Another good day!

Well today was my market day, my day away from home!  Maybe its wrong to think of it like that but I get to go somewhere and I do not have to take care of anyone, its almost like alone time even though I am working!  I picked some of our oyster mushrooms last night and sold them today. I wish I could figure out how to get them to grow easier.  I am getting there.  We were pretty busy today, sold alot, especially the famous yogurt covered pretzels!  Tomorrow I need to get the bar soap made, my experiment with it the other day failed.  Try Try Again.  I did receive some good news from the market manager today that we will be able to sell our dairy products!  I guess I better work on supper, these kids get made if they don't get to eat when they want.

Sick Little guy

My baby will be 2 years old next Friday. I have had a rough week.  Tuesday my oldest son had three caps put in his mouth, he did great.  The next day my middle guy had three caps and two root canals, he cried all afternoon  :(  Thursday my little guy woke up with a fever and had to be held all day long.  For three days I got nothing done my house is trashed, lol.  Today I had high hopes that were shattered an hour in.  My little guy seemed a little better, I picked him up and I said you smell stinky lets change you!  Not soon enough before it was all over  my leg, and totally all over him.  Talk about grossed out.  It gets better, he can not swallow so twice he has drank, gagged and vomited on me.  At this point he has finally fallen asleep and I am typing with one hand!

The normal

Today was a pretty normal Monday for me.  My four year old had pre school today, somedays he wants to go other days I have to fight him because he is "busy".  Today was one of those lets fight days.  He would not get dressed, would not do his homework, and then would not get out of the bath.  Finally, I did accomplish this feat, but of course there was a small promise about a huge bubble bath after school!  Next I had to get him in the classroom.  We made it in willingly but he was not about to stay in there.  I love the teachers, they are just wonderful, but do I feel bad for them when I leave a fussing child they had to pry off of my legs.  Mrs. Thees took him and all was good, silly boy.  I came home to rush  around to get my potatoes cooking for my potato salad business.  I got the first batch done but I had to get going to my 1:30 appointment.  My appointment of course got long winded but I just made it to pick the boys from school.  Now it was home to finish the potatoes.  That was done while I chatted with my husband about what to do with our milk business.  Finally, I left to pick up the little guy from Granny.  While on the way my mother called and needed help to drain her water bed.  The things I get myself into.  I picked up the little guy first and went to moms.  I got there and the stinking bed was drained, go figure.  As usual then the little guy won't leave so I have to piddle around there for fifteen minutes to get him to go.  Anyway we finally left and then I had to get home to  mix my potato salad so I can get it delivered tomorrow morning.  I have a dentist appointment tomorrow late morning for my oldest son, wish me luck.  Tomorrow will be the big bar soap making experiment.

Paneer Cheese

In the near future I am going to operate my own dairy shop so I have been experimenting with cheese and yogurts to make.  Today I decided to make Paneer, it is a cheese from India.  It is a totally vegetarian cheese because you use only milk and juice from fresh citrus.  This cheese is very versatile it is a non melting cheese that you can mix in almost anything or fry it totally on its own.  Here is how I did it:

1/2 gal of milk(this must be a whole milk, fat free will not work)
2 large limes juiced(1/3 cup)

Heat the milk on the stove to 200 F stirring constantly
When the milk reaches 200 F remove from heat and gently stir in the lime juice
The milk should begin to curdle, if not add a little more juice
Put the pan back on the stove on the lowest setting, let it remain there for 10 minutes without stirring
Drain the whey off the in a cheesecloth lined strainer, you can save the whey for other uses like cooking pasta
Let the cheese sit for 30 minutes and then squeeze any remaining whey out
Finally form the cheese into a block, keeping the cheese cloth on and press it between two cutting boards or two plates.  Place a gal jug full of water on top.  Let this press for 5-7 hours, then the cheese is ready. 

I personally am going to try to fry this tonight, hopefully I can get picture.  My soap making has been changed to Tuesday its too darn cold for me to do it today.

Exhausting Day

My Saturdays start at 4:15 am, every Saturday.  It has been this way for 7 years.  Funny thing is I would not change it.  We go to the 2nd Street Market in Dayton and sell fresh produce, meat, and yogurt covered pretzels.  The busy season is coming since spring is on the horizon.  Today we sold an immense amount of produce, some meat(not as much as I would like but its getting better), and about 60lbs of yogurt covered pretzel(blueberry, raspberry, cherry, cinnamon, and peanut butter flavored!)!  These pretzels are absolutely awesome.  Today my mother in law put the spinach on the table, easy enough right?  She should remember that there is more under the table to restock.  Well it hit the early afternoon and we were out I asked her to fill it up and she tells me she already put it all out. I did not think anymore about it, until I was packing up at the end of the day and found it.  Sometimes I wonder where that woman's head is.  She means well and I do not pay her so I can't be real picky!!  We had a great day.  I want to work on a recipe holder for the market next week.  That means I have to dig into my creative side, good luck.  Tomorrow I am going to make some homemade milk based lye soap, wish me luck.  If it goes well I might put some pictures on!  Its 7:10 pm and supper has been made and now to work on my blanket.

Weather

Today has been one of those days.  Really it was a good day but this weather has been something.  I was on the road today and twice I was pelleted by pea size hail.  The lightning was absolutely insane and the rain.  I personally can say I do not ever remember 2 years where weather has been so crazy.  This afternoon when the rain and storms finally stopped we had sun and it was absolutely beautiful, for about an hour then came the wind.  Yea I said more wind it seems like every two or three days we are windy windy.  I notice this only because we live in the middle of nowhere and you notice it.  The kids can't walk, that is funny!!  Tomorrow I have to go run our farmers market, up early home late!   

Canned Beef Success

Canned Beef

Ingredients

Enough fresh or frozen beef to fill as many jars(quart or pints) as you need or as many as the canner will hold.  I have a small canner and it will hold seven quarts.

Salt

Water

Heat cleaned and sterilized and pack full with meat leaving 1 inch headspace
Put 1 teaspoon of salt in the jar.
Add water to the jar, filling it half way.

Push a knife around the jar to get out air bubbles, put on lids and rings.  Put in the canner and can for 90 minutes.

So easy and it will make the toughest meat tender.

The Steer

I live on a farm, we sell animals and I am ok with that.  The part I am not ok with is when I ALWAYS get roped into loading them.  They move fast, I have no coordination, they weigh alot, I do not.  So today I am in the barn helping my brother in law load a steer.  We have my mother in law blocking off an area and his girlfriend blocking off an area, this leaves me to have to walk in the manure and try to get a certain one out of the gate.  So for five minutes we just chased these steers in circles, literally.  Then we finally get him out and walking down the aisle, he has to poop as I am directly following him.  Naturally it can not just land it must splatter!  We get him to the front of the barn and he just takes his good old time, like he does not have a care in the world,if he only knew where he was going.  Surprising, he jumps right into the livestock trailer.  The last and very crucial step is too get the barn door shut and get in the truck and start driving before he jumps out the back.  Yeah, he can jump out the back our trailer is so ghetto, we act like it is not ours, lol.  Till next time.

Slow Thursday Morning

Today started out like a normal Thursday morning up at 6:15 to put my oldest son on the bus.  He does not get on the bus till 7 but I get up extra early so I can warm the van up for him.  Yes thats right I drive him to the end of the long drive, I would not want to stand in the cold so I don't want him too.  I came back in after he was gone and laid back in bed with my husband.  The little guy started stirring soon after.  My husband got up and put him in bed with me and he laid down.  Well after two minutes he was ready for his day and he sat up covered my head up and said go sleep mommy.  I was like alright your dad is down stairs thats what I will do.  I got exactly ten minutes of peace before he was back!  Oh well so we started laundry and now I am debating about what to get myself into.  I have alot getting ready to start since we do seasonal produce and bottling milk.  I think today I willl clean some meat out of the freezer and can it.  It is so easy and the plus is if it is tough or older meat the canning process will make it delicious. 

CSA

CSA, Community Supported Agriculture!  Our family farm, Otte Heritage Farms, is offering a produce CSA for the 2012 season.  Our CSA will provide fresh fruit and veggies each week. You have a choice of a bushel size box or a half bushel size box for a certain price.  It is an exciting program for people to get involved in to get fresh local produce.  It will help your way of life in many ways by improving health and helping your local community by buying local. 

Tonight I hope to start a new cheese experiment, updates later.

Small town safety

I have lived in a rural and safe location all of my life.  Our safe, not locking our doors way of life has been abruptly halted.  About 3 months ago there was a double homicide about five country blocks away from here.  Now threre was a robbery with very similar characteristics on the other side of the county.  What are we suppose to do, why do things have to be this way?  What is the motive?  I mean really is this all drug related, I think so.  I just wonder to myself as a mother of three boys, what would these criminals mothers be saying or thinking?  Did they do something to turn them in the wrong direction or was it their friends?  What can I do to prevent this?  So many questions and no answers.

Back to Basics

My husband and I are in the process of starting our own dairy where we will milk our own cows, bottle milk, yogurts, sour cream, and make cheese.This is an exciting time for us because we already are involved in low impact farming in season with our produce and meats we raise and we wanted to expand.  I am really excited about the opportunity to provide the products my family enjoys on a daily basis to others.  We all have the right to know where our food comes from and how it becomes our food.  I have been experiementing in my kitchen with many recipes for yogurts and cheeses.  The yogurt is simple, it is smooth and creamy, yet tangy.  This flavor will take a while to get used too since we are all used to the sugar concentrated varieties we buy at the stores.  We plan on specializing in raw milk cheese, the flavor is soooooooooo much better, just wait you will see.