Merry Christmas & Happy Yulebocken

Yesterday was Christmas Day, and we got to spend a relaxing day at home. Well, not as relaxing as it might have been. We began the day with the delivery of a set of twin goats. Then a Single doeling was born from another mother. It's a good thing we were home, because it was so cold here, they could have easily frozen to death. As it was the little buckling from the twin delivery was very cold and almost dead when we found him. A few hours in the warm house and some warm colustrum and he was good as new, though. Yulebocken is the Swedish Christmas Gift Giving Goat. So, I guess we had a couple of Yulebocken visits yesterday.
After all the fun with goats, we came in the house to have our traditional Christmas breakfast of steak and eggs. In the afternoon, we fixed hot chocolate using Hood Calorie Countdown milk (spiked with spiced rum...yummmmm). I have to admit, the Hood Chocolate makes great hot cocoa substitute with a dash of vanilla flavoring and a teaspoon of butter. Throw a shot of rum and a dollop of whipped cream in and you have a really great special treat.
Today hasn't really been any better. I was awakened at 5:30 am (19 degrees outside) to be told that one of the does just had quads! OK, I dressed and heated up some colustrum, knowing that with 4, I'd end up bottle feeding at least one. At the very least, I would have to supplement mom's milk for all of them. Darn if I wasn't right. The mother has some kind of blockage in one teat that feels like a big marble and the milk can't come past. I'm having to work on that, hoping to work it loose or down, or something. The other side really didn't appear to have much milk. So it looks like I am bottle feeding the 3 survivors. The littlest baby just didn't have enough get up and go to uhm... well... get up and go.
Anyway, as far as goat deliveries expected this holiday week...3 down and about 10 to go. This has turned into a Holiday tradition in my house. I don't know how the goats know that if they mate in July (WE try to get them bred in May!) they will have babies while we are here to help out, but it sure works out well, except for the cold weather.

Still here

I know it seems like I never update this thing. I guess I have been busy. I am trying to get my goats dried up for the winter, but they seem to have other plans. I have three that appear to want to give 3 quarts a day forever! The only good thing about that is that I can still make lots of cheese. I finally got a cheese press. In fact, I bought one and a few weeks later, a friend of mine gave me one he made. I have used them both, and they work just WONDERFUL!!!!
I have been making hard cheeses (big enough to eat) for the first time ever. I bought cheese wax, and everything. I have a refrigerator full of cheddars, goudas, and colbys. The one on the left is waxed with beeswax, and the one on the right is waxed with red cheese wax. It sure looks nicer with real cheese wax. Those are 2 pound cheeses resting on a handmade cheese board. I also have made some lightly pressed cheeses that don't have to age. They are called Queso Fresco, and they aren't just faster to make, and have ready to eat, but they are just great cheese...firm and tasty! I just finished marinating one in Chiante, just to see how it comes out. It sure turned a pretty color of purple, anyway! Robert is out of town until tomorrow night, so I'm being a good girl and leaving it alone until he is here to try it first. Talk about a test of willpower!


Sydne

Another great cheese recipe

Yesterday I decided to break into my home made Brie cheese. I wrapped it in about 4 sheets of Phyllo dough (8 carbs per sheet...so I didn't eat the crust) and baked it for about 20 minutes at 350 until the pastry was beginning to brown. I used sliced apples and scooped up melty cheese and it was just heavenly!

Today, I took my other Brie to work (I always share with the guys at work! They really appreciate cheese). I cut the top rind off the cheese, and made a sauce using about 3 or 4 Tablespoons of DaVinci B-52 Syrup, and imitation honey, with a teaspoon of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove mixture, and about 1/2 cup of thin sliced almonds poured over the top, wrapped in aluminum foil, and baked in the office toaster oven at 350 for about 15 minutes. Once again, I provided sliced apples for scooping it up, and everyone was wowed.

I LOVE LOW CARB.

Not low carb, but its my life

Today, on the way home, I saw a hawk struggling along, trying to fly carrying a big ol' black bird. All I could think was, HOW LUCKY AM I??? I get to see things nobody else ever gets to see. Another day, I saw hawk flying over my farm, carrying a snake and landing in the trees. I have actually awakened to find a deer in my bedroom. I doubt anybody else has done that! (long story, the guard dogs adopted her, she now guards right alongside them). I have seen a Great Dane laying on the floor of my kitchen with tiny 4 day old chicks hopping all over his great big head.
I have watched groundhogs play tag, seen mating squirrels, and have a dachshund that has helped me round up escaped baby rabbits (and never hurt any of them). The typical farm stuff is pretty neat, but the things that just happen without anyone expecting it are just fantastic.

I feel sorry for anybody that never lived in the country, because they just never have really lived.

May you enjoy all the things around you.
Syd

Holy Goat Milk Batman!

Her name is Chaos; I couldn't resist her.
I needed another Dairy Goat like I needed a hole in the head, but she was so beautiful!
She has turned into a pretty decent milker for a young little girlie. Unfortunately, she had her babies in late JULY! That means she will be milking all winter, in fact, my other goats will deliver their babies before I manage to get her dried out. I'm going to try to get her bred before the end of December, so I don't have to milk all next winter, too! But I am getting really tired of milk....I've been at it since last March, and it is looking like I'll be milking until at least next September.

I finally broke down and ordered a cheese press so I could get some of this milk under control. I can use 2 gallons at a time to make hard cheese now, so that gets rid of larger quantities of milk at one time than I have been used to. I have made cheddar and gouda (2 pound cheeses) and I am getting really excited about trying them (in FEBRUARY). Anyway, tune in in February to see if the cheeses thrived and turned out edible.

People don't realize that cheese is full of living organisms and such things that kind of make it into a live thing in and of itself. It has to be treated gently, and given just the right amount of humidity and optimal temperatures to mature into a good tasting cheese. Otherwise it will just rot. Cheese is similar to beer and wine in that respect. Feed and care for it and it will reward you. I hope.

Other than cheesemaking, I have been making lotion and soap about as fast as I can. I have shows almost every other weekend until Christmas. I love making and selling soap, I love hearing my customers tell me how much they love using it, but like milking, it can really get old.

I am ready to do something different for a while, so in a couple of months you will probably be reading about how I am tired of making sausages (my next scheduled endeavor), and how my freezer is full of sausages, and I'm tired of eating sausages, but for some reason, I just can't sit around and do whatever it is that normal people do to pass their time. I MUST be making something. Maybe I should take up woodworking...at least I could end up with some new furniture!

Syd

Bah, Bah, Barilla...

I understand wanting to justify your product, and encouraging people to purchase it, but Barilla has ignored common sense on their website. While Dreamfields Pasta actually tests for the glycogenic effect of their product, Barilla relies only on tired, old, outdated, and proven to be untrue saws from the high carb, low fat, myths to promote what actually might be a reasonably low glycemic product.
I was reading their page about the "Dangers of Low Carb Diets", and managing to just laugh off their outdated statements, then I came upon this one; "Foods high in fat can increase energy intake (calories) because they are more energy dense, not as “bulky,” and taste good, leaving eaters desiring more and making it easy to over-consume them."

GIVE ME A BREAK!

I guess the perfect diet tastes so bad you don't want to eat anything, right? That's essentially what they are saying. They are ignoring that satiety occurs way earlier when eating high fat (tasty) foods than when eating low fat (sugar full) foods, resulting in a much lower overall calorie consumption.

Until Barilla enters the 21st century and learns to appeal to us long time low-carbers by recognizing that their high fiber product might, just possibly, appeal to low-carbers, if they would only do some real-time blood sugar effect testing to give us some real statistics on the glucose effects of their products, I will not even experiment with their pastas and I recommend that other low-carbers stay far away, and continue to use Dreamfields. In fact, I think I will go to the Dreamfield site right now and thank them for being so pro lowcarb!

Sydne

Brownies...YUM!

I just made Carbquick brownies. I used the recipe on the Carbquick site using 4 eggs, less than a cup of Carbquick and Ghiardelli's Unsweetened Baking Chocolate and Hersheys Bittersweet Chocolate Chips (the recipe called for just "semi-sweet chips" but the Hersheys had way fewer carbs so I used them. My gosh they are absolutely delicious even though they are about twice as expensive.

The brownies were probably the best low carb brownies I've had, but next time I am cutting the chocolate down at least half! These are almost too chocolatty, if that's possible!

I love them, DH loves them, and I'll definitely make them again!

Looking forward to Labor Day Weekend (BBQ day!)
Cheers!