I can’t believe it’s already December! The year has gone
very quickly. I suppose having much to do, and not getting it all done, makes
it seem so. And, since that’s always the case…..
Thus far, we’ve been blessed to have mostly good weather and
very tolerable temperatures.
The days have been a little crazy but in, mostly, good and
bountiful ways. Our Thanksgiving as wonderful! Filled with so much thanks and
good food. Last Friday was my birthday, a grand day! I’m now 52 and proud to be
so! I got a jar of pumpkin butter and two new shawl wraps. Puuurrrfect!
52 years old with bags under my eyes from a long day :)
Nik got his first deer on his second hunting day. I feel
terrible for the deer but we’re so very thankful for the meat!! And I’m so
proud of Nik!!
Nik and his friend Jared and their deers, poor things
We’ve had no milk or eggs for a while now. We’re down to 9
hens and all are molting. And as for milk, I traded our old milk goat for fence
posts and firewood. Our other does are, hopefully, pregnant. So, I’m having to
buy eggs and milk and it always seems so weird to do so.
Goatwise, we have 3 new ones over the last month or so. A full
little Nigerian Dwarf buck with blue eyes and very pretty coat with reddish
skin, which I didn’t want but took because he was part of the deal. I estimate
him to be 8 to 10 months. Turns out I’m very glad we got him. He’s very sweet
and a beauty. I named him Cedar. I’m still not sure what I’ll do with him but
he gets along great with our other ND buck, Hickory ,
and the does… Poppy, Ivy and Willow .
Ivy is the second goat we got and may be bred to Cedar. She
was believed to be full ND as well but I’m certain she’s a mini Alpine (half Alpine
and half ND). She’s 2 and may become our second milker, we’ll see. She’s a
lovely thing and has a good temperament but is a queen. I bartered Ivy and
Cedar from a friend..
All were wonderful boons but the 3rd one was
particularly a boon. A sister-friend emailed and asked if I was interested in
buying a doe from them. I needed a good full sized Milk doe for my hands but
figured I wouldn’t be able to buy one until next summer. But I’m going to be
able to make payments and we got to bring her home now. Her name is Poppy,
she’s 1 1/2 and she’s a beautiful full blooded Alpine. Sweet and gentle
temperament and, hopefully bred to a full LaMancha. I believe Poppy will be our
new family milk cow and she’s become very special to me.
We still have our ND blue eyed buck, Hickory
(bartered for fall 2014) and our full ND doe, Willow ,
(bartered for early summer 2015). All the does are believed to be pregnant with
Willow due in March, Poppy due in January and Ivy due unknown. This is both a
boon and a drawback. I didn’t want anyone due until April (breeding in late
Nov.) but life had other plans and we’ll hopefully have healthy births all
around. It will be Ivy’s 2nd kidding and Poppy & Willow’s 1st.
If Poppy has a doe we’ll likely keep her but sell the rest
for homestead income. My current goat goal is to raise a few quality ND kids
and maybe some mini Alpine and mixes to sell each year and have a couple of
milking does for our milk and dairy, dairy for some of the animals and some to
sell as well. We took a big homestead loss in 2013, when I got so sick and we
lost both our goats which also took our dairy and kid sales. Now we’re getting
back to it And so, our goatherd is renewed.
:)
Also in bartering I got two big boxes of sewing stuff. One
had supplies (stuffed full) and one had fabric. Tons of elastic (which I was
very low on), all sorts of Rick Rack and edging, trim, Velcro, buttons, clasps,
sizing, heavy wonderful old pinking shears, a rotary cutter with extra
blades, snaps, hooks, pattern book, patterns,
crochet book, and fabric including several yards each of two different gauzes
(excellent for summer skirts, dress and curtains).
I’m making Irish Bog shoes for 2 friends and started cutting
out the first pair today. When I’m more confident and have more experience
making them, it will go very quickly. But for now I worry about ruining the
leather so always take a long time. I’ve made moccasins before but never these
wonderful Bog shoes, so easy and useful. I’ve started on the bigger of the two
because it’s close to my own size. I can’t wait to get the hang of it and start
making them to barter with!
I’m also working on bags with round bottoms, that stand up
on their own, somewhat. 2 new skirts, one to keep, one to barter. Large sized
reusable shopping bags. A dress and a top. Moonpads. And a bright Holiday
tablecloth.
Not much more going on except that November was a weird
money month…..
But I can’t even really complain about those things. They’re
so small compared to other things and we’re so incredibly blessed.
Thanksgiving table
-Learning-
Teaching myself to crochet
-Harvest –
Milk
Eggs
Black walnuts
Rosehips
Grasses and seeds
Thuja tips
Cedar tips
Pine nuts
Pine tips
Violet leaves
-Barter –
Huge spool of Crochet thread
Hank of rolled rag for rag rug, pot holders etc.
Elastic for skirts etc
Manual crank juicer
Old Mortar and Pestle juicer
Antique black leather lady’s gloves
Nigerian Dwarf Doe
Nigerian Dwarf Buck
Sweater
Robe
Antique French fry cutter
1 box of fabric
1 large box of sewing things
Alpine Doe
Firewood
Fence posts
Electric stove with oven
-Gifts –
a jar of delicious pumpkin butter (birthday gift)
2 beautiful, second hand, shawl/wraps, 1 heavy camel and 1
light eggshell (birthday gifts)
-Working On-
Tarp barn for hay storage over winter
Space in barn in case a doe kids in bad weather
Sewing – moonpads, 2 skirts, a dress, a top, a tablecloth, larger
shopping bags
2 Spirit Dolls
-Meals-
*Tilapia salad sandwiches on potato flour bread with pepper,
onion, celery seed, real mayo. Farm raised tilapia.
*Chicken with mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans and copper
penny carrots.
*BBQ ham on homemade rolls with organic corn and local
squash
*Biscuits and gravy
*Creamy wild rice soup (recipe below)
*Oatmeal – Irish oats with our elderberries, dried
cranberries, local honey, organic cinnamon served with homemade wheat bread
with cow butter
*Vegetarian soft tacos from …. Spanish rice – rice steamed
in tomato sauce then add onions, peppers, garlic and spices. Refried pinto
beans (milk is the secret to creamy beans). Leftover organic corn and a mix of
commercial and homemade shredded cheeses on a homemade tortilla. With shredded
dandelion and violet leaves, homemade garden salsa and sour cream.
-Snacks-
*Our own pumpkin seeds, roasted with sea salt
*Homemade tortilla chips with homemade garbanzo bean dip
*Our dried apples
*A mix of roasted sunflower seeds and pine nuts
-Evening Tea- (dessert)
*Walnut scones with caramel sauce
*Baked apples
*Pumpkin cake
*Homemade chocolates – Dark chocolate filled with homemade
caramel and chocolate pine nut clusters.
-Sunday Dinners-
* Kielbasa, wild rice, peas, onions, herbs and spices. with
organic hothouse spinach and homemade rolls with cow butter
*Ham, our eggs with our peppers and our onions, potatoes
diced and lightly fried in olive oil with fresh cracked pepper and sea salt,
homemade flat bread.
-Drinks-
*Organic apple juice
*Water
*Jasmine tea with commercial creamer
*Milk
*Lemon spice tea with honey
*Rooibos, rosehips and honey
*Pekoe with cinnamon, ginger, clove and honey
-Recipes-
To make caramel filled chocolates…. Make your caramel. The
last batch was crockpot caramel from homemade sweetened condensed milk. Allow
it to cool until firm. Melt chocolate in homemade double boiler. Use a spoon to
drop chocolate on butcher paper or whatever you use. Use the spoon to flatten
our like a coin. Drop a small dollop of caramel on each one and then use spoon
to cover each with chocolate. My favorite is dark chocolate. I also added a
tiny bit of coffee to my last caramel.
To meat chocolate pine nut clusters…. Melt your chocolate
and pour a little at a time into a heat safe bowl. Add pine nuts and mix
thoroughly. Drop by Tablespoonfuls onto butcher paper and allow to cool and
harden. The ratio of chocolate and nuts
or seeds it entirely by taste.
Wild Moon Cottage - Creamy Rice Soup
(cooking from the pantry)
As always, use what you have. I make it differently every
time I make it but the base and basics are generally the same. This is how I
made it today. All ingredients except for the olive oil, rice and flour came
from our homestead …
Base:
1 T olive oil
1 T organic wheat flour
4 cups raw goat milk
Add:
1/3 c mushrooms (I dried honey mushrooms from the yard and
precooked before drying)
1/4 c total of dried greens (I used spinach, lambs quarters,
dock and dandelion)
2 to 3 T dried celery
1/4 c dried shredded carrots
2 T dried mixed red and green bell peppers
1 T dried amaranth seeds
1 T dried foxtail seeds
2 T dried yellow onion
1 T dried wild green onions
1 1/2 cup cooked wild rice – (leftovers or presteamed)
Pinch sea salt
Black pepper to taste
In a large Dutch oven or pot, start by making a roux, just
like for gravy. I heat the olive oil and add the flour, cooking until brown.
Lower heat and slowly add the liquid, stirring constantly. When all the liquid
is in, continue to stir until thickened, then lower heat to just keeping the
pan warm.
Add every thing else except the rice. You’ll lose up to two
cups of liquid as the dried ingredients reconstitute. You can add a little more
if needed but it may water down the soup. Cook low until everything is cooked
and tender. (if the rice is cold, heat it slightly in a pan with about a
Tablespoon of water. Just so it doesn’t cool down the main pan. Add the rice
and salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
It’s easy to make, very easy to eat, nutritious and real.
It’s also very easy to exchange for what you have. No rice? Use another starch
or grain…. potatoes, other grains or homemade pasta. The liquid can be home
canned vegetable or meat broth or a mix of water, broth and milk. To make it
heartier you can add precooked meat. I often add venison or chicken. Or tear up
old bread or biscuits and add just before serving. This makes the soup more
filling for when you need to feed more with very little.
Don’t have homemade? Use what you do have. We do the best we
can, I’ve had to scrounge for food on the street, there’s no wrong way. If you
can use organic, homemade, homegrown etc… all the better, but if you can’t, no
worries! Eat what you have and be so thankful
:)
This soup can very easily be cooked over coals, on the wood
heat stove (where I do most of my winter cooking) on the fire, in a fireplace,
on a grill etc…
It’s great served in a bread bowl, in a bowl with a wild
salad on the side, with a fresh hot butter roll, with fresh tortillas, homemade
crackers, How ever you want it. Tonight I had it in a cup, with a fresh warm
biscuit :)
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1 comment:
I am going to try the Carmel filled chocolates!
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