Sweet family moments and new recipes :)

We had a wonderful last few weeks and I thought I'd post some highlights.  

First, I just had to share this picture of daddy's weekend crepe making.  The boys all have their special (assigned) spots.  Rex has officially moved down to a chair and Tot took his place.  They boys get SO excited when dad makes crepes!

I didn't even make them pose this way (which sometimes I admit I do!)!  They crowd around the crepes (they were all blowing on it in this picture) and almost every time the crepes don't make it to the table! This picture makes me so happy!

Next, dad started cleaning out our beehives and putting on new frames since we have two hives coming next month.  MMMMM....honey!  The boys ripped out all of the old honeycomb and then they melted it down for some beeswax.  I'm excited because I just found a recipe for a lotion bar I want to make that takes beeswax, shea butter and coconut oil! I'd also like to try lip balm...

It smells so good!

Next came the first crocuses! Now they're all dead outside and covered with snow, but they were nice for one day....spring is coming!

Dad has been doing push ups a lot and little Tot wanted to try ;) Too funny!

Now for the recipes!  My dear friend Nicole taught me to make mozzarella cheese 1 1/2 years ago and I haven't attempted it yet! Then another dear friend Jen just spurred me on with her recent success! So here were are making 30 minute cheese! Yes really - 30 minutes! and they rest of the whey can be made into riccotta!

 Just 2 gallons of milk (I used 2%).

 You add a little citric acid on top, heat to a certain temp, then add dissolved rennet and it starts separating into curds and whey (I never had a clue what Little Miss Muffet was eating until last week!).

 Then we strained it and squeezed out the whey. 

 You have to put it back into the hot whey and stretch and shape out all the lumps a few times..(skinny daddy is demonstrating - he lost 30 lbs in 2 months!)

 mmmmm....I can't wait for the tomatoes and basil to come!!!!

If anyone wants the recipe, let me know! Too much to type if no one wants it ;)

Our sweet temporary roomie Katie helping with our 3rd bath.

A few days later I wanted to try a new one that I've also been putting off - homemade tortillas! I can't find one in the stores without partially hydrogenated oil :(  So....sweet daddy again rolled for 2 1/2 hours!!! I accidentally added too much water so had to double the recipe - won't make that mistake again!

They were truly the yummiest I've ever had! I froze a bunch plain and then made these delicious crock pot refried beans to freeze bean and cheese tortillas!  I so miss refried beans since I don't eat out of a can anymore....(see this article why) and these were SOOOO easy and yummy! Yeah!

And lastly...the smell was heavenly when Dad threw some pineapple in the dehydrator..and it tasted fan-tabulous ;) 

Have a blessed week!

Making vanilla

Tonight I finally made vanilla!  I've been wanting to for months!  Here are my ingredients:

Looks pretty easy, huh?!  A big bottle of vodka - cheap brand is just fine, and some vanilla beans!  I bought my beans at Olive Nation.  I waited for a sale...it was 10% off beans and free shipping.  I paid $7.00 for 7 beans.  I will post if another sale happens.

Cut your beans lengthwise...

and add them to the vodka! 

I have heard that it needs to be in a dark container.  I don't have one, so I wrapped the bottle in two pieces of dark construction paper, put the date on it, and put it on a high shelf up in a dark cupboard. 

They say it takes about 3 months and ...voila!!! Vanilla!!  A little less time for weaker strength, a little longer for stronger strength.

For anyone who wonders why I'm making vanilla, it is because of the additive caramel color.  I'm trying to stay away from that on my ingredient list.  There are two types of caramel color.  One is carcinogenic and one is not (depending on the way it is made).  The problem is, you can never tell which is which from any ingredient list :(  So out with caramel color in the casa de Caggeso.

How to Make Yogurt

I was making my weekly yogurt yesterday and was thinking about all of the people (family and friends) that have expressed interest at learning how to make it.  I am a visual learner.  If I can't watch someone do something, then I need step by step pictures to learn.  I took many pictures throughout the process....so here goes!

This is my starting setup.  You just pour one gallon of milk in a pot, turn it on high and put in your candy thermometer (I got mine at Giant Eagle for $4-$5).  I fill a larger covered pot about 3/4 full of water and start to boil it. 

You boil your milk for only about 5-10 minutes - until it reaches 170 -180 degrees F.  I don't even stir it once. (You may have to depending on your pot) Once it reaches that temp, turn off your heat and let it start cooling.  Making yogurt takes me about an hour and 45 minutes of that is letting the milk cool!!! Very easy.

While it's cooling, I get my ingredients together that I'm going to add.  I add 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup honey, about 2-3 T of vanilla (I'm soon going to make my own and I'll post that when it happens), and your starter.  You can add the first three anytime while cooling.  You must wait until it cools all the way down before you add your starter or the high temp will kill the bacteria.  For a starter, you can just buy any cup of yogurt from the store (I usually buy some organic one if I need one from the store) or just a cup of your previous yogurt (as I have pictured).  If I had nonfat milk I would also add about 1/3 cup of that - it makes a smoother consistency.  Some of my more natural friends don't add anything but the starter and have plain yogurt.  My other Amish neighbors use more sugar and stir in raspberry preserves they have canned and it tastes just like the store yogurt.  You can play with it to match your tastes :)

The milk needs to cool to between 125 - 135 degrees F.  As I said, that usually takes about 45 minutes for me.  Just keep peeking back every so often to check it while you go about doing other things.

Once my big pot of water is at a rolling boil, I take 5 quart jars and put them in the sink.  Then I fill them to half full and put lids on to steralize them a little (though since they've been recently washed, I sometimes skip this step).

Then I pour the rest of the water into a cooler.  My cooler is up high so little fingers don't get in the hot water.  If I make yogurt after everyone is sleeping, then it goes on the floor.

You want the temp of the water in the cooler to be 125-135 degrees F also (same as the milk you're cooling).  It will be much hotter when you put in, so I fill up the big pot with cold water and keep dumping that in little by little until the temp has come down. Then I put the lid on to keep that temp until I ready to put the jars in.

Water in cooler at right temp.

Milk in pot at right temp.

Same thermometer is used, I just swap it from one pot to the other and back!

I stir in my starter and wisk it up very well.  Then I empty my jars of the hot sterilizing water down the sink, and pour my milk in with a funnel (purchased at dollar store).

 The jars of milk at about 130 degrees are put into the cooler of water at about 130 degrees to let the bacteria work.   I've found that if I keep the lids off during this time, it works better.

 The lid is put on and I let it sit for 8 hours.  Then I take them out and put the lids on and put them in the fridge!  All done!  4 1/2 - 5 quarts of yummy homemade yogurt for just a few dollars! We always add strawberries or some other fruit to it and love it! 

* I use raw milk, but the first time I learned, we used store milk and it worked perfectly the same. 

As I said, you can tweak it to your tastes and consistency.  There are other methods besides the cooler method, but this is the one I learned with and it works for me :) 

All of this typing made me hungry for yogurt...mmmm....I'm going to have some!  Goodbye for now and I hope you become homemade yogurt fans in your households!