To DIE for

I get two gallons of milk every two weeks from my herdshare. Half of it usually ends up as yogurt, some is transformed into ice cream, and, not as often as I would like, I make cheese. Sometimes there is more milk than I can use, so I am always looking for unique ways to ingest this wonderful white stuff. And here is one: dulce de leche. It takes FOREVER to cook down, but it is one of the most wonderful flavors on earth.

I made it just plain this first time around, but am sure to try flavoring it with vanilla and/or cinnamon and/or ??? We have been eating it on Jeni's Darkest Chocolate Ice Cream in the World (homemade). Tonight we are having it on (homemade) butter pecan. But frequently I sample a spoonful right from the jar. It truly is wonderful stuff.

Gotta have a plan

I like to cook and I like to read about cooking, but I don't consider myself a foodie per se. I'm more of a farm-to-fork kind of person in the sense that I am interested in cooking from scratch-scratch. I garden, and what I can't raise in my backyard I try to buy locally, including meat, eggs, and milk.

As frequent readers of this blog (and its predecessors) know, I own a share of a dairy herd. I pay a monthly boarding fee and in exchange am entitled to receive fresh (unpasteurized, unhomogenized) milk, usually two gallons every two weeks. This is a bit much for one person to drink, but I've been experimenting with other uses.

Ice cream: As a gift for my fifteenth anniversary at work, I selected an ice cream maker (because the KitchenAid stand mixer was not available). So far, I have made vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream, and (last night) (burnt) butter pecan. The device comes with a recipe book, which has been a starting point for developing my own recipes.

Yogurt: I eat yogurt almost everyday, and in a previous life kept our family of four well supplied. I wish they still made that particular Salton yogurt maker, but I am making do with a non-electric one.

Frozen yogurt: Homemade ice cream is great, but there is only so much cream on top of each gallon. So now I have started making frozen yogurt. Most commercial fro yo tastes like ice cream, but it's not supposed to - it is supposed to retain that yogurt tang. Mine has that tang, which goes really well with fruit.

Butter: And if I am not using the cream for ice cream, I can use it for butter. So far I have made butter only once, using the old fashioned method of shaking a jar of cream until the butter magically separates. And then you also have buttermilk. If I had that stand mixer, this would be a much easier process.

Cheese: I've already listed the cheeses I have made. Making cheese and consuming cheese are two different things, though. It helps to have a plan for fresh cheese, as it won't keep as long as store-bought. Last night I started a batch of fromage blanc, which is now draining. It is going to become cheesecake, one of our xmas traditional foods. Next up is mozzarella and, from the whey, ricotta, for lasagna.

Sometimes I can't use up the milk before it turns. Soured milk can still be used in a variety of ways. If all else fails, it can be poured on the garden as a fertilizer or on the compost pile as a booster. And acid-loving plants appreciate a dose of whey left over from cheesemaking.

Good thing I am not lactose intolerant.

Domestic nerdvana

Since we have a wonderful library system here and my house is small, I rarely buy books, and the ones I do buy tend to be reference books, like cookbooks, books on gardening, etc. But since I was placing an xmas order on Amazon anyway, I decided to treat myself to a few "hobby" books. (I am an Amazon "associate" but since I have earned a total of $0.17 for my efforts AND they complicated the linking process, I won't bother with that part.)

Hobby: Gardening
Book: Grow Fruit Naturally, by Lee Reich
I probably read about this book on a blog. After borrowing it from the library, I decided I wanted a copy of my own, as I hope to plant a few fruit trees in the back yard. My son expressed an interest in creating an orchard, has one tree so far, so he is getting a copy, too.

Hobby: Cooking
Book: Food in Jars, Melissa McClellan
There is actually a blog called Food in Jars which I read about on another blog. I also borrowed this book from the library before succumbing to its siren call.

Hobby: Baking
Book: The Bread Baker's Apprentice, by Peter Reinhart (Ron Manville photographer)
I forget how I found out about this book, but I downloaded a sample to my Nook, back when I was thinking the Nook would be one way to buy books without filling up my little house (and that would be a good idea if my eyesight were better). The recipes make me swoon.

Hobby: Making cheese
Book: Artisan Cheese Making at Home, by Mary Karlin and Ed Anderson
My interest in making cheese stems from the abundance of raw milk that finds its way into my house - the herd is producing so well, they distributed extra milk at the last delivery. This is the first cheese making book I have found that specifically addresses the differences in using raw vs. pasteurized milk.

(Unfortunately, the Indiana BOAH may bring my raw milk days to an end. After inviting input from the public, they released a report recommending either raw milk not be distributed to off-farm consumers at all or that dairies that do so fall under their jurisdiction for inspections, etc. I think the report is balanced, but I am wary of too much government interference in what is basically a direct transaction between the farmer and the consumer. Where I differ from most raw milk advocates is that I am against selling raw milk in stores, as the introduction of "middlemen" will leave the product vulnerable to mishandling and contamination, plus it would separate the consumer from the producer.)