a finished object

i've been working on this baby blanket for my cousin and his wife since october! it's FINALLY finished. i'm really happy with it.

the pattern is theHoover baby blanket from Knitty . it was hard to get good pictues of it on my carpet, it is actually rectangular not all wonky. i used 2 balls of pattons canadiania in oatmeal and 3 balls of pattons canadiana in winter white. i just think acrylic makes sense for a baby blanet.

goaty goodness

here is our recipe for home made raw milk goats cheese. when using raw milk you must be extremely careful about sterilization, the health of your animal, and the the cleanliness of your milking area/kitchen. raw milk is illegal to buy so unless you own your own goats consume at your own risk. all equipment shown has been sterilized by spraying a solution of 1 capful of hydrogen peroxide to 2 cups of water onto instruments and then washed off with hot water.


this is cinnamon and ali, the everdale goats!









step 1: get milk. i'm not going to write out how to milk a goat. that's something that needs to be taught "hands on" but i will say this, it's super fun!







here's the 4 litres of milk that will become cheese!








strain the milk through a milk filter, we pick these up where we get the rennet and other cheese supplies. this filters out any hair or debris that may have gotten into the milking bucket.









you need 1/4 of a drop of calcium chloride for ever liter of milk. how do you get a quarter drop? put 1 drop into 4 tablespoons of room temperature water. then for ever liter add one tablespoon of calcium chloride/water mixture.





next add 1/16th of a teaspoon of bacterial starter for ever liter of milk. let starter sit for approximately 3 minutes on the surface off the milk to dissolve.







mix starter in using 20 bottom to top strokes, bringing milk from the bottom of the pot to the top







mix rennet in the same proportions as calcium chloride and add 1 tablespoon rennet/water mixture for ever liter of milk. mix again with 20 bottom to top strokes. place a lid on the pot and put in an area where it will not be disturbed for at least 12 hours.





12 hours later the curds should have separated from the whey and your cheese should look something like this!







using a ladle take small chunks of the curd










ladle curd into a colander lined with butter muslin (very fine cheese cloth). colander should be set on a large bowl to catch the whey






tie the two left corners and two right corners of the muslin together in a double knot

hang curds off an s-hook in the fridge allowing whey to drain out into bowl for at least 12 hours. it's best if you have a fridge solely for cheese making as other flavours in your fridge will invade the cheese and make it taste off. once finished your cheese can be put into an air tight reusable container. if desired cheese can also be flavoured at this point with herbs, salt, fruit, honey etc.

whey can be mixed with grain and fed to chickens or pigs or can be used to bake bread!

thank you ali!!!! <3>

best bread recipe ever

one of the interns here at everdale has this book "the forget about meat cookbook" by karen brooks. anyway it has pretty much the best bread recipes i've ever used. here is her basic bread recipe which is so good and surprisingly fluffy for 100% whole wheat. give it a go!

3 cups warm water
3/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon molasses
2 tablespoons yeast
1/4 cup oil
1 teaspoon salt
8 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

-dissolve honey and molasses in warm water
-add yeast and let sit for a few minutes until yeast begins to bubble and look spongy
-if yeast does not activate do not continue! either your yeast is dead or your water was too hot or cold.
-if yeast is fine add in oil, salt and flour
-mix with hands until flour is well incorporated
-dump dough out onto a clean, floured breadboard or counter
-knead bread until it becomes soft an elastic
-put bread in a clean, oiled bowl, pour a bit of oil on top and cover with plastic wrap and a clean dry tea towel
-let bread rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour) somewhere warm and away from drafts (a good spot is in a cold oven with the oven light turned on to create a small amount of warmth)
-once bread had risen, punch dough down and let rise again
-shape dough into loaves and place in greased bread pans, cover with plastic wrap and tea towels and let double in size
-bake bread in a preheated 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes
-take loves out of oven and place on cooling racks for 5 minutes
-remove bread from tins and let cool completely on cooling racks, covered in a clean tea towel