (complete with very large Holsteins that looked like they had been zapped by growth hormones), we also wore boots. Depending on the weather, the walnuts start to ripen and fall from the trees in October and November. Most of the nuts that fall still have some of the husk (that has turned black) on them.

(Photo credit)

Once on the ground, the husk gets a little slimy. Apparently, this is completely normal and probably the real reason for the gloves.☺ We came home with approximately 80+ pounds of nuts.

Before the nuts can be cured, they first must be washed.

The nuts are then dried with a leaf blower, because that's how my father-in-love rolls...

 



before being picked through to look for any that are open. Those are discarded because:

 

1. They were in a cow field. With cows. And poop. 

 

2. They make great condo's for insects looking to get out of the weather. Extra protein, yes. Appetizing? Not at all.

 

To cure the walnuts, we spread them out on old window screens that were placed near the woodstove.

 

And to detract dogs and kids, we put those screens up on drying racks.

 

The walnuts should be ready in 3-7 days, after which they'll be stored in gunny sacks until needed.

 

 

Until then, I'll be practicing patience. It is a virtue, you know.☺

 

 This post is linked to The Homestead Barn Hop.



Making Mozzarella

Lately, my life has been about cheese. Pounds and pounds of cheese. With gallons to spare, mozzarella has become one of my favorite ways to use up the excess milk that seems to multiply overnight.

And, it seems that pudding for breakfast, lunch, and dinner isn't an acceptable form of excess milk usage in the United States of America.

Go figure.

Since I do not have a cheese press (yet!), I researched recipes for soft cheeses before settling on mozzarella. Then I had to sift through all of those recipes for one that made sense to me.

After a couple hours of internet use and a postponement of a history lesson I needed to teach, I finally found the one. Like a light shining from up above, my eyes went to the DVD stand and landed on a copy of Homestead Blessings: Dairy Delights. The West ladies know how to make cheese. And ice cream. And butter. While smiling.

And they don't have any fancy-schmancy gadgets to do it.

Mozzarella is a very easy cheese to make. If you have a source of fresh milk, use it. But if you don't, don't fret. You can still make mozzie using store-bought milk! Just be sure to not use ultra-pasteurized or high-heat pasteurized milk, as all the "good stuff" has been killed.

The Ingredients~

2 gallons of cold milk (Use raw, whole or 2 %)
citric acid
*liquid rennet (see below)
filtered water

The Process~

Pour milk into a large pot. Mix together 2-1/2 t. of citric acid (which can be found in any health food section or sprouting section of a store) with 1/4 cup filtered water until citric acid is dissolved. Pour citric acid into the milk and stir with a long-handled wooden spoon for about 2 minutes.

Begin to heat milk on medium low to 88*F, stirring gently. This could take up to 20 minutes.

Use a dairy or digital thermometer to determine the temperature. (Stir well before reading so the heat will be evenly distributed throughout the milk.)

Once 88*F. has been reached, turn off the stove.

Mix 1/8 t. liquid rennet with 1/4 cup water. Add the rennet solution to the warmed milk, stirring for 15-20 seconds. Set a timer for 30 minutes.

Then, walk away. Seriously. Take a shower. Call your mom. Sneak into your secret chocolate stash, or read a book. Just don't come back and stir the pot. You'll have to trust me on this one. After 30 minutes, the milk should look like a large pot of tofu. But better.

Using a long knife, cut through the curd (all the way down) into 1-inch strips. After that is done, do the same crossways. Like this: #

Let this sit for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, turn the burner on to medium. Stir, without mixing, to keep the curds from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Put your spoon straight down into the curds and lift up.

Once the curds have reached 108*F. (this won't take long since they are already warm), turn off the heat. Let the solution sit for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Drain the curds in a colander for 15 minutes. My picture didn't turn out, but I set the colander in a large bowl and drained the whey into that for my pigs. They LOVE the whey! (Chickens love it too!) While the cheese is draining, mix 1/2 gallon of water with 1/2 cup of fine sea salt and heat to boiling. You can use the same pot that the cheese was in without washing it.

At the end of 15 minutes, cut the cheese (which resembles a big, hot blob of goo) into strips.

Dump the strips into a large bowl and add half of the boiling saltwater. Stir with wooden forks or spoons for about 10 minutes.  After 5, drain the water off and add the other half of the saltwater. This is the one time where playing with your food is a good thing, so stretch, pull, tug, and swirl away.

Drain the cheese into the colander to start kneading it. It will be extremely hot, so use the wooden forks/spoons until cool enough to handle. This will get all the water out of the cheese.

As soon as you're able, turn the cheese out onto a counter/cutting board and knead by hand. You will want to stretch and pull this to allow any water bubbles to escape. I fold the cheese over and into itself, kind of like shaping loaves of bread. Remember, that as the cheese cools, it will become more difficult to shape the cheese, so work quickly. When I'm done, I place the still-warm cheese into a Pyrex loaf pan and cover it with a piece of wax paper and a lid.

Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

This recipe makes approximately 2 pounds of fresh mozzarella cheese that is solid enough to be grated or sliced. If you won't use it all up within a week, mozzarella can be frozen for up to 2 months if wrapped in plastic and placed in a freezer bag.

Not that cheese has EVER lasted more than 2 days in our house.☺

*Rennet can be found in most health food stores or online. You can use either the calf rennet, made from the lining of a calf's stomach (ew.) or vegetable rennet, which is made from a type of mold.

This post is linked to the Homestead Barn Hop, The Farmgirl Blog Fest, and Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop.

Dehydrating Apricots and a Giveaway!

 

I'll be honest. I'm not a fan of apricots. In fact, I never have been. To me, they're peach imposter's. Posers. In my eyes, this humble little fruit will never rise to the same level of greatness as their larger cousins. Nor will they ever be a favorite of mine. But if they are dehydrated, their likeability factor rises tremendously.

Apricots are high in potassium, fiber, and vitamins A & C. Once dried, apricots can be used in many ways; added to baked goods, sauces, granola or oatmeal, trail mix, or eaten plain. My favorite way to use dried apricots is in place of raisins in oatmeal cookies. Yum!

Dehydrating apricots is a simple process. If you have a dehydrator, or access to one, a knife, some lemon juice, and a bowl is all you'll need.

Here's how:

Fill a large plastic or glass bowl with 1 gallon of cold water. Add 1 cup bottled lemon juice to the water. This will keep the apricots from turning brown. (As they dry, the apricots turn a yellowish brown, but that is normal.) 

Wash the apricots in cold water. Cut each apricot in half and carefully remove the pit. Place the halves in the lemon water. Continue until bowl is full, but all of the apricots are fully submerged. Allow to soak for 10 minutes.

Remove from water and gently shake excess water from the apricots. Lay cut side down onto dehydrator trays, being careful not to crowd the fruit. This will allow the air to flow around and dry the apricots evenly. (I actually added more to the above tray.)

Set the temperature to 130F. and plug the unit in. Allow the fruit to dry until the pieces have no moisture pockets in them (which will cause mold to occur), but are not brittle. If they get too dry, don't worry, they can still be used in recipes after rehydrating.

With my dehydrator, I dried the fruit for approximately 24 hours, rotating the trays once. (The newer dehydrators will probably take less time; consult your owner's manual for their suggested times.) Mine were probably done at about 20 hours, but I refuse to get up in the middle of the night unless someone leaves the all-you-can-eat buffet sign on in the chicken coop. Priorities, you know.

Speaking of priorities...

  

How about a giveaway!?!

Once of my favorite books on preserving foods is the Ball Blue Book of Preserving. Not only does it have simple canning instructions for the beginner, it also has some fancy schmancy recipes, like; Apricot-Orange Conserve, Fig Pickles, Chow-Chow Relish, Clam Chowder Base, Spiced Pineapple in Pineapple Juice, and Curried Fruit Compote. There are recipes for preserving dairy, freezing fruits, veggies, and pie fillings, dehydrating foods, and making jerky. I cannot tell you how many times I've look through this book. The pages of mine are dog-eared, and many of the pages have to be pulled apart from all the sticky residue. But I love it. And it loves me. I own several different food preservation books,  but this one is my favorite, hands-down.

So, here's how to enter:

*You must be a follower of this blog. I'm sorry to have to require this, but my last giveaway yielded a lot of anonymous comments and even more spam. This will count as 1 entry. Already a follower? Leave me a comment telling me so, and you're entered!

*For a second entry, leave a comment telling me what foods you're excited about preserving this year. New to food preservation? That's okay~what would you like to learn?

Hurry ~ this giveaway ends next Monday! I will announce the winner on Tuesday, July 24, 2012. Good luck!!

when life gives you pineapples, can 'em!

Last week, our local Fred Meyer (Kroger, to others) had an incredible sale on whole pineapple. (10 for $10!) Since I'm an opportunist when it comes to sales, I grabbed the limit of 10 and high-tailed it home before the store managers had a chance to rescind their offer. The problem with opportunists in the grocery store is that most of us are impulse buyers too. I had 30 lbs. of pineapple and no idea what to do with it all.

Once home, I learned that after the rind is removed, pineapple can be frozen, dried, or canned to preserve it. Since our freezer is full of strawberries (in tubs for wine making), I opted for canning the pineapple. Because of it's high acid content, pineapple doesn't need lemon juice and can be canned in a light sugar syrup. Pineapple juice could probably be used, but I didn't have any and wanted to stick with a proven recipe. (If anyone has tried this, please let me know for any future pineapple buying opportunities.☺)

To can pineapple:

In a medium saucepan, mix 2-1/4 cups organic sugar with 5-1/4 cups water. Heat to boiling; reduce to simmer until needed.

Carefully cut the top and bottom of the pineapple off. You can use a pineapple cutter/corer, or you can do it old-school like I do by using a sharp knife and cutting the rind off in a downward motion. Remove the pineapple away from the core by cutting down in 4 sections. (I save the cores and dehydrate them. They can be used to flavor kombucha or tea later!) Cut the pineapple in chunks (or if using a corer, they can be left in rings) and add to a wide mouth pint jar. Leave an inch of head-space at the top of the jar.

Ladle the hot sugar syrup over the pineapple and use a butter knife to remove air bubbles. (Just swirl it around.) Wipe the rim and place hot lids with rings on top. Screw down tight. Place in hot water (boiling) bath canner and process for 15 minutes for pints; 20 for quarts. Remove from canner and let the jars cool before storing in a cool, dark area. Refrigerate and use any that do not seal within a couple of days.

For the record, 10 whole pineapples yields approximately 24 pints of canned pineapple chunks. Not bad for $10!☺

This post is linked to Laura Williams' Carnival of Home Preserving.

Coconut or Just Plain Nutty

♫Oh, I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts,

There they are all standing in a row.♫

Okay, I didn't have a bunch and coconuts cannot stand on their own, but fresh coconut meat makes a lovely little snack. Last week, my doctor gave me the news that I have a less than 3% chance of developing thyroid cancer. He went on to commend me on my recent dietary changes, even though he had originally said nutrition has nothing to do with auto-immune diseases. And then he iced my lovely little gluten-free cake by saying, "I do not recommend surgery at this time, and probably not for a very long time to come."

So, I did what every farm girl does when she finds she's not dying. I bought some coconuts!

Now, I realize that not every farm girl would think to buy fresh coconuts, but with my new lease on life, I decided it was high time I learned how to open one. Knowing that I'm not dying anytime soon (I tend to wallow in the melodramatic when it comes to health issues), leads me to believe that there's still a chance I could be marooned on a tropical deserted island somewhere in the South Pacific.

If you can't find me, look here. On second thought, give up the search...I'm not leaving!

 And in the event that this were to happen, and I had a hankerin' to bake a coconut cake over a fire in an abandoned tortoise shell, I will have the skills necessary to remove the meat from the husk. Assuming, of course, that the coconuts actually fall from the trees, since my new lease on life did nothing to alleviate my fear of heights. (I'm not worried about flour, butter, or sugar...the island will provide all I need. Including toilet paper.)

Since my Mister is fearful of having to patch people up on his days off from the emergency room, he gladly took over the job of hacking into the coconut. There are a lot of You Tube videos that show how to open coconuts, but this guy shows how to safely remove the meat from the shell too. Any of the soft brown skin left can be removed using a vegetable peeler.

Once the coconut is free from husk and skin, rinse it well and dry it with paper towels. Fresh coconut won't last long outside of its protective shell, so unless you plan on eating it all, dehydrating the meat is a good way to save the rest.  (One coconut yielded approximately 3 cups of coconut meat, before we ate a cup's worth.)

I used a box grater and grated each piece over the large holes.

After all the coconut was grated, I lined my dehydrator rack with a silicone mat and laid the coconut out in a single layer. It took 2 of my round trays. To dehydrate, set the temperature to 95F., which is the lowest setting on mine. In 8-10 hours the shredded coconut will be dry and can be stored in a lidded container until ready to use.

Although, Madison thought fresh was best.

Until I mentioned coconut cake and tropical islands.☺

*Don't throw out the coconut water or the husk! Coconut water can be added to smoothies, baked goods, or over ice. The husks are great for lining the bottom of garden planters or can be added to the compost pile.

Scoby Dooby Brew

Black tea kombucha on the left, green/white tea kombucha on the right.

Sometimes I amaze myself. No seriously. It has nothing to do with pride either. Anyone who has ever walked out of the public bathroom at Target with the paper toilet seat cover attached to the bottom of their boot knows no pride.

Not that I have firsthand knowledge of that...

Kombucha is one of those things that surprised even me. I know that drinking kombucha regularly helps with digestion. I know that it helps to detoxify the body, is rich in anti-oxidants, and boosts the immune system. And while I've enjoyed many bottles of the store-bought stuff (at a ridiculous $2.99/bottle), the thought of making it myself was downright intimidating. And lets be honest here-it just seems wrong. For anyone who hasn't a clue of what I'm talking about, here it is in a nutshell...you take perfectly good sweet tea, add a slimy, not-from-this-world entity, place it in a dark cupboard, and let it rot. (Sort of.)

Then you drink it.

And you like it.

Unless you forget to strain it first. But I'll get back to that in a moment...

There are many websites devoted to the making of kombucha, so I'll let you Google those for the "how-to's", but I'll share some tips I've learned in my own kombucha journey. Kombucha is tea + water + sugar + a scoby. Scoby is an acronym for Symbiotic Colony of Yeast and Bacteria and should never be confused with Scooby Doo. To keep them separate, I've named mine Karl. A scoby (otherwise known as a "mother" or a "mushroom") can be grown from a starter culture, from a friend's baby scoby (they multiply), or even made from store-bought, raw kombucha.

Sweetened black tea before the scoby is added.

1. When making a gallon of kombucha, heat 4 cups filtered water until almost boiling. Add 4 tea bags (black, green, white, oolong, loose-leaf, etc.) and let steep for 15 minutes. Squeeze the teabags and add 1 cup organic sugar, stirring with a wooden spoon until dissolved. Pour into a gallon jar. Add 8 cups of room temperature filtered water to the jar and stir again. The tea will be the perfect temperature for the scoby. (Too hot will kill Karl.) Add the scoby and starter liquid to the tea. (It should be 1-2 cups liquid from a previous batch.) Place a towel or coffee filter over the top and secure with a rubber band. (Big thanks to my friend Sarah for the brewing tip and for Karl!)

2. Kombucha likes to ferment in the dark. It likes to be left alone. It also like peace and quiet.  Especially when in the bathroom. Oh wait, that last one is me. But it's never going to happen. A girl can dream though...

The brew should be left alone for at least 7 days. Smell it to make sure it smells vinegary, but not like rotting garbage. If it's the latter, you'll need to toss it and start over with a new culture.

An over-the-fridge cabinet is a perfect place for the kombucha~and with a boost, maybe Mom.

 3. Fermenting kombucha is kind of artsy looking. And nothing to be alarmed about. The picture below is my green/white kombucha at 10 days. This scoby was on it's second batch, so it is fairly new. We grew this one from the store-bought kombucha.

The yeast strands are a sign that the kombucha is healthy.

4. Kombucha is best when it's flavored. Because the bacteria feeds on the sugar, the tea is no longer sweet. Some people like to drink kombucha plain, but flavoring it makes it palatable for everyone.

Never use metal when working with kombucha~you can find plastic mesh strainers online.

Here are some of our favorite flavorings~

*Fresh-squeezed lemon juice and a chunk of peeled ginger
*Lemon juice with a handful of blueberries (if using frozen, thaw slightly first)
*Organic mixed berry juice (100% juice)
*Cherry juice and fresh-squeezed lime juice
*Cherry juice and pure vanilla extract
*Fresh-squeezed lemon and lime
*Elderberry (we use dried)

5. After kombucha is flavored, it can be placed back in the dark cabinet (with a tightly screwed on plastic lid) and left to build up carbonation for 2-3 more days. If carbonation isn't your thing, or you're really impatient, you can drink it now. Personally, I think the added carbonation is worth the wait.

It's best to mark it on a calendar just in case the memory isn't what it used to be.

6. Flavored and carbonated kombucha is best served over ice.

After it's been strained.

Because if you don't strain it, the little baby scoby that will start to form on top of your beverage may or may not cause the gagging reflex to kick into overdrive. Especially if it gets stuck and just sort of dangles down the back of the throat. Which could cause a person to not want to drink kombucha ever again.

Which is why I'm so amazed at myself.

I've mastered the art of straining.☺

This post is linked to The Homestead Barn Hop.

This post is linked to The Morristribe's Homesteader Blog Carnival.