Easy Cottage Cheese

This is a FABULOUS book!! Lots of fun games, crafts and projects that are easy to do.... And a story to read along, as well as lots of "Daily Life" info about the Pioneer Era.http://www.thereadingnook.com/colonial/

Here are my recipes for Goat Milk Cottage Cheese and Yogurt Cheese, fun projects to do with your kiddos!

Easy Goat Milk Cottage Cheese 

1 Gallon Fresh Goat Milk (or Whole Cows Milk)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (or regular vinegar or lemon juice)
Sea Salt and seasonings to taste

1. Heat milk on Medium heat to 180 degrees F. Stirring constantly.

2. Remove from heat and stir in Vinegar. Stir until curds form (1-2 minutes)

3. Strain through 4 or so layers of cheese cloth in a colander that is placed in a bowl. Whey will pass through and curds will remain in the cheese cloth. Sprinkle with Salt. I put probably about 1/2 tsp. sprinkled over the top of the cheese.

4. Roll ball of cheese around in cheese cloth to remove excess whey. If you want a juicier cottage cheese, don't remove all the whey, or you can even stir some back in. For firmer curds hang up cheese curds in cloth for up to an hour over a bowl. Then refridgerate. Or eat at room temp.

5.  Add your own seasonings ie: minced garlic, parsley, olive oil, basil, chives....

6. Or..... keep your cheese wrapped in the cloth and tie off with string. Place in a container not too much larger than your ball, and add honey or maple syrup and let marinate over night for a yummy breakfast treat.

Makes appx. 1 Pint of cheese, depending on how much whey you allow to drip off.... harder cheese means less mass. Can be adapted to use Cow's milk, use whole milk.

Yogurt Cheese 

(From "The Pioneer Sampler" By Barbara Greenwood

1 Quart Whole Milk Yogurt
Cheese Cloth

1. lay several layers of cheese cloth in a bowl, dump yogurt into cloth.

2. Bring up 4 corners and tie securly

3. Hang cheese cloth from cabinet in kitchen over a counter top. Place bowl beneath dripping cheese. Let hang for 12-24 hours (no it won't spoil)

4. Remove ball of cheese from cloth and put in fresh bowl. Season with desired seasonings, see above recipe.... Put into refrigerator to "mingle" for at least a few hours.

Make as a sweet cheese and have on toast with jam too :P

Ode to the Dear Hack Weed

Oh my dearest hack weed,
How thou does touch my heart,
Your  branches stab at my legs,
As I walk past you trip me and make me fall.

Oh my dearest hack weed,
Your loving caresses slap across my face.
Your sticks bend over in my path
They whip my back as I walk past.

Oh my dearest hack weed,
And your field fellow black berry.
Blackberry's thorns so carefully scratch and dig
In my awaiting skin like a fish hook they grasp tightly.

Oh my dearest hack weed
And black berry with your graceful thorny vines
Without you two adorning my path
How could I go on?

This Ode is to my friend the hack weed..... and black berry too. Without them my days would be less full and complete.... that is of stabs, trips and gouges!! I had time to think about this as I was out doing my chores this morning.... Hack weed is not my favorite of God's creations right now.... 

Carmel and Chocolate Carmel Sauce....

 (No, I didn't spill my sauce!!)

I made some yummy Caramel and Chocolate Caramel Ice Cream and Coffee Sauces today.  I began by making some sweetened condensed milk from a recipe that a friend gave me.

Sweetened Condensed Milk (Lower Fat and way cheaper than those little cans at the store!)

1/3 cup boiling water
3 Table spoons of Butter
2/3 cup Sugar
1 cup Powdered Skim Milk

You take 1/3 cup of boiling water and 3 Tables spoons of Butter and mix them together, then I popped it back in the microwave for about 20 more seconds. Then you dump that carefully into your mixing bowl and add 2/3 cup sugar and 1 cup dry milk powder. Mix on medium high speed until mixed and nice and creamy. Makes about 1 can, or 1 1/4 cups.....

Now, I doubled the above recipe so I could make a double batch of the Caramel Sauce

Next you'll need :

Caramel and Chocolate Caramel Ice Cream and Coffee Sauces
1 Cup Butter
1 Cup light corn syrup
2 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Batches of the sweetened condensed milk (Double Batch)
3 Squares Unsweetened Bakers Chocolate
2 Clean Quart jars with lids and rings

1. Mix together all ingredients except for Bakers Chocolate in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil.
2. It turns a slightly darker color but not much....
3. Remove from heat.
4. put about 3 cups of the caramel sauce into a quart jar pouring slowly. I pause every little bit so the jar can come up to temperature..... (And as a side note, I didn't can this, so I just used a clean jar, not sterile)
5. With remaining sauce, stir in squares of bakers chocolate, stirring until the chocolate is melted and mixed in thoroughly.
6. Place Chocolate Sauce in second jar. Let cool on potholders in fridge. Keep Refrigerated.

Enjoy a few spoonfuls heated on your ice cream, or straight out of the fridge stirred into your hot coffee.
Other Suggestions: Stir in 1/4 cup peanut Butter into half of one of your flavors... then you have 3 flavors! You can also stir in chopped toasted pecans... this makes a great sauce for sticky buns.....

You can also layer the slightly cooled sauces in smaller jelly jars and give away as gifts! Yummy!! Maybe making a basket with ice cream bowls, cute spoons, home made napkins and a gift card for Ice Cream somewhere or a recipe of your favorite Ice Cream.

The reason I was making my caramel sauce was for a recipe that will follow in a few weeks....
Fudge Topped Caramel Fudge Brownie Ice Cream Cake!! 
I've had RAVE reviews of this cake!!

A Grand Week

This last week was amazing. It began last Sunday with our evening kick off for VBS which went extremely well. Our biggest turn out yet, I think! Monday began with 18 kids in my First and Second grade VBS class. We had a great first day; they had so many great questions and genuine concerns. We created a canyon which we threw all our concerns into, come kids were dealing with divorce in their families, hurt knees and hearts, heart attacks in their families, and sadness that you wish kids would never have to face. But the truth is that there are so many families out there hurting, trying to run away from pain and illness. These kids had a real understanding for how hard life could be.... We learned that God cares about everything, even the little things like scraped knees and hurt feelings. And that we can always talk to Him about our feelings and concerns, and that he is always there to give us big hugs and peace in our hearts. I know that God was working on so many hearts this past week, including mine. The days that followed we gained 2 more kids, for a total of 20, and they all made it EVERY Single DAY!! No absences! What an amazing thing God accomplished. Last year I had 16 signed up but always had at least 1-2 absent! Nope, not this time, 20 every single day!! God kept us all fresh and ready and healthy and eager. Each day was better than the day before, and on our last day we prayed as a group and most of them showed such sincere interest, they admitted that they were sinners and had done things wrong in their lives, they raised their cute hands to admit the sin that was in their lives, believe in Christ as God's son who died and rose again on the Third Day, and to confess to E.D. and I that they wanted Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. It was amazing to watch their little hands go up, with their eyes closed and heads tucked to their chests. Our evening performance went great, they sung their little hearts out, and the kids that were in the Drama (Cayleb, Noah, Madison Wheeler and Tayah Tryon) as well as Mr. Jay did a fabulous job!! We all celebrated a great week with ice cream and smore bars.  Thursday, which was our last day as well as the evening of ouf final performance was also my Birthday. I couldn't have had a better day. Spending it with the kids and around all my church family and with my family was perfect :D

Charity Ann's Birthday was on Friday and it was perfect as well. What a great group of kids we had over for the day. They had such a great time, and even talked me into putting soap on the trampoline with water! What??!!  Lots of fun, and Charity Ann was glowing. 

Monday was also our Rank Test for Karate. We all tested, Cayleb and Charity Ann went for their Purple belts and passed, Noah went for first degree Green and I went for my Second degree of Green we both did great as well. It feels so good to be back into a martial art.... I missed it a lot. The kids seem to be enjoying it still, which is good because they are signed up for another year of it :P The best thing about our gym is it is so family friendly. We have amazing teachers, it's a Christian based Goju Kai  Freestyle Karate and they really love what they do.

Well, better go, gotta finish up dinner!!

Charity Ann's Birthday

Charity Ann had a great 8th Birthday with 8 of her friends!! We had our friends Lily, Maggie, Abigail, Rachel, Taryin, Payton, Tasia,  and Chloe over to play in NO particular order! I decided that in honor of my super cool Mom, I would try to take up the craft legacy and plan a small craft to do with the girls and ended up deciding on making cool flippies! They turned out so cute, I wanted to get some pics up so you could see. I will try to get back on here and write more about our AWESOME week later, K.

 

Mommy and Charity Ann's

 

8 Friends, plus Mommies and Sarah Rosie flippies!! Aren't they gorgeous!!

It's kind of hard to read in this picture, but It says Happy 8th Birthday..... Mrs. Lisa (Rachel's Mom) helped me Frost it!! Yumm!!!

Birthdays.... and other days....

 

First, this cake is AWESOME!!Now.....

In my "old" age I feel that God is giving me more and more wisdom in regards to attacks from the enemy. Let me begin with this... God please help me to have a wonderful Birthday, to help me understand that forgiveness is one thing, but forgetting is entirely different and hardest to do, and that Satan will always be looking for times in my life that he feels I am the most vulnerable for his gain. Help me to see those times approaching, so that I can be strong in you Lord, and full of your peace and grace so that I can respond to his attacks with love, compassion and grace, no matter how I am feeling as a human. I am who you say I am and no matter what anyone else may say, they can't ever change who you made me to be. I can be strong in you Lord, I don't need to cast doubt on any day that that you let me be a part of, and you can use me for your works no matter what!! 

I am not going to go into much about last year, other than it was a very lovely day minus one particular thing.... a mail box full of attacks by a person being used by the enemy. That day allowed me to have doubt as a person, and as a friend but not long after, God restored to me my hope and grace. That He made me who I am, and that no matter how others on this world respond to me as a person, as long as I am trying my best to walk in his path for me, I am protected. No one has the right to judge me, and though I usually cave and let doubt creep in when someone demonstrates judgment towards me, I am learning a life long lesson in endurance in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I look back on my life so far, and the choices that I have made, even the ones that last year were highly questioned and condemned, and know that my peace is in my Lord and that only he can judge me. Fellow friends and family here on earth can cast doubt, judge, and hate me for who I am, but I know the truth, deep in side of me, that as long as I follow His lead I can never be wrong. I also know that when I look ahead to the place where I want to be, and see my own faults and lack of faith, I find myself casting self judgment and falling into the trap of guilt and self condemnation. If that happens in my mind, I know it must happen elsewhere, I am not that unique!! So, perhaps that is what happened on my last Birthday. Someone actually looked at my life and saw what they wanted to see, right or wrong, and allowed guilt to creep into their heart. Whether that was from God or Satan, I am not going to attempt to call that one! I remain humbly in Christ here.... safe.... and hope that God continues to use me to bless others. And if others are able to use those blessings in a negative way, I can only pray that their hearts are filled with Christ completely. That only God's judgment is on their hearts; as the parent, he has the right to place those on our hearts.....

That being said, my memorial to the worst Birthday I will ever have (I'm an optimist,) today is going to be great! I am going to have 20 1st and 2nd graders give me a Birthday Hug!! Jason gave me a big hug this morning and told me Happy Birthday, my Church family already made me a cake and sang to me, and God is going to be working on lots of hearts today as we finish up our annual VBS program. What better day to get to celebrate being born and being used by GOD!! I feel so loved and God Rocks!!

Our God is an AWESOME GOD,
who REIGNS from Heaven on Earth,
With Wisdom, Power and LOVE,
Our God is an AWESOME GOD!!!

May God Bless this Day with Love, Grace and Peace in the hearts of the Children we are sharing with. May he shelter the seeds that he has been planting from harms way, may He bless the water and sunshine that we are sprinkling on those precious seeds. May he allow those seeds to have fallen on good soil and not on a rocky path to be trampled. Please Lord, let these precious children feel your love and peace in their hearts. And help them to seek refuge in your grace and to always remember to fall into your lap when they are knocked down by life. I pray that you will keep working in their hearts and the hearts of others around them, that you will ultimately win their hearts for your kingdom. That these seeds will someday be aloud to come to a full bloom in you!! My God, you are an Awesome God and I know that nothing is beyond your grasp. That your will is always done, on Earth as it is in heaven. Bless this day, and your children, Father.... Amen.

Strawberry Preserves

I had a few people ask me to write my recipe down for strawberry preserves, really I just use the recipe that comes with the pectin, but this will give you an idea of how much you need of each item.....

Lo-Sugar Strawberry Preserves

(also wonderful blended with other berries, raspberries, blackberries, huckleberries, marionberries, blueberries etc...)

You'll need:
4 cups mashed Strawberries, to your liking, I leave some smaller berries almost whole
1 cup white grape juice
1 package Ball No Sugar Needed Fruit Pectin, I get mine at Wal-mart, best pricing....
2 cups sugar, more or less from 0-3 cups depending on sweetness of your berries; compare that to 7 cups of sugar in a normal recipe, try tasting your berries through all that!
1/2 t. butter (reduces foaming)

-4-6 half pint jars, lids and rings.
-water bath canner, or a large pot, spaghetti or such with canning rings in a layer on the bottom to keep jars from touching the bottom. (I have a canner, but for small batches sometimes it's easier to not drag the huge thing out!
-canning funnel, jar grabber and magnet wand make things a lot easier!
-a few wash cloths, and 3 dish towels.


1. Prepare your water bath canner, I put the jars right in the canner to sterilize them. Then I do a separate pan for lids and rings which I put in the pan put together in layers so it's easy to grab one set out with your magnet wand. Bring lids to a simmer, but not to boil or it may mess up the wax on your lids....

2. Combine your fruit and the fruit juice in a 8 Quart sauce pan, heat on med high to high heat (careful not to scorch the bottom!!) gradually add the pectin, stirring constantly. Add butter. Bring mixture to a rolling boil that you cannot slow by stirring. Add your sugar all at once, it's a good idea to have what you think you'll need measured out already so you can just dump it in.

3. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil and boil hard for 3 minutes. You can skim off the foam if you want/need to.

4. Fill your jars!

Jar filling steps:
-Pull out jars, draining water from each and place on a towel laid beside the pan with your preserves. Using your canning funnel fill each jar to 1/4 inch from top.
-Now dip one of your wash cloths in the water from the lid pan and carefully and completely wipe around the jar rim of each jar. You need to remove any smears of jam so that the lids will properly seal. I go ahead and wipe all jars now. Before doing lids.....
-Now grab a lid with ring out of your pan for the first jar, place it in position, and using the dry remaining wash cloth grab your jar carefully and screw the ring on to hand tightness. You don't need to tighten as tight as you can possibly get it, air needs to escape during the canning process, but do tighten well. Place jar back in canner to stay warm. Finish with remaining jars.
-Once all jars are in the canner, turn temp back up to high. When it starts to boil again, set timer for 10 minutes and turn down burner a bit. You don't need a full rolling boil for canning, just a steady boil.
-get your area ready where your jars will sit for 24 hours untouched. (I leave mine for at least 12 if it's pretty cool in the house, but the full time if it has been hot.) I place a double layer of dish towels down in a corner of my kitchen.
-Keep checking to make sure that you are still boiling, if not turn back up and reset timer. It's best to just stay in the room and check several times so you don't doubt how long it stopped etc.
-when your timer goes off, carefully remove lid and then jars to towel on counter. Let sit for 12-24 hours.
-A jar has been sealed it the button on the lid doesn't pop up and down when you press it. If you have one that didn't seal just put it in the fridge, your first sample!! Yum! Jelly jars usually are very quick to seal, you'll hear loud pops as they seal almost as quickly as you can pull them out of the canner. Some are stubborn, though and will wait almost an hour.
-Wipe the jars down if they got a little jam on the side during processing, and put on your shelf to enjoy later!
-If I use my own berries which I grow organically, or go pick at a local field I do like to spring for Organic Sugar.... Doesn't really make a difference in the taste, but after taking such good care of my berries, I like to pamper them and my family with good sugar :P Funny thing, a hundred and fifty years ago the "good" sugar was pure white, now the "good" sugar is unbleached and rougher ground!
-If anyone sees something that needs correcting, PLEASE let me know. Or if you have comments or your own twist, please share!!