Got Milk?

I've got lots of it!  One and a half quarts of yogurt, half a quart of whey, a quart of buttermilk, a half gallon of cream, almost 4 gallons of milk and some fresh butter in the fridge!  And we are making all kinds of dairy products!  I skim the milk after it sits in the fridge for a day.  This morning from 2 1/2 gallons of milk I got half a gallon of cream.  I will let the cream sit out for 24 hours to culture and then will make butter and buttermilk with it tomorrow morning.   I make yogurt in the crockpot and then drain the yogurt in a coffee filter lined colander which gives me a bowlful of whey and  a much thicker, creamier yogurt.

So, what are we doing with all these dairy products?  The yogurt pictured here is now being further strained to make yogurt cheese which is similar to cream cheese.  The whey is being saved for my neighbor/friend's chickens.  I used a quart of buttermilk to make pancakes this morning and they were terrific!  The 1/2 gallon of cream will make about a pound of butter and a quart of buttermilk. We also love buttermilk biscuits, pies, pound cake and a chocolate sheet cake with icing also made from buttermilk.

 I am now soaking my fresh ground wheat in milk before using it to make my bread products.  I have dough rising right now that soaked all night.  It looks terrific.  We are also going to try to make mozzarella cheese on Friday and maybe try another cheese or two in the near future.  I am also doing some research into canning milk and butter.  We'll see!  It sure is a blessing!  Do you have fresh milk?  What do you do with it?

Jeff commented that lately my blog has been full of homemaking posts which he said filled the "Busy Hands" part of the title, but where were the "Busy Minds"?  I assure you we are doing school at least 4 days a week, but we are using our minds to learn more about gardening, dairying and food storage methods in our spare (and not so spare) time.

Proverbs 24:30-34


I went by the field of a lazy man,
And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding;
And there it was, all overgrown with thorns;
Its surface was covered with nettles;
Its stone wall was broken down.
When I saw it, I considered it well;
I looked on it and received instruction:
A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest;
So shall your poverty come like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.

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