Pam's Perusal

The last several days have been so busy and full…I am always thinking about writing to let all of you know what we are up to, but I never can find the time! That’s good, though, because it means that we’re being productive!
I did get the lemon ice cream made…and it was very tasty. But, even Brian (who DETESTS sour things,) said that it could use twice as much lemon juice! We just didn’t get the full lemon punch that we had expected. Oh well, we’ll just have to eat lemon ice cream again soon!
We also got more garden stuff in, and we drove over two hours east to get some new pigs! I have a thing about raising Tamworths (they’re a heritage breed from England,) and they are not widely available. In addition to getting two “feeder pigs,” we went ahead and bought a male and two females to start our own Tamworth breeding program!
This week has been just as busy. Yesterday, we had an “errand day.” We spent all day roaming all over the countryside and got some important errands taken care of; that is always exhausting for all of us! This morning, while the rest of the family moved all the animals to fresh paddocks, I got two batches of sour cream making and started some cream cheese. Then, I cooked up a new recipe for chocolate pudding, which we enjoyed later with lots of fresh whipped cream (of course!) While it rained all afternoon, we played Scrabble and Phase 10!
I put supper together and, then while Kayla milked, I made some brownies to eat with yet more ice cream (vanilla this time!) Kayla says to let you know that we have ordered a new ice cream maker. (Our old one is dying from sheer exhaustion! I don’t think it’s a commercial model; it simply can’t keep up with our ice cream habit!) The new freezer will have a hand crank AND an electric motor (just in case!) You can expect to hear about those adventures soon!

Well, one set of grandparents (Brian’s dad and step-mom) came to visit this week. That was the first of our family to see our new home in Kentucky. We had a wonderful visit; the dreary weather just made the coffee and conversation that much more cozy! As usual, Kayla outdid herself preparing food for our company, but I’ll let her tell you more about that…we are always “stealing” each other’s news!
Speaking of food (!,) I made two gallons of yogurt this past week. It turned out SO good. It is very thick and yummy, and is one of those foods that make me happy…well, OK, lots of foods make me happy! But, I am always glad to produce a really good-tasting food that is really healthy. The probiotics in yogurt are supposed to be so good for you, and my yogurt has all the added benefits of the RAW milk because I don’t heat the milk above 110 degrees. Of course, we have the assurance of knowing exactly what the cow ate and how she lives…does it get any better?
While I’m on dairy…we have so been enjoying all the wonderful foods that we have because of our milk cow! We have recently weaned Minnie’s 6-month-old calf, so we are getting about four gallons of milk a day! What that means (besides lots of milk) is plenty of butter and cream; cheese and whipped cream; yogurt, pudding, and ice cream! All this is, of course, in addition to the milk that I use for soapmaking. The family milk cow is an incredible part of God’s creation for which we all should be truly thankful!
That’s all the time I have for now…but I’ll leave you with the idea of LEMON ice cream. That’s what I want to make next…I’m not really into citrus, but that sounds like it will be so good (like lemonade on a hot afternoon!) I’ll let you know!