please & thank you.

this is my favorite coffee shop.

we go 2-3 times a week for lunch, ginger ale, or spanish lattes.

it's a happy place. 

chevre

I've always wanted to make cheese. 

A couple of weeks ago we used Bekah's fresh milk from her goat, Lady, & we made chevre. 

It was the most delicious cheese ever & I can't wait to experiment with other recipes. 

Ingredients:

2 Gallons of Goat Milk

 1/4 Cup of Cultured Buttermilk 

 1/2 Tablet of Rennet (equivalent to 2 drops of liquid rennet) 

 1-2 Teaspoons of Salt 

 1/4 Cup of Warm Water

Process:

Warm the milk to room temperature (68-70 °F)

Dissolve 1/2 of the rennet tablet in 1/4 cup warm water

Stir in the buttermilk and mix thoroughly

Stir in the rest of the rennet and mix thoroughly

Cover and let it sit for a total of 24 hours

After 24 hours, check the mixture for clean breaks

At this time, the curd should be firm enough to cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Next ladle the curds into a sterile cloth located suspending above a colander

Place that in a refrigerator or cool place for 24 hours

After the 24 hours has passed, the whey should all be drained

Next add about 1-2 teaspoons of salt

Cover and place in the refrigerator

soap.

i spent last night learning how to make homemade goat milk soap with wood ash lye with my sweet friend Bekah. 

the night was filled with learning. 

we used frontierfreedom.com for tips. 

so basically if you don't know much about lye--just be aware it's dangerous & crazy. 

Bekah made her own lye out of apple tree wood ashes (yes that chick is awesome). 

we found out that she didn't make enough so round two of goat milk soap making will happen soon when more lye is made. 

we had so much fun learning & wearing her kitchen towels as bandanas around our faces so we wouldn't breathe in lye fumes. 

i felt like a scientist. 

here is a little explanation about lye:

Wood Ash Lye vs. Commercial Lye

homemade lye is Potassium Hydroxide and can be made rather simply at home from wood ashes--Potassium Hydroxide makes a softer soap, so the fat or oils used will need to be beef tallow (beef fat) or even lard (pig fat).

commercial lye is Sodium Hydroxide, which is much more complex to manufacture, and is often used in drain openers. In order for commercial lye to work properly in soap, it must be pure Sodium Hydroxide, which is becoming difficult to find in grocery stores. 

Making Lye 

 begin with a 5 gallon bucket of rain water. while nature and gravity  work together to provide soft water, grab an old pillow case and fill it with wood ashes.

place the pillow case full of ashes in a separate 5 gallon bucket. 

 boil about a gallon of rainwater. with the pillowcase stretched open to the same size as the bucket, pour the boiling hot rain water into the ashes. boil more rain water and repeat this process until the ashes are completely covered. with the hot water covering the ashes, close the pillow case and lift and lower the pillowcase in and out of the water, like making tea.

this dipping process continues for some time --- about one and a half hours. lift the pillow case out of the bucket, strain it, and pour the water into your pan. 

 cook the contents of the pan, which contain water and lye(Potassium Hydroxide). 
the reason for cooking this mixture instead of going straight to combining it with the fat is to boil the water away so that you could use the lye faster.

occasionally, check the strength of the mixture with a chicken feather. the rule is, the lye is strong enough to make soap when a chicken feather begins to dissolve in the solution.

continue to boil the mixture down to almost nothing. be careful when the level of liquid gets low, as you can scorch the lye.

http://www.frontierfreedom.com/

picture sources:

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Palm Sunday: Peach Jam

Well its peach season and the time to make my favorite jam is finally here! Last year I had the opportunity to work on my professor's farm. We picked blueberries, I bared my soul, got advice, & learned how to make homemade fresh blueberry jam. Ben's grandparents lived next to Reid's Orchard in Owensboro, and every year I get so excited waiting for a fresh batch of peaches! After learning about the joys of jam last year, I decided to give it a go, so when Momma Iva and Poppa called with this year's bushel of fuzzy fruit, we quickly gathered supplies & invited friends (Chels & Morg) over to have a jam session. Its a new year and a new flavor but the experience was much the same & I wanted to share it!

Ben peeling the peaches...so ripe the skin just fell off! YUM.

Mash peaches, add pectin, bring to a boil, add sugar, & stir.

The finished product.

"Geez Mom, hurry up! I need some attention!"-Ryder