.... of frozen corn, that is! The kids picked and brought in about 250 ears of sweet corn from our garden. 
We had quite the operation of husking, blanching, cutting and bagging it, so that it was done in about half a day.
Vanilla had a very important role.....
Great work, kids! This was sweetest tasting corn! We had a hard time not eating it, but of course, guess what was for dinner.... :)
Well, the first picking is in, and it sure is a big one!
My plans are to slice some and freeze it for soups and other cooking in the winter, shred some for baking with, and finding willing recipients for the rest.
My mom is coming over tomorrow and we will have a big bake day! We like to make up many loaves of zucchini bread to freeze. The perfect fast food :)
I think I need another freezer....
The kids used the lawn mower and wagon to haul the squash up to the house :)
Oh, how we should relish in the summer days of childhood! Well, it looks as though that's just what the kids did today, as they were helping with the making of pickle relish!
The Fruits of our Labor
I had this great idea! Use an old wood cook stove to do my canning on. 
I love preserving the harvest! All those jars look so pretty. So far I have only been playing, nothing serious yet.
I have tried several new recipes this summer.
I tried both of these last night, and was quite pleased. The Red Root has a very strong flavor.
New for me this year are Bread & Butter Pickles. I have only recently learned to like these, as dill were always my favorite, but I now enjoy these more.
Since I had never made Bread & Butter's before, I decided to try all 3 variations in my preserving book. British Bread & Butter's are my favorite.
Introducing Cinnamon & Sugar, our two doe kids that we are hoping to one day be our milking goats! Cinnamon & Sugar were about 4 weeks old when we got them and they are now about 5 months old. They have the same father, but not the same mother. They have become very friendly, especially Cinnamon, and we love to watch them play! We did have to bottle feed them for several weeks, which was so much fun!
Yes, it really can be done! It takes a long time, and lots of heat, but it can be done. I started with 3 quarts of milk, and ended with about 3/4 of a quart.
Start with finding a method to evaporate your milk. I used a hot water bath canner so that I could use the rack to set canning jars with milk in it. I filled 6 quart jars half full of milk(wide mouth jars work best), filled the canner with enough water to come up about 3/4 on the jars, and turned the heat on high. I found that the more stirring I did, the faster the evaporation would happen.
When the jars were only a 1/3 full, I then poured the milk into an electric skillet, figuring that this was a more efficient way to heat the milk, and it gave it a more open surface. Maybe next time I would just start this way.
Once it became like a runny pudding, I then transferred the milk to cookie sheets, and placed them in the oven at 200°F. Watch these carefully, as one of the sheets burned on me, and I lost all that milk! Once it became a very thick substance, I transferred this to the fruit leather tray of my dehydrator. After many hours, I turned the substance to help it dry on the other side. When it became hard, I put it in my Vita-Mix and gave it a good whirl. This was a bit chunky and still too moist, so I put this back on the tray in the dehydrator, and then after many more hours, I put it through the Vita-Mix again.
Voila! Powdered Goat's Milk!
I store this in a jar in my refrigerator.
I have found several ways of making yogurt. The first time I tried making it, it flopped. The next time was a success!
Here is the success recipe:
2 qts. goat milk
2/3 c. dried goat milk
1/2 c. plain yogurt (from the store)
2 T. honey, optional
In a large saucepan, mix milk, dry milk, and honey. Heat to 200°F and hold there for 10 minutes. Make sure you use a thermometer for this.
After 10 minutes, remove from heat and place saucepan in a bowl of cold ice water. When the milk reaches 125°F, remove pan from cold water bath.
Remove 1 cup of warm milk and mix well with yogurt. Stir back into milk mixture.
Pour mixture into warm, sterile containers to incubate. There are many methods to incubate your yogurt. I use my food dehydrator. You can also use a thermos wrapped in a towel, or any container wrapped in a towel near a wood stove, or a commercially made yogurt incubator. The key is to keep the yogurt at about 110°-115°F.
Enjoy your delicious homemade yogurt!
With Ruth, the goat, came a book on raising dairy goats. This has been a wonderful resource, as we know nothing! Well, in this book there are several recipes for what to do with all this milk. The only one that I had all the ingredients for was one called, "Vinegar Cheese". I have now learned that this is a "fresh" cheese. It is a white cheese, and pretty much very bland to the taste. It certainly does not taste bad, it just doesn't have much taste. You can use it just as it is in several ways, like salads or in scrambled eggs or fajitas. I have found that I like to mix it with herbs, especially garlic, and green chilies or jalapenos. I then will press it for about 24 hours, which will make a wonderful cheese to add to your sandwich or on crackers.
To make this cheese:
With a double-boiler, heat 2 quarts of milk to 185°F.
Slowly, add 1/4 cup of vinegar, turn off heat, and allow to separate into curds and whey.
Skim off curds into a colander lined with cheesecloth. Tie corners of cheesecloth and hang, I use the knob on my cupboard door, and allow to drip for a couple of hours.
At this point, if you desire to add ingredients, turn cheese out from the cloth into a mixing bowl, and add desired ingredients. Mix well.
Or, you can put the cheese into a container as it is to use as a crumbled cheese.
I like to press mine. I made a mold by constructing a box out of pine wood that measures about 8" x 3 1/2" x 2". I only made 4 sides with an empty bottom so that the extra liquid can come out the bottom. You will want a "follower" made out of a thick piece of wood that will press down on the cheese. I use a large C-clamp as my press.
I have made this cheese 3 times now, and with great success. This was definitely a very good first cheese to make. I have now ordered the different cultures that are needed to make other cheeses, and I am looking forward to experimenting more!
Tonight I enjoyed one of the Most satisfying desserts! A warm brownie and the freshest of fresh goat milk. This is the first full glass of goat's milk that I have drank. I had a small sip to try it, and I have had it on my cereal a few times. It was so absolutely delicious! Very rich and sweet. It is also very high in fat, which is why I am trying not to have too much of it.
Tonight, I also bought a cream separator off of ebay. I am very excited about getting this. Now I will be able to have a low-fat yummy, good-for-you milk to drink, not to mention all the other low-fat dairy products I will be able to make now.
Oh how I love chocolate, but now I don't think I will ever enjoy it quite as much without that rich glass of fresh milk!
Our daily life has been completely changed with our new addition of Ruthie. Ruthie is a dairy goat that has been loaned to us for indefinite amount of time. She is on loan to us so that we might see if we really like the idea of having a goat. This is certainly a blessing!
At this point my knee is still not stable enough to hold me in such a position that I would be able to milk Ruthie, so Jeremy has done the honors of learning how to milk, and now milking her twice a day.
She is giving us 2 and sometimes almost 2 1/2 quarts of milk a day. That is a lot of milk for a family that has not drank milk for 2 years! We are enjoying it very much on our cereal in the morning, and the children find it to be the most delicious treat to drink from a glass.
We are pasteurizing it at this point, because we don't really understand the debate on raw milk. It is also possible that this goat has cae, because of some symptoms. So, we are staying on the safe side, but sad that we are missing out on the good bacteria of raw milk.
Tomorrow, I am hoping to get into town to purchase some cheese making supplies. I am going to start with a hard cheese, because I don't think we would eat any of the softer cheeses, although they look easier to do. I am also hoping to make many beauty supplies with the milk, such as soaps and bath salts.
I love seeing Jeremy getting ready to go out and milk Ruthie, and then coming in with the milk. He loves this! I do believe that we have found the next addition to our farm. Goats!!
