A Simple Cheese

This cheese is usually called “farmer’s cheese” and it is a very straightforward and basic cheese for beginners.  It requires only:

1 gallon of milk, any type  ((I use our fresh homegrown goat’s milk, but you can use store-bought milk too, before we got our goats I used to practice cheese-making with store-bought milk :grin:))

1/2 cup of vinegar

Put the milk in a big pot and slowly heat to 180F, stirring occasionally to keep it from burning.

Add the vinegar, slowly, while stirring the milk…you should see the curds begin to separate from the whey.

Turn off the heat and place the lid on the pot and let sit undisturbed for 20 minutes or so.  I usually go do some chore like dishes or fold and put away some laundry and then come back to it.

my “setup”…a colander suspended over a HUGE 13 qt. stainless steel bowl that I bought from a restaurant supply store 7 years ago, an indispensable piece of kitchen equipment… I use it for everything from cheese-making to kneading bread dough and for canning!

Pour into a cheesecloth lined colander (here I am using butter muslin, if you use regular cheesecloth you’ll want to fold it so there is about 4 layers) suspended over a bowl big enough to catch all the whey.  I usually save this whey and use it for bread baking, sometimes I feed it to the chickens.

Allow the cheese to drip for a couple of hours and then use the cheese “as-is”, at this stage it’s like a creamy ricotta.

OR move onto the next step and add about 2-3 tsp. salt to the curds and any flavorings like herbs or veggies (here I added about 3 small finely chopped Zavory Peppers..a heat-less habanero) mix it really well, the salt will continue to draw whey from the curds.

Once the cheese becomes mostly dry, lift up the corners of the cheesecloth and bring them together to wrap the cheese while continuing to squeeze out whey.

You can further press the whey out with an impromptu homemade cheesepress 😉

The final product is “feta cheese like” and perfect for sprinkling on some homegrown salads or homemade pizza!

((FYI: To clean the cheesecloth let soak in a sink of warm water to loosen the stuck on curds then add a bit of dishsoap and gently wash by hand…DO NOT use hot water as it will cause the curd to “bake” onto the cheesecloth making it near impossible to remove.  Rinse underneath running warm water and then squeeze as much of the water out as you can, spread out and hang somewhere to air dry.  It dries very quickly.  Carefully fold and put away for next time.))

Ode to Fall

Fall. My Favorite Time Of Year.
Harvest is still going strong…tomatoes, peppers, okra, snap beans…and, of course all of the lovely Fall Greens…the lettuces, swiss chard, spinach, lacinato kale, mache…delicious Fall Salads with homemade goat cheese, and apples and black walnuts from the woods…
Steaming hot bowls of chili, crockpot roast beef
Homemade Pumpkin Pie and more hot coffee please
with cinnamon and nutmeg and a dash of vanilla.
Oh and Venison! It will be hunting season afterall, soon very soon..

Cooler temperatures mean Bonfires. And Oktoberfest Beer.
Log running. Wood splittin’ and wood stackin’ the trees felled in Spring and allowed to season on spot. That first woodstove fire on a crisp cool morning, and the smell, that ancient primal smell of woodsmoke awakening the most primitive memories locked away in our souls…of simpler ways and simpler times….
And oh the colors! The trees are just now in their opening act, the Maples always go first…they are the showiest afterall, I prefer the bright yellow of the Birch that still clings late in the season after most other trees are done.
The covers and coverings, sweaters and hoodies and jeans and thick socks, taken out of storage, laundered and line dried in that golden yellow autumn sunshine…and then the application of the flannel sheets and the wool blankets and thick quilts, to all the beds. Looking so plump and comfy…
And reading and reading, by oil lamplight in the cricket studded quietude of retired sleeping children, books stacked 2 feet off the table with mug of tea in hand steam swirl condensing on my nose, warming my face.
And the lengthening nights with stars so crystal sharp and bright it takes your breath away..
These and many many more reasons are why I love Fall 🙂

((pictures of The Land taken by ME. Fall 2011))

Independence Meal #3: A Homegrown Breakfast

Before

Independence Meal – A meal in which ALL or most of the ingredients are grown right here on our land.  Homegrown Meal Ingredients are colored GREEN.

First you begin the homefries.  Peel and chop the potatoes, the onions and mince the garlic.  Get out a big skillet (I prefer cast iron) and add about 1/4 inch of fat …lard, bacon grease, beef tallow, rendered chicken fat, refined coconut oil, peanut oil..whatever your fancy.

Let it heat up really hot and then add the potatoes, it is imperative that the oil be REALLY hot just like when deep frying french fries ‘cept you’re pan frying them.  When the potatoes are about 1/3 of the way cooked, add the chopped onion and garlic, don’t add them at the beginning or else they’ll just be little black carbonous bits in your pan by the end.  When the homefries are nice and crispy and cooked through I like to finish them off with salt and pepper and a bit of fresh minced parsley from the garden.

Remove the homefries from the pan and put into a bowl, cover with dishtowel and put in a warm oven while the eggs and gravy are being prepared.  Everybody likes their eggs done differently around here, some like ’em fried and others like scrambled and sometimes who likes what can change from day to day.  So, using the same pan and the leftover grease from frying the potatoes and adding more grease if necessary, I make the milk gravy following this protocol: for every 1 tbsp. of fat I use 1 heaping tbsp. of flour and 1 cup of milk.

Heat the grease up real hot again and add the flour, stir with a wooden spoon until it is nice and smooth, let it “brown” for a couple minutes before adding the milk. Add the milk, we like A LOT of gravy so I use a whole QUART of fresh milk from our goats, and then turn down the heat a bit.  Whisk the gravy real good until it starts to boil and thickens up, then remove from heat to back of stove, season with salt and pepper and apply lid to keep warm.

Cook up the eggs, however your family likes them, and then serve it all up.  This is a real “stick to yer ribs” kind of meal, meant to be eaten after mornin’ chores and followed by the hard day’s work that is inherent to life in the country, not the type of meal I would recommend be followed by sittin’ on ass and watching TV 😀

After

The Weapons Of Our Warfare

this soldier has a shield and a pike, these are not offensive weapons, these weapons are used to guard and defend

“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier” (2Timothy 2:3-4).

Jesus said, “Occupy till I come” (Luke 19:13)

Occupy as a good soldier of Christ.

The Kingdom Of God is AT WAR with The Kingdom Of This World.

When two countries (kingdoms) are at war and one country sends in troops to occupy the other country, do the soldiers participate in the political affairs of the occupied country? Do the soldiers vote in the political elections of the occupied country?

Paul, in 2 Corinthians 5:20, says that we are “Ambassadors For Christ”.

Ambassador: a minister of the highest rank employed by one prince or state, at the court of another, to manage the public concerns of his own prince or state, and representing the power and dignity of his sovereign.

As a rule, an ambassador DOES NOT involve himself in the politics of the country where he has been sent as a representative of his King. He is there to represent his King, his Kingdom, and his King’s Laws in a diplomatic way that is intended to make the citizens of the host country want to JOIN the country that the ambassador represents.

Ok, so lets combine the two…

Soldier…Ambassador….we are Soldier-Ambassadors.

We endure hardness, affliction, pain…we’re willing to go through the toughest trials and fight in the most difficult of terrains and YET we PERSEVERE through it ALL… as a good soldier! Because we wish to please Him who is our Commanding Officer.

BUT, as an ambassador we show forth the PERFECT qualities of our King through patience, gentleness, long suffering, meekness, temperance, LOVE etc. etc. (Fruits of the Spirit…Galatians 5:22-23) in order that we might make those we encounter in this occupied country jealous for our OBVIOUSLY Better Way Of Life. And through this, hopefully, cause them to desire to become citizens of Our Kingdom and serve Our King, whose yoke is easy on them and whose burden is a light thing to carry. A PERFECT King who truly loves His people.

Another secret to our warfare comes directly from the words of Jesus:

“Behold, I send you forth, as sheep among wolves, be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” ~Matthew 10:16

The followers of Christ are as sheep, set out and surrounded on all sides by ravening wolves which only seek to devour them as a tasty meal.  But despite all of this we are NOT to be victims, nor allow ourselves to be used, manipulated or led astray by the powers of this world.  Being a meek sheep does not make you a sitting duck!

We are to be wise as serpents…  How does a serpent act?  He chills in the grass mostly just minding his own business, he usually does not attack unless provoked.  He is very sharp sighted and cunning, usually seeing his enemy and discerning his plan long before his enemy ever even realizes his presence, but if somehow he is caught off-guard he will usually just flee deeper into the brush rather than fight back.  It was this mentality that the founding fathers had in mind when they chose the snake for the flag of their rebellion.

And harmless as doves.  We all know the dove, it is a symbol of The Holy Spirit.  Pure white, meek, gentle, innocent.   Being free from all wicked cunning and craftiness, without malice or wrath.  Not meditating and seeking revenge, but meek and humble, leading inoffensive lives and proceeding in the course to which God has called them.

We are aware of the plans of The Enemy, we know his wiles and his deceptions and like a serpent we slither through the snare before it is set and come through unharmed.  We do not allow ourselves to be used to further someone else’s ungodly agenda, but see through ALL their lies with the sharp-sighted wisdom of the serpent.  The Enemy oftentimes is not even aware of our presence as we sit so still in the grass, near enough to witness of their evil but thoroughly undetected. .. and yet harmless!  So, that if The Enemy did detect he would say “oh that’s just a harmless dove!  don’t mind him, he’s nothing!”…but little does he know…little does he know…hehehe 😉

We have the knowledge that The Enemy posses..we know his plans better than he does!  But because our hearts have been changed by the indwelling of The Holy Spirit we cannot use this knowledge as a weapon of our warfare.  Our simple knowing is powerful enough, as The Light exposes the evil deeds done secretly in darkness.  But it also causes us, if our hearts be right, to further humble ourselves as the innocent and meek dove knowing that those who come against us are most often unwitting victims of The Spirits Of Dishonor who indwell them.  So being hated we do not hate, being lied to we do not lie, being envied we do not boast, we do not rouse up strife but instead, because of the wisdom we are given, seek to LOVE and be of service and to grow further in grace. Seeking the lowly path, the humble road.

“That ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands…that ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.” ~1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

These are the weapons of our warfare 😀

I’m NOT Voting

I have decided to NOT VOTE in this upcoming presidential election, and I keep telling various people this, as it comes up in conversation, and all the reactions I get are quite humorous…

Like my husband’s response “Good, women should have never been given the right to vote anyways!” ..((designed to set off my feminist “righteous indignation” I assume, but I don’t have any *shrugs shoulders* LOL!! )).

Mostly it’s the same ol’ same ol’ “If you don’t vote then we’re gonna get four more years of HELL!” or some variation there-of, and that may be true, but what they aren’t prepared for is what I say next…

I’m just fine with that *big cheesy grin*

So, you’re FINE with death, destruction, etc. etc. ??

I know it won’t be pretty, but I AM prepared to DIE for my Faith…are you??

And then they do that thing, you know, where their mouth is halfway open like a fish or baby bird, caught in mid-sentence..not really knowing how to proceed…

((FYI, fear tactics, the same as sexism tactics, DO NOT work on me…just for the record..))

And that’s just the thing, whether I live or die is not up to me!

“Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it…” ~Luke 17:33

I stand AGAINST The Whole System! I refuse to participate in it as much as I can control, most especially the political system.

Do you not understand?? To vote is to condone.

Condone: to regard or treat (something bad or blameworthy) as acceptable, forgivable, or harmless.

To condone is to be A Friend (after all, you do not condone the works of an enemy, do you??)…to be A FRIEND with the very world that GOD is at enmity with!! DUH! 🙄

“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” ~James 4:4

There are certainly areas over which I have no control, where I must participate in the evil system of this world to a certain extent…like buying gasoline for example (but then again, I guess I could just choose to not drive, and in the future that could be a possibility…who knows??) …BUT, I have this habit of only concerning myself with that which I CAN Control, after all why would God want me to concern myself with things beyond my control??

That is what FAITH is for, I leave that part in His Hands..it is HIS World and he is 100% completely Sovereign over it!

They can pass whatever laws they want, but they mean NOTHING.

The government trying to outlaw God or The Bible or Christianity is like a council of toddlers getting together to pass laws to outlaw parents…so silly…and worthless.

Men Plan and God Laughs.

I refuse to condone evil. Let it flourish, let it come into full bloom that God will be forced to all the more quickly smash it down and we can all be DONE with it! …this is not my home, and if it must come to death I AM prepared to die for My Faith. Are you??

“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”
~Daniel 2:44