Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Micro Dairy...back in business! 

      So maybe you've heard, I hurt my back in October, so I've been very limited in what I can and can not do.  It was all I could do to just get through each day for a while...then as I began to heal, my thought wandered to milking and making delicious dairy products for my family.  I didn't expect to have to milk Bossie until later this spring, and hoped I would be all healed up by then.  But, as life sometimes does, it threw a curve ball. Poor Bossie lost her calf in early January.  So...before I wanted to...we began milking her daily so she wouldn't dry up, leaving us without a source for fresh raw milk this year.  My dear husband helps each evening, so I don't have to lift anything when we milk.  Bossie is giving us 1 gallon per milking, which is enough for us to have a 1/2 gallon of ice cream, 2 lbs or more of fresh mozzarella, a couple cups of Ricotta, some cottage cheese, a couple gallons of 2% or so milk for drinking, and a lb or more of Farmer's Cheddar in a weeks time. That is plenty of dairy for anyone!  Once Goldie, our Jersey heifer calf is fresh, next summer, we will be drowning in milk!





Monday, January 14, 2013

How to Make Homemade Noodles


2 Cups All Purpose Flour and 1 T salt, put in mixer with dough hook (if you don't have an awesome mixer with a dough hook, just put in a med or lg bowl.
In a measuring cup, add one egg, a couple tablespoons of oil, and enough water to bring it to 2/3 cup.  Slowly pour this into the flour as you mix, either with the hook or by hand.  Don't add all the liquid at once...just keep  mixing and adding until it's a nice workable, not too sticky, not to crumbly texture...like playdough. If you get it too sticky, just add more flour until it's right.

Divide the mixed and kneaded dough into 4 parts, roll each one to the about 1/4 thick, using flour on the counter and on top of the dough to keep it from sticking. With plenty of flour on top, then roll the noodle dough up into a roll, like a log, and cut the noodles into the width you want (like 1/2" or so). Unroll each noodle you cut and let it dry, either hanging on a dryer rack, or on a cookie sheet. (Make sure you toss flour on them or they will stick together...try to keep them from laying on top of each other too, they need air to dry)