Devonviolet Acres

[Devonviolet]

They are pretty and obviously nimble of foot.

Yes! They amaze us with how nimble they are! We have a 4-1/2 foot pile of BIG logs, that we eventually want to put through the saw mill. The other day, they were on the driveway, and when I called them back to the pasture, they ran, full speed ahead, UP AND OVER in a flash! It happened so quickly I couldn't get my camera aimed fast enough to get the shot!!!

 

[CntryBoy777]

They certainly are Precious!!....glad ya got the egg thief, just sorry it had to be a kingsnake....good work by the dogs, too.

 

[Devonviolet]

@Mini Horses, I just found the following Raw Milk Mascarpone recipe, which is only heated to 86 F, whereas most recipes require 180 F. Given our discussion about cheeses that require heating milk to high temps, I thought you might be glad to have an easy, low temp recipe.
**********
Raw Milk Mascarpone
Soft, Probiotic Cheese

What's the best part of making your own soft cheese from raw milk? Raw milk contains probiotics of course! Raw milk left to sit out and get warm means those probiotics are proliferating. This raw milk mascarpone is teeming with living flora. It's an indulgent, tasty health food that you can enjoy in both sweet and savory dishes!

Raw milk left to sit out and get warm means those probiotics are proliferating. This raw milk mascarpone is teeming with living flora. It's an indulgent, tasty health food that you can enjoy in both sweet and savory dishes!

What Is Mascarpone?
Mascarpone is a soft cheese — fluffier than creme fraiche, milder than chevre, richer and less tart than cream cheese.

It hails from Lombardy, Italy, and is often used in desserts like tiramisu.

Citrus vs. Rennet In Mascarpone
While mascarpone is commonly made with fruit-derived lemon juice, citric acid, or cream of tartar, I wanted to use rennet for a fruit-free approach.

Most of the soft cheese available today is going in the opposite direction, however, with vegetarian, rennet-free instructions. It almost impossible to find a rennet-based, soft cheese recipe!

What's the difference between using acids or rennet?

With the three common acids I mentioned above (lemon juice, cream of tartar, and citric acid), the acid is added directly to the milk to coagulate the milk proteins.

With rennet, the enzyme converts the lactose in milk into lactic acid, which in turn coagulates the milk proteins.

In both of these methods, the proteins clump into curds, and the liquid separates off as whey.

Mascarpone curdled with rennet yields a cheese similar to a sweet cheese custard.

If you've never made cheese before, this recipe is an excellent place to start.
*****
Raw Milk Mascarpone Cheese

Equipment
a 2-quart pot
a large colander
a bowl or bucket to fit under the colander
double-layer fine cheesecloth
Thermometer that measures as low as 86 degrees Fahrenheit
***
Ingredients
2 cups raw cream
2 cups raw milk
1/8 non-GMO, organic vegetable rennet tablet
2 tablespoons water

Makes approximately 2-1/2 cups mascarpone cheese.

Directions

First, make sure your hands, countertops, and all of your tools are very clean and free of chlorine.

In a saucepan, slowly heat raw cream and raw milk to 86 degrees Fahrenheit, stirring slowly. Once milk reaches this temperature, turn off the heat.

Crush 1/8 rennet tablet into a powder and dissolve into water. Add rennet water to the warmed milk and cream. Slowly stir — mimic a Ferris wheel when you stir: up and over in circles — for 20 seconds, until well mixed. Then counter-stir for 5 seconds. Cover the pot with a large tea towel and set aside at room temperature for 10 to 12 hours, or overnight. Do not disturb the pot.

After 10 to 12 hours, there may be a pooling of whey on the surface and an overall thickening of the milk. This is a very soft curd that has formed. On the other hand, your cheese may have very little visible whey and scoop like yogurt. It all depends!

Now, rinse the cheesecloth in hot water and wring out. Line a colander with a double thickness of cheesecloth, and nest the colander into a bowl or bucket. Ladle the thickened cream into the prepared colander. Cover loosely with a large tea towel or large corners of cheesecloth. Place this in a cool location or refrigerator. (I leave mine out when we go to sleep, as our home cools off considerably overnight.) Allow the cheese to drain 2 to 12 hours, until desired thickness is achieved. (Reserve leftover whey for the base of a smoothie, or use in place of milk in your favorite pancake recipe.)

Transfer to a glass storage container and refrigerate. Consume within 1 week.

Uses For Mascarpone
The first time I made mascarpone, I drizzled a bit of maple syrup over it and ate it in a bowl with a spoon. It was incredible, yet very rich.

You may want to top yours with berries or create an authentic tiramisu.

Mascarpone is equally lovely in savory dishes — as a layer in lasagna, served on an antipasto platter with olives and sprouted nuts, or anywhere you'd use chevre, ricotta, or cream cheese.

 

[Bruce]

There is white cheddar.

I know, Vermont cheddar is white, the nasty colored stuff is Wisconsin cheddar.

It DOES get easier! [ Although I must add that my sweet DH jumps in with all four and washes, dries and puts it away.]

I think that is cheating.

and start it on medium speed, so it doesn't splash all over.

Because the splash guard is nearly worthless. Given how long KitchenAid mixers have been made and how cheap they are NOT, you would THINK they would have a good splash guard.

I bet the chickens would like the whey.

Maybe this guy has been gorging himself on our eggs. He did have several large bulges along his length.

Should have cut it open and recovered the eggs.

 

[Baymule]

Good girl Hope! She is eating poison oak/ivy!

We had a lot of rat snakes around here, but haven't seen one in a while.

 

[Devonviolet]

Good girl Hope! She is eating poison oak/ivy!

Actually, what she was eating is called Virginia Creeper. I got this pic online.

It is not something that Falina seems to care for. I have watched her go up to it, sniff and move on. There is Poison Ivy near by. She will sniff and tear into it with gusto! I encourage it, as drinking goat milk, after a goat has eaten Poison Ivy or Oak, is supposed to minimize rashes.

From what I have read, while Virginia Creeper is not Poison Ivy, it can still cause a rash, due to high oxalates, which irritate the skin. While moderate amounts don't seem to bother goats, they don't seem to like it, and I'm sure it won't take Hope too long to figure out is isn't something she wants to eat.

I took a close look at your snake photo. Your snake has different patterning than ours did. That's a good size snake! Is it the one Paris tore to bits and then "killed" each section? GOOD GIRL, Paris!!!

 

[Mike CHS]

Virginia Creeper gives me a rash as bad as Poison Ivy and my sheep do not like it.

 

[CntryBoy777]

That stuff is everywhere here and poison ivy is always a companion to it....the goats don't really eat on it until in the Fall, just before it starts to change colors....then they eat all they can reach....there are some plants they only eat at certain times and certain stages of growth. They will do sumac the same way and don't eat golden rod until it is blooming....

 

[Devonviolet]

Virginia Creeper gives me a rash as bad as Poison Ivy and my sheep do not like it.

I've seen Virgina Creeper over the years, but I think we have more of it here, than any place else I have lived. I guess I have been blessed to have never had contact with it, as I don't recall ever getting a rash from it. I have gotten poison ivy, but never very bad. I've been told if you drink milk, from goats that ate poison ivy, you won't get a rash, or at least not as bad. So, I always try to drink milk from the next milking after Falina ate some poison ivy.

I've also been told that some people can taste an "off taste" in that milk. I tried it out, and sure 'nuff, it tastes "off" to me. So, I put about a teaspoon of molasses (YUM!) in that milk and all is good!

I think you are right, @CntryBoy777, about Virginia creeper and poison ivy being companion plants, as around here they are always growing together.

Falina must not be letting the girls nurse much, during the day and at night, because they are always hungry at milking time. So we let them into the barn and they jump up on the milk stand to get a meal. It doesn't take them long (as in about 3 minutes) to pretty much empty her out, except for a couple cups. This morning, I got a shot of them enjoying their breakfast.

 

[Mike CHS]

The first time I used the weed eater at this place was when everything had two years (or more) growth and I was working with shorts on. I didn't know at the time what the Creeper was nor that it was caustic but the next morning I had a rash starting from mid thigh down to my ankles. It took everything I had to keep from scratching my skin off.