Adventures in Yogurt Making

I found this great recipe/how-to on how to make your own yogurt without a yogurt maker, So I wanted to share with everyone. This Yogurt came out so smooth and creamy and the best part is I know where it came from. I promise that you will never buy Store Yogurt again!

You will need

A cooler
Candy thermometer
Jelly jars(or any kind of jars with lids)
Dry Milk
Organic whole milk
container of Stoneyfield PLAIN yogurt
towels or old sweat shirts and sweat pants

Now you will need to boil off a pot of water and fill your cooler, this will keep the cooler well insulated with warmth when you are ready for your incubation.

You will have to sterilize your jars and your lids, by boiling them in a pot of water, completely submerged and bring to a rolling boil and allow to boil for 10 min.

Next you want to mix a gallon of your milk with a 1/3 cup of dry milk(the dry milk is a thickener, so you get that custard like consistency ) in a deep pot and heat to 165 degrees,stirring frequently so the milk does not scald. You can now add in some honey or sugar to sweeten your yogurt( I used raw Vermont Honey, A gift from my Mother In law last year)

allow to cool to 110 degrees, I took it right off the heat and let sit on the counter and periodically checked it, after it has completely cooled you add 2-3 large tablespoons of the stoneyfield Yogurt. whisk well so the yogurt mixes thoroughly in with the milk.

Fill your jars and put the lids on tight, fill a few more jars with the boiling water(these will go in the cooler to give a even temperature for the cultures to grow and the milk to turn into yogurt.

Dump the hot water out of the cooler when you are ready and wrap your yogurt and boiling water jars with your towels to better insulate, place in the cooler and DON'T PEAK! you don't want to lose heat or your yogurt won't ferment. Leave in the cooler for 8-10 hours and then refrigerate and serve cold.

Save 2-3 tablespoons of your new homemade yogurt so you can keep making more! Also, if you want a more tangy yogurt to substitute as sour cream in a number of recipes than don't sweeten, people say the unsweetened yogurt has a similar taste as sour cream.

I fed my chickens the homemade yogurt this morning and they went crazy over it!
Happy Yogurt Making!!

The Journey for the Perfect Journal

Until I was 20 I always wrote in a Journal, It was my therapy. But as new crafts and hobbies and just plain life took over,my journal writing took a back seat.. I recently replaced this art with blogging..but there is nothing like writing in a journal, I don't have the luxury of a laptop so I'm not mobile with my blogging My book of life that I write can go anywhere with me, I could write on the beach, in my backyard, in some magical secret garden (okay..maybe not a MAGICAL one..but you get the drift)Anyhow, I miss this, I miss keeping my own private scrapbook..a best friend who's sole purpose in life is to listen when ever you need to vent or share, no matter how long you neglect, the journal is always ready to hear about your journeys.

So...I went searching for the "perfect" journal yesterday, I went to a few different stores and couldn't find anything that was "ME" and anything I liked was going to cost me an arm and a leg. This treasure hunt for a journal was looking stale and I was feeling discouraged, in the middle of my "woe is me, i can't find a diary" pity party I decided to buy a cheap $4.00 bright, ugly metallic journal and make it "ME"

I went home and tea stained some fabric and lace, I had some old handkerchiefs i had bought at Good Will earlier on in the week and tea stained one of those and hand embroidered the title of my journal, with a few other alterations I made something perfect for me, I'm not quite done but here she is

Running like a Turkey with It's Head cut off

The Holidays creep right on you when you're not paying attention, for so many weeks now I was suppose to start on my gift giving projects,clean out the back rooms,organize the garage and refurbish the beautiful china hutch my mother brought me, to go with the beautiful old vintage china that belonged to my late father's Aunt Lill. With Thanksgiving only now a few days away it looks as if those things will have to wait(as if procrastination wasn't my middle name..lol)I know, excuses, excuses!!

One of my friends posted on his facebook that he loves his Christmas tree and immediately after you see comments from people who think it's "too early" but what is it too early for?? is it too early to feel that warm Holiday spirit and everything that comes along with it? my motto for this type of baahh humbug talk is simple,Embrace it for it is coming whether we like it or are ready for it, These Holidays come once a year and before you know it they are over again, if you don't take it in with open arms it will just make your life miserable.I will choose to embrace, Thank you very much!

Today I will embrace every moment of the baking, cleaning and romping in the woods behind my house for fresh cut greens! We can't get back to Cape Cod to spend Thanksgiving with our family because hubby's job is so demanding(he has to be up at 3:30 am the next day to run a restaurant and prepare catering orders..uugggh) But we have a family of great friends that we will be spending Thanksgiving with. My close friends Marissa and Bob(who will be getting married 2 days after Thanksgiving and having a baby shortly after that) and also our close friend Brian. Great friends, great food, a warm house and many people that love me(or at least i like to think so) I feel like the luckiest girl,I am truly Thankful for all of these things, even the days when I'm running like a turkey with it's head cut off!!

MJF recipe swap

I received my recipes from Kelly in Montana, one of my farmgirl sisters from MJF a few weeks ago, the theme was Holiday recipes. It's intresting to see what other families traditional dishes are from around the country. I got a scalloped oyster and corn recipe, it was like Kelly knew exactly what i loved! Oysters are one of my absolute favorite foods and any member of my family can tell you that every Christmas Eve everyone has to hoard their share of smoked oysters before I find them..lol

I also got recipes for Christmas Strata and Cookie dough truffles!!! doesn't that sound so Christmasy?? Hubby and I are always looking for new recipes to add to our Holiday feast so this swap was perfect! As an added bonus Kelly knited me a beautiful Holiday dish rag(which i have already used and washed several times already! Thank you so much Kelly, I can't wait to make these recipes and will think of you everytime I make them!!

My lady became a Woman today

I haven't blogged in a while now and i apologize to my followers :( But i have some happy news and i thought I'd share :) One of my chicken ladies became a woman today!! She layed her very first egg and i couldn't be a happier Mother Hen right now :) Holiday baking will definatly have a new twist this year and for the years to come. I honestly wasn't even expecting anything when i checked and i was beginning to think they were going to be late layers. what a wonderful surprise and right before the Holidays too!!

Series of life's little moments

Lately I've been experiencing life's little moments, the one's that give you this natural high on life, the kind of moments where you stop and live in the moment. It's these live in the moment type feelings that always stay in you memory and when and if dark times come you can relive these little moments and you'll realize that maybe they're not so "little"
The type of joys I get over the smallest things may seem mundane to some but to me it's all the small joys over time that add up to a grain tower full of happiness, bottled away and ready for you to open and take a peak, relive things like, taking an evening walk and watching the moon creep over the tree line and the light breeze on your face and the smell of fresh cut grass, enjoying your neighbors hard landscaping work )cause let's face it, i just don't landscape for me but i also do it for my neighbors and passer byers to enjoy as well.) ,The deer and her young grazing in your yard in mid day and watching the lively mother stomp her feet at you trying to protect her young(even though i was just taking pictures), watching my garden grow and picking the blueberries from MY blueberry bush, eating the fresh veggies from the earth , the seeds i sowed and the plants i cared for also watching my chickens grow into pretty little ladies and watch their personalities bloom and shine before me, going on a small road trip and finding the most beautiful farm land and realizing it's only 8 miles from your home. These are some of my little moments i live in, i roll around in them and get them all over me like a mud bath but unlike a mud bath these little "mundane" things can't be washed off. I urge everyone to roll around in life's greatest pleasure...living in the moment.

You're turning violet, Violet

I went out to the garden yesterday and picked some fresh blueberries and of course I had to stop myself cause i found that I eating more then i was dropping in the basket, I could picture myself turning into a blueberry like the girl from Willy Wonka. This is our first harvest of blueberries and i got one pint from all that i had harvested (went to the sotre for a few things later that night and saw that my local gorcery store was selling pints of blueberries for $3.29) i made a wonderful blueberry sour cream coffee cake and it was so delicious and moist i had to share my recipe. so here it is

Blueberry sour cream coffee cake
2 cups flour
1 tsspoon baking soda
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped nuts
1 tspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 tspoon vanilla
3 eggs
8 ounces sour cream
2 cups blueberries

Stir together flour,soda and 1/2 tspoon salt, set aside. combine brown sugar,nuts and cinnamon; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter on med. speed for 30 sec. Add sugar and vanilla, beat until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth. By hand, fold in blueberries.

Spread half of batter in a greased 13 by 9 by 2 inch baking pan. sprinkle half of brown sugar mixture evenly over batter. dollop remaining batter on top; spread the rest of brown sugar on top. bake for 40-50 min on 350

NOTE: MY OVEN RUNS A BIT HOT SO I BAKED MINE ON 325 FOR 40 MIN AND IT CAME OUT PERFECT

A woman's dream to be a mother

Well here goes another lengthy

process to fulfill my dream and be a mother and to watch my husband be the Father he so desperately wants to be, Adoption. I set up a meeting with the lady from foster care but she did a no-show(just my luck, all odds against me) we rescheduled and she gave me the number of a woman that is in charge of licensing..but, she has been pretty hard to get a hold of. Why is it so easy for some people and so hard for others, why is it the people who want and deserve children can't? WHY?!! It's something I'll never understand. I was born with a congenital birth defect called Unicornuate Uterus, it's where the mullarian ducts nev er fused or one completely dissolved and left me with half my reproductive organs. It feels shameful and humiliating, I know I shouldn't feel that way..I know that, but..I do and it's not something I can help, I also feel like I've burdened my marraige with this, I can't give my husband the family we want and while he says he's not disapointed in me..I am.
If the lord is good and all goes well we can have a little baby or toddler to adopt. We will foster babies from newborn to 3 yrs of age and if they don't get placed back with the family we will be able to adopt. I can't even begin to imagine what It would feel like to hold a baby and know that he/she is MY baby and I'm their Mom and Scott is their Dad. I want this so bad I can taste it. It hurts, all I want is for us to be complete.

Heart Gallery

Source: www.afamilyforme.org

Secrets of a Farmer

The weather has been consistantly nice for at least a week now so I decided to go outside and assess the garden and nurse her back to tip top harvesting shape, I turned on the sprinkler and squished my toes in the mud, to me there is no better feeling then the earth dancing between my toes, the same earth that is keeping my garden alive, to me this is pure magic. I weeded and moved my cucumbers to a better area of the garden hoping they'll do a bit better(keep your fingers crossed for me) I fertilized and babied my garden bed and pray that the rain hasn't perminatly stunted the gowth. I pulled out the old man's plow and feel honored everytime I put that old piece of hand held machinary to proper use. The old man that owned the house before us passed away and his family left all his old toold and gardening secrets in the shed behind our house. He seems to have been well known in our town and everytime we mention what house we live in someone will say "you live in the house with the great big vegatable garden, that old man had the magic touch" It's the secrets of that old farmer that help me motivate to keep his memory and his hard work alive, I never knew him or met him but boy wouldn't it have been great to hear his stories of the land we now occupy and let him know were so grateful for his tool shed secrets.

My garden walk way that Mother planted with my husband when she visited is doing great(I call it the Wilkerson walk way, my mother's maiden name) The purple Celmitis is beautiful and the seedums are hardy and full, I look forward to her next visit. She's never stingy about her green thumb tips and secrets, she enjoys sharing her wealth of knowlege and you can tell it on her face and hear it in her voice when she let's you in on something you didn't know.



I turned up the soil for the chickens and they went crazy over it, pecking and scratching, feasting on all the new bugs that were hiding in the clay like soil they have in their run. I notice they don't like heat so they tend to hide out in their coop until the evening comes, but they didn't seem to care much today, they were kids on a playground rolling in that dirt. I enjoy every moment with those chicken ladies. I also figured out who the boss is in the pecking order, we named her Boss Lady, she walks a bit taller than the rest of the girls and puffs up her chest as she tells them what to do, the obvious leader of the clique.

Living Simply

Well the day is beautiful, not a cloud in the sky and I'm escaping into the cyber world instead of mowing, sewing aprons, baking fresh bread , cleaning house and doing laundry. I need some down time, My birthday week was full of excitment. My husband's family came for their yearly visit and his sister and her family decided to join in on the vacation this year. It was relaxing but a bit hectic at the same time, it was a half hour drive to the camp and back everyday right after my husband got out of work..but it was well worth it. But I can't help but feel a bit tired after all the fun. It will be nice for Scott to have a day off tomorrow so we can relax and lally gag around the yard. My father in law installed our new toilet(that we needed desperatly) The old one was so ugly, old and worn from years and years of old butts and poor cleaning habits. It amazes me how exciting it was for both of us to get a new toilet in our first home, It's true what they say about the simple things in life that bring a person pleasure. My wonderful father in law also built my chicken coop for my "chicken ladies" It was bitter sweet to see them off into the big backyard world, I was elated to have my dining room back and to not have my house smell like a big piece of chicken poop but at the same time I miss those little peeps and the humor of watching my pekingese turn into a peeping tom and watch their every move, he took every chance he got to catch a glimpse of them in the brooder, it drove him crazy not to be formally introduced to the ladies and he would scratch and make grunting noises at them as if he was begging that they come out and play. I am a bonafied chicken fanatic, even before I got my chicken ladies I collected porcelain chickens and roosters, I called the Main bird fanciers club the other day and talked to a wonderful woman Linda Blackman about showing my ladies at the fairs and Maine poultry shows, She was just a peach, she offered me her email address and told me if i had any



questions about chickens to not hesitate to email her and she graciously welcomed me to the great world of poultry. I'm ready to go in head first with these chickens, learn everything I need to know and to make the most of it. If you can't tell I'm working hard on my farmgirl status and must say so myself that I'm doing quite well and to add to my farmgirl status My mother in law brought my husband and I her old pressure cooker she used on the farm that my husband grew up on, To him this is gold to be able to can with the cooker his mother used, oh the stories that pressure cooker could tell. It came from her farm to mine and it was an honor to accept such a great piece of my husband's family history. She showed me how to use it and I can't wait to get some crops to can, I made my first farmgirl apron as well and I'm hooked on this lifestyle all i need now is a sewing machine, I guess we know what everyone will be getting for the holidays...