Go Nuts for Doughnuts!

So Mark made the comment the other day that he was hungry for some good doughnuts.  So, why not, I made some and they were absolutely delicious.  The three of us ate so many that we were almost sick and could hardly eat dinner.  I will definitely be making these again.

The House Construction Has Begun

Yes, the house construction has finally begun. Mark has put a lot of work into the foundation prior to today.  A lot of blood and sweat have gone into that foundation.  No tears though, he is to cool for that.   We have been waiting on the joists to arrive for a while now and today, they finally arrived.   Mark and Andrew have already been hard at work.  Building a house yourself is a slow process but, if I know my husband it will go fairly quickly, he is not one to let things sit around.

Have I made it out of the kitchen in the last few days?

Have I made it out of the kitchen in the last few days?  Nope, I don't think so, or at least that is how I feel.  Of course I have been out to milk Brown Cow and to clean Ryan's room and clean the playroom but, other than that it has been kitchen duty for me.  I'm not complaining because I do love cooking.  I have made some wonderful Chicken and Barley soup with cornbread.  I have made 2 lbs of butter,  cottage cheese and yogurt.  Today I am making Split Pea Soup, Homemade Bread and Homemade Vanilla  Ice Cream.

Who knew you could make Ice Cream without and Ice Cream Maker?  I didn't.  But, you can.  Just use a regular Ice Cream Recipe mix it up and put it in the freezer.  In 45 min., stir it up.  Then, stir it every 30 min after that till it is the consistency you want.  One problem I found is that it takes all freaking DAY!  Yup all day, I started it at 10:00am and at 5:00, I am still stirring it every 30 min.  I hope it's done soon.

Today was my first shot ever at homemade yeast bread.  I found a recipe called Egg Bread.  I didn't need loaf pans I just had to braid the dough on the baking sheet.  It tastes wonderful if I do say so myself.

Before

After

When Ryan came downstairs, he touched it to see if it was real.  He was pretty impressed. 

Tomorrow is a new day and I hope to spend more of it outside!  It maybe leftovers for dinner tomorrow, if there are any.

OMG, where do I start!

Ok, so I really have to pick a day and blog on that day.  I have so much to update on and I don't know where to start!  I think I am going to have to write for several days in a row to catch up.

So, we got a Dairy Cow on November 28th!  We went and looked at her on the 21st at Perk Organic Dairy in Lewisburg. We also went to a Smooth Ambler Spirits.  I will talk about that in a bit!  We started hand milking her that evening, it took 2 hrs!  Yes, 2 hrs!  She has to be milked 2 times a day which will be about 6a and 6p.  We got up the next morning early, we were so tired and it was really cold.  On our way to the barn Mark said, "Who's idea was it to get a diary cow?"  FYI it was his!  Anyway that am milking took 1 hour and 45 minutes.....we are making progress.  That evening the milking to 1 hour and 30 min.  A milking machine was ordered promptly when we got back inside!  The machine came within 4 days and I have to say was the best invention in the whole wide world.  The actual milking process takes about 10 minutes. The cleaning process about 30.  She is a really great cow but we couldn't agree on a name so we just call her Brown Cow.

Just looking at the picture makes my hands hurt!

Mark and Ryan giving a thumbs up to the new machine!

We are currently getting about 2 to 2 1/2 gallons a milking.  All  the excess goes to the pigs.  I have also been making plenty of butter, cheese, yogurt and whipped cream.  Our morning coffee has never tasted so good, the fresh cream makes it amazing.

We won!

I am to happy to announce that Mark and I both got a picture in the 2012 Homesteadingtoday.com calendar!  My picture which is a landscape of our farm made the cover.  Mark's picture which is a beautiful picture of our pigs and chickens eating with the sun's rays coming down will be the pic for May!  We are so excited.

It was Spots time.

So, yesterday was our first pig slaughter!  Yup, we did it. We slaughtered Spots one of our GOS boars.  I have to admit I was extremely nervous but, I was trying to be as calm, cool and collected as possible.  Mark was to shoot then stab.  I was to castrate, which had to be done quickly, we then hung it and skinned it.  Some great friends of ours came to help which was great because we needed it.  That was a 200lb + pig!  Everything went great with no problems.  Mark took the carcass to the butcher this am.  The butcher is actually Shady Springs High School.  They have a Vocational Agriculture program that teaches butchering of Pigs, Cows, and Deer. They also cure and vacuum pack!  This was a learning experience for the whole family. I guess I'm learning this farming stuff!