Homemaking Homesteader

Warm the milk to about 95 degrees F. Stir in buttermilk and allow to set at room temperature for 12-18 hours. The milk will clabber, or become thick.

Cut the curds into 1/2 inch cubes and let rest for 10 minutes. Place the pot into a double boiler-type potand heat at a very low setting until the curd reaches 115 degrees F (I didn't use a double boiler, I just kept it on low for a little over an hour). Stir often to keep the curds from matting together. This will take an hour or more.

The curd is ready when it is somewhat firm on the interior of the cheese. Cook longer if necessary. Some whey will rise to the top. Let the curd settle to the bottom of the pot, drain off the whey and place the curds in a cloth-lined colander to drain. Be gentle, as the curds are rather fragile.

Allow the cheese to drain until it stops dripping (I let mine hang overnight). Place in a bowl and add salt to taste. I usually use about one teaspoon of kosher or canning salt per pound. Stir in about four ounces of half-and-half or cream ( I used cream off the top of our raw milk) per pound if you like a creamed cottage cheese.

I had some for breakfast this morning and it was the best. Hope it turns out as well everytime I make it.

I have been fighting a cold since Saturday. I have been consuming a lot of Vitamin C poweder and Echinacea/Goldenseal along with Throat Coat Tea. I prefer Gypsy Cold Care, but I drank what we had on-hand.

I want to make my own by buying my herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs, but I just haven't gotten around to it.

The After Holiday Crash....

If you have ever had the blessing of giving birth, you are aware of at leat the term of postpardum. I can't say that I ever had that but maybe once, a little, out of three births, but we are now coining a new phrase in our house that explains the after holiday crash: "Post-HoliDum"

Really, I mean, after all the famly or guests have left or even just the preparations for the Thanksgiving meal are over and we're facing de-boning a turkey (yuck) and eating left-overs for who knows how long, there is a bit of a crash or let down.

Some people faced the end of the holiday crash by shopping on the Friday afterwards. That's not me. Not being a crowd person (except at Disney World) the Black Friday distraction from Post-HoliDum could not interset me in the least. So, what did I do...

Originally I just wanted to flop. Stay in my PJs and not do squat except sit by the fire. Alas, that only lasts for just so long until it gets on my own nerves.

So my darling hubby of 23 years said - "Trust me" and took my hand asked me to go for a ride with him. We drove to look at lights, even if they were just windows or city lights, we went to eat at a new place we had never tried before and we drove home (realize we are an hour from any place that could be called a city or suburb).

Seeing the lights and night life (okay, 8pm is night life to me now) was uplifting, but it also reminded me why we love the country life. From the window of the car, it all looked so pretty and sparkling, but I did not want to go into the mall after seeing the parking lot or shop after sitting in traffic. It was enough to be a spectator and let that re-set my perspective correctly.

"Post-HoliDum" is actually a real event after the build up of the holidays. How we deal with it is important. Surely I can't be the only person who 'crashed' a bit after Thanksgiving...

Good Info for all Ladies

I knew about the red light on cars, but not the *77
It was about 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon, and Lauren was driving to visit a friend. An UNMARKED police car pulled up behind her and put his lights on. Lauren's parents have always told her never to pull over for an unmarked car on the side of the road, but rather to wait until they get to a gas station, etc.

Lauren had actually listened to her parents advice, and promptly called*77 on her cell phone to tell the police dispatcher that she would not pull over right away. She proceeded to tell the dispatcher that there was an unmarked police car with a flashing red light on his rooftop behind her. The dispatcher checked to see if there were police cars where she was and there weren 't, and he told her to keep driving, remain calm and that he had back up already on the way.

Ten minutes later 4 cop cars surrounded her and the unmarked car behind her. One policeman went to her side and the others surrounded the car behind. They pulled the guy from the car and tackled him to the ground. The man was a convicted rapist and wanted for other crimes.

I never knew about the *77 Cell Phone Feature, but especially for a woman alone in a car, you should not pull over for an unmarked car. Apparently police have to respect your right to keep going to a safe place.

*Speaking to a service representative at ** Bell ** Mobility confirmedthat *77 was a direct link to State trooper info. So, now it's your turn to let your friends know about *77.

This applies to ALL 50 states. Great Information that may save your life one day.

Two Choices

Refreshing the wood stove...

Today I spent a couple hours cleaning and working on the wood stove. The fire was still burning, so I did not clean the window as of yet, but you can see what was done today. The stove was all rusted from the wet moist weather we had this summer, you know, when Iowa had all that flooding. Well, I took a toothbrush and scrubbed all of the cast iron details. I also cleaned up the cast iron pot on top of the stove. After that, I took some vegetable shortening and a clean toothbrush and wiped down the entire stove. I had only intended to do the cast iron, but the splatters ended up getting onto the soapstone so I just oiled them completely down.

It looks nice, now. The oiled stone brings out it's details... with our home being so dry, the stone had almost turned... flakey white. You can notice that a bit on the top of the stove by the pot, where the oil has already seasoned into the stone... it is still a bit white. However, I am still quite pleased with the results as the stone looks better than it has in years and the cast iron is nice and black again. Along the top edge the cast iron looks a shiny brown color, but that is an error from the flash... it all looks nice and black. I was a bit concerned about getting the oil onto the stone, but it has not appeared to have altered the stone color.

Now, I need to get back down there and clean up the tiled areas. I told the girls before I put up the tree, the fire area is getting a good cleaning and a good spiffing. We need to redo the tile, you may have noticed the missing tiles in front of the stove. Hopefully that will get done next summer. It looks like the stove pipe could use a bit of oil as well! LOL... too bad my toothbrush has melted into a hard piece of plastic from doing the door of the stove... that was quite warm and melted it very quick.

Pictures, Pictures and more Pictures

Funny!

My 3yo likes to sing along with the older girls. They like the song Emmanuel... the refrain goes like this... Rejoice, rejoice, emmanuel, shall come to .....