Yup, I made some cheese last night! Just a plain old wheel of cheddar cheese, it's what we're fond of eating here. I was going to whip up another home made pizza with the mozzarella I made Friday night but the element for the oven is burned up. At least this one lasted 14 months, 3 months longer than the last one lasted. Things just aren't made of good quality anymore. It's times like this that I get a little nasty tempered thinking about still not having my brick oven and cooking grill built. That whole thing is a rant for another day tho. I had a whole Argonaut squash all foiled up and ready to bake for a couple of pies and no oven. The chickens got a treat since it won't make it cut until Monday when I will have to go to town and try to get an element. I WILL build my gazebo with my brick oven, cooking hole, fireplace and firepit in the middle. I already have my design mocked up and the spot on the property picked out. LOL, I'll never be in the house again, LOL.
Have you all heard about the 20 earthquakes since yesterday over in Oklahoma? Do you think it might be connected to the plume event from the 1st? I say yes it is and the pucker effect is strong here. The old barn will NOT stand thru a 5.3 earthquake. Between the dericho and the earthquake we had here a couple of years ago, the doublewide is already off center, the brick skirting is already cracked, this thing might fall apart. Like it would really break my heart, LOL.
The calf has quieted down a little bit. Geez, there's nothing worse than a couple of cows mooing constantly for 3 or 4 days. I know my closest neighbor is not liking me too much right now, LOL. I know it's got to be as bad as a barking dog but there's nothing I can do about it. It has to be done and whacking them with a newspaper isn't going to help. Goober cow has leveled off at a hair less than a gallon every milking so I'll have plenty of milk to play with for a while. I still haven't located a bull small enough to breed her to. I'm kind of running out of time too. Something I should have considered when I bought her. I can't breed a jersey cow to a big breed bull and not have calving problems. Jersey cows are not very common in this area.
Well, I had planned on baking some bread and a couple pies this weekend. Guess another pot of deer meat chili is on the menu. I really need to get all the old deer cooked up anyway, almost time for a couple of fresh kills. Can't have the old mixed in with the new. Guess I better get to it....
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Your cheese looks wonderful. I wish I had fresh milk to make cheese with but that isn't likely to happen any time soon.
ReplyDeleteNo, I did not hear about the earthquakes or plume.
ReplyDeleteI put the element in my oven by myself because I refused to pay someone $20 for five minutes work that took me five hours including resting-thinking-and-calling-people-for-advice time. Guys I knew were in awe, impressed, saying they would be afraid to mess with 220. Not prone to too much stupidity, I had hit the house breaker first! I know I could have just hit the stove breaker, but I was afraid to only do that...lol. Could you not have cooked your food on the stovetop in a cast iron pan? Good luck on finding a small bull. I have heard that the big bulls will injure a cows spine/back.
save money...get a gas stove/oven. they are pretty cheap to buy new these days although a good used one is easy to find too. no elements to replace and you can keep right on cooking/baking when he power goes out.
ReplyDeleteyou should be able to find a limosine or semmintal bull in your area..they are popular thruout the midwest...if not...have you considered artificial insemination?? you can buy just about anything on the internet these days, including certified bull sperm.
ReplyDeletei would like to see plans for your gazebo..altho when you are finished with it, it will more properly be a summer kitchen.
Your cheese looks great! I have made cream cheese and yogurt but never a hard cheese. I don't have the equipment or know how, although I'm sure if I had equipment, I could follow directions well enough. How do you store your cheese? Or does it last that long?
ReplyDeletehttp://simpleeverydayliving.blogspot.com
Oh, do you have a crock pot? Its easy to cook the squash in those.
ReplyDeleteYou could cook up your deer meat in them too.
Your cheese looks so good.
debbieo
When I heard about the earth quake, I thought about the talk we had the other night! Girl, you can predict them!!!! Spooky! ehheheehehe
ReplyDeleteYour gazebo/kitchen sounds wonderful! I have big dreams of building a sheltered, outdoor kitchen. I guess what I am planning out is basically a rectangle shaped gazebo.
ReplyDeleteI use to cook my squashes in the oven, but mine is on the fritz so this year I tried cooking mine in my large crock pot. It turned out so well I will ALWAYS cook my squash for pies that way, now! And this time of year, with all the holiday lure-you-into-the-store sales, crock pots are super cheap. And then, too, they are a dime a dozen, it seems, at the flea markets. I got a 5-quart for $5 last weekend and am cooking my Pear Butter in it.
EARTHQUAKES - I am in Oklahoma! When we had that first one, your blog about the plumes was the first thing that came to mind. We have had quite a few now and it is pretty unsettling. My cats and goats (and sometimes my dogs) are doing a great job of letting me know one is coming as much as 24 hours ahead of time. Their odd behavior grows as each earthquake approaches. I keep hoping they are over, but we had another one yesterday morning (3.6 at 2:36am) I tell ya, that 5.6 was a DOOZY! I had to hold onto the kitchen counter to keep from falling over. Then the tsunami came.... oh, wait, no, that was extreme storm with heavy flooding (about 10 inches of rain). Have to wonder if it was connected to the earthquakes.
www.twofarmsone.com
Just saw your post, excellent!! As for finding a bull for your jersey, in my experience, it isn't so much the size of the bull as the type of calves. Look for one that has a history of throwing calves with small heads and it should be fine. Herefords seem to work well if you find the right one and the calves tend to be plenty beefy. Good luck.
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