Buttermilk

Buttermilk:

• Take your raw milk out of the fridge and skim some of the cream off of the top.
• Add 2-3  large spoonfuls of Clabbered Milk. Stir well. 
• Leave it on your counter LOOSELY covered.  A cloth is better than a lid. 
• Check periodically to see if it has thickened. You may have to leave it overnight.
• Use this thick cream to make butter. 
• Save the liquid that separates out from your butter making endeavor to bake or culture with.
• If you don't make butter with this, you have a sour cream (I think!)

Clabbered Milk

Clabber

Clabbered milk is the next thing to take up residence on my very overcrowded counter.  I have read that you should just keep a jar sitting out all the time. Whenever you use any, just add some milk back into it.  My philosophy of adding one thing at a time into our routine brings me to this next.  I am headed to some other raw milk stuff, but need to get this step figured out.  So.... my clabber jar will be living right next to my sourdough starter crock.  I hope it does not smell terrible.

One important note, the clabbering process only works with raw or unpasteurized milk. Pasteurized milk, if left out, only produces the nasty sour milk that we all know and don't love today.

What is clabber?  Clabber is naturally soured raw milk.  It is also the beginning of all raw cheese. Take a 1/2 quart of fresh milk and leave it out (cover with a towel or cheese cloth, it must be able to breathe). Wait for it to thicken. Depending on the temperature in your house this could take one to three days. It should be the consistency of pudding. Bacteria in the milk begin their process of converting lactose (a sugar, and therefore sweet) into lactic acid (which being an acid, is tart or sour.)  This gives the milk a sour, acidic taste that is more tangy than buttermilk or yogurt.

It will smell very sour at this phase.... probably too sour to use. Dump half the jar out and replace with fresh milk and mix. Let that sit a day till it "clabbers" again. It won't be so sour now.  Again, a similar process to growing a sourdough starter.   If necessary, you could again dump half of this and make a third generation, but with the price of raw milk, I don't think so.  I confess that some creme fraiche will be going into the first batch to get it started and none of it is going to be thrown out!  I will use it in something.

The clabbered milk you have produced can then either be left out (if it is not too warm in your house or you use it often) or refrigerated. When you need some in a milk product, scrape the stuff off the top and toss it (it sounds like a "bloom" on other cultured stuff), then spoon out what you need and refill the  jar with fresh milk. Just keep your little clabber garden going.

Now, on to the bigger question....What do you use it for?

• It is the beginning of all cheese (which I want to learn how to make)
• Starter for cottage cheese
• Starter for sour cream
• Starter for cultured butter
• Add texture to baked goods such as pancakes, bread, muffins. 

I don't know how this will all turn out, but plan to give it the old college try.  This is just the next step in our raw milk adventure.  I did find out where the word came from...  The word ‘clabber’ comes from the Irish word for thickened or the Scots word for mud, whichever you like, and the Irish word for milk is banne (thank you MacBain’s Dictionary). Together they make up the word ‘bonnyclabber’, which is what we know as buttermilk..

Best of Health to you

Cindy

New Book - Radical Homemakers

Today I came across a book that looks so good.  It looks like this family had the sense to write a book for this time,  when all of us are busy reassessing what we know about our homes, our families our money and our lives.  I plan to read it soon and hope it is not way out there.  The author wrote a couple of extensive articles which I will list.  If anyone beats me and reads this first, can you do a report for everyone else.

Radical Homemakers 

We have recently felt that the economic downturn has made our family reassess everything.  Two years ago would I have spent the better part of two days gathering the best ingredients, culturing and prepping them, carefully labelling and storing them, making sponges so we wouldn't run out of bread, researching new ways to use common, healthy ingredients.... then being delighted that borsch turned out to taste good?

Article: Meet the Radical Homemakers 

Looking into a cow, turning the guys back into farmers, using a lot of resource to make our grass into protein, figuring out how to butcher our own chickens.... two years ago this would not have even been on my horizon.  One of the new truths in our life is "we are going to look back on this time of shaking as a gift from God to force us to reassess what is important"   I firmly believe that in five years we will be GRATEFUL that the economy made us change.  Frankly, I am grateful right now.

Is it possible to use the changes rocking our world to learn to live a different way?  I think so.  What resource do you have?  Can you and your spouse learn to work together to be healthy, happy and in line with God?  Do you really need what our current world says is a "necessity"? 

Perhaps it is time to figure out what is really best for your family.  I know it is past time for us.  We will continue these changes with joy and peace.  My husband and I are partners in this journey.... and our children and children in love (law)  are walking strongly into this new / old lifestyle themselves.  I can't wait to see what they will make of this new world... they are young and change is easier.

I love to hear about how all of you are changing the world you live in.  Thank you for being so open.  It helps.

Cindy

Hot Borsch Soup

The hot borsch soup turned out really good.  It is a stew that incorporates beets and kvass in it.  This seem like a very inexpensive dish that can use the lousy cuts of meat (grass fed) some veggies past their prime and beets.  It will work well in our household for a couple of reasons... 1)  I usually have beet kvass going and always have extra beets and 2) my hubby and son liked it and 3) I am always looking for a way to put veggies in something.  Success! A new meal for us that is inexpensive and organic.

I am listing one recipe.  Sveta is from Russia (I think) and makes a mean borsch!  I will also list what today's borsch grew from.

How today's soup grew:

• A small roast with lots of fat and bones and not much meat from the bottom of my freezer.  Grass Fed, organic from my uncle.  Put it on the wood stove this morning in a pot, seared it on both sides, then added a bunch of water, onion and seasoning.  This perked along all day with the stove.
• Late this afternoon, using a smallish pot (in case we didn't like it) some broth and about 1/2 cup of meat started the borsch.  The meat was shredded before adding it in.
• To this 3 small (kind of old and growing just a little) potatoes, shredded cabbage, some celery, a little more onion and some of the beets from the kvass were added.  If there had been carrots on hand, they would have been in there too, but no luck.
• Some cultured tomato paste from the fridge (last summer's experiment)
• This simmered for about 45 minutes, then some of the beet kvass went in.  A little creme fraiche went on top and some barley/oat bread on the side.... A meal!

There was enough left for tomorrow's lunch.  I plan to serve it over baked potatoes.

Now for a real recipe:

Borsch recipe from Sveta

1 lb beef meat ( or chicken)
2 medium beet roots
1 (good size) carrot
1/2 of head cabbage
3 medium potatoes (optional)
1 med tomato (optional)
1/2 medium size onion
salt 1/2 Tsp
pepper 1/2 tsp
bay leaf - 2-3 leaves
1 tsp - raw vinegar
1/3c. olive oil
dill or parsley ( optimal)

In a pan put meat (cut into small pieces) add water and salt. Cook until the meat is done. Into the broth add cabbage and cook until done. Then add potatoes (cut into pieces). Leave it on low heat.

In a skillet put oil, grated (or cut small pieces) beets, carrots, onion. Saute' until the beets have colored the onion. Then put into the broth/cabbage mixture and cook for 10 more minutes.

Turn off heat. Add bay leaves, pepper, and vinegar. Add dill and parsley  before serving.

Sveta

Cold Borsch (Beet) Soup

Coping with a "Cultured" Kitchen

Today is one of those beautiful California days.  Snow and intense blue sky.  My snowboarding son and hubby call them "bluebird days" .... fresh powder and blue, blue sky.  You are reminded of God's provision and his grace, mercy and justice.

Tuesday was coop and grocery store day.  This time I blocked Wednesday out to deal with the groceries.  No one ever said that making nutritious, interesting meals was quick or easy.  The list was long, but good.  Kefir, low-temperature yogurt, ginger ale, beet kvass, bread and new sponge, mayonnaise, Kombucha Tea and soaked granola.  Today I am drying the granola on the wood stove, cooking some beef and bone broth beside it and putting everything away.  I still need to make a menu, but think I will leave it for tomorrow.

So.... what to make for dinner.   I have an abundance of pickled beets left from making beet kvass, beef and bone broth and I have kefir..... Although I have never tried borsch, it made its way to the top of today's menu because of the ingredients that need to be used from the fridge.

 

This should be a great summer soup, hopefully it is cold and yummy.  If it is not yummy, we will try again.  This is the recipe that will be the base.  I plan to use kvass and some of the pickled beets in place of the fresh beets and kefir in place of the sour cream.  Wish me luck.

Lithuanian Cold Beet Soup, Saltibarsciai,

also known as known as cold borsch

or cold bortsch or cold borscht

Borsch is the most famous and popular Russian soup. But no one calls it soup in Russia, it's 'Borsch'. The main ingredients are red beets, cabbage, potatoes and meat or chicken broths. Some people make 'vegetarian' borsch without any meat, only with vegetables.
Borsch has a very rich and delicious taste.

Here is the basic Borsch recipe:

1lb - beef (or chicken)
3 - red beets
0.5lb - cabbage
1 - carrot
4 - potatoes
salt and pepper, to taste

Put beef into a large saucepan and cover with 3 liters cold water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Remove the grease froth from the broth surface with a spoon. Cut cabbage, potatoes and carrot. Add chopped vegetables into the cooking pot. Cut red beets. When all vegetables are cooked add red beets at the very end. Add salt and black pepper. Cook for 5 minutes. Borsch is served with sour cream.

The House Around the Corner - Key Lime Pie

Goat's Milk is something I have been trying to develop a taste of for a long time.  I have come a long way, but am not quite there yet.  One of my favorite all time things is a latte made with half fresh goat's milk and half cow's milk, so there is hope for me.

Even without developing a taste for goat's milk, I had a couple of pieces of this key lime pie.  It was so GOOD!  I have not tried making it yet, but plan to one of these days.  Bright, tart, refreshing and healthy.

Here is another wonderful recipe from Katherine's Kitchen!

Cindy

Key Lime Pie

Crust:

2 cups ground almonds
(I use ones I have previously soaked and dried)

1 cup dates

½ tsp salt

Soak dates in ½ cup boiling water. When they are soft, run them through a food processor till smooth

Then add almonds,( I also added a tbsp of ground flax seed). Spread into a greased pie pan.

Filling:

2 cups homemade cream cheese 

(yogurt you’ve strained overnight through cheese cloth)

1/3 cup agave or honey

1/3 -1/2 cup lime juice

Grated peels of 1-2 limes

Combine these set aside.

Combine

3 beaten eggs

1 packet of gelatin

(check out MaryJane Butters online for gelatin alternative called chillOver powder)
MaryJane's Farm - ChillOver Powder 

½ cup milk

Wisk over low heat until thickened, combine with cream cheese mixture.

Pour into pie shell and chill.

You can substitute  1-2 cups fresh or frozen berries in place of lime for a berry pie.

My daughter said this pie was better than any key lime she’d ever tasted! I think it’s so important to be creative with desserts and be able to offer your friends and family delicious treats. Enjoy these in small quantities, they’re rich. I encourage my kids to take small bites and savor them.

Proverbs 23:3 talks about being careful not to crave the food of a ruler, his food is deceptive, or to be given to gluttony. My understanding of the deception is extravagant rich desserts and foods (prepared by servants) may charm your senses, but they will do much harm to your body without you really understanding the relation between the two. I think of the servant food we eat as being fast food, or processed food. Once you start making desserts this way other stuff just doesn’t taste so yummy.

Katherine

The House Around the Corner - Tiramisu Rustica

 Tiramisu Rustica

My friend Katherine has been successfully using fresh goat's milk for quite a long time now.  She has been so encouraging to all of us to have nutritious and beautiful meals.  Thank you for sharing some of these wonderful dessert recipes with all of us!

Cindy

Tiramisu Rustica

(Pronounced tee-dah-mee-sύ)

This is inspired by a traditional Italian dessert,

 I’ve reworked it so you’re using great ingredients and methods.

2 cups flour whole wheat, spelt, Kamut, gluten free (I used Kamut)

-1 cup yogurt

 -1 cup water

Combine these and soak overnight.

½ cup butter

½ cup agave or honey

Cream butter and sweetener together with a beater.

4 beaten eggs

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

Combine all ingredients. Pour into two round cake pans, which are greased and floured.

Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes. Cool completely. The cakes will be thin.

Filling

2 cups homemade cream cheese (yogurt you’ve strained overnight through a cheese cloth)

½  whipping cream-whipped in a cold bowlJ

1/3 – ½ cup agave or honey

Add sweetener to room temperature cream cheese. Fold in ½ of whipped cream then fold in the rest.

So your filling is ready, your cakes are cooled, 2 more simple steps and you’re done!

You’ll need ½ cup of strong coffee or 2 shots of espresso - slightly sweetened

½ cup of cocoa powder

Place first cake on plate, saturate with one espresso shot, or ¼ cup coffee.

Spread ½ of the filling over your cake. Sift ¼ cup cocoa powder over the filling.

Add next layer and repeat. Enjoy!

I doubled my flour and liquid when I soaked them and used ½ for pancakes.

When I get more than one dish out of my efforts I feel so much more accomplished.

Also pictured is

Chocolate Mousse

½-1 cup raw whipped cream, whipped in a cold bowl

4 stiffly beaten egg whites (add a dash of salt or cream of tartar while beating)

6 oz semisweet chocolate

1 tbsp cream

Melt chocolate with tbsp of cream on low heat, cool. Slowly fold in to whipped cream.

Slowly fold in beaten egg whites. You can add a little coffee or espresso to bring out the chocolate flavor. Cool in refrigerator at least an hour.

Now that was easy! And yummy!

Katherine

Low Temperature Yogurts

The Raw Milk Adventure Continues....

Low Temperature Yogurt

After spending time researching raw milk I have become convinced that our family wants to switch completely away from pasteurized milk.   This includes yogurt, which we have been eating a lot of.   There are some great web sites and youtube clips showing how to make raw milk yogurt.  The basic process seems to depend on what type of culture you have.

You can purchase cultures on line.  I intend to do this, but did not get around to it yet.  Instead, when we went to buy milk yesterday my sister and I decided to get three types of yogurt and we shared them.  These were then mixed to make our culture.   What we found was a sheep milk yogurt, a coconut milk yogurt and a greek yogurt.

The milk with the yogurt culture (all three combined) was put into a glass canning jar and lidded up tightly.  My sister has a yogurt maker that she used.  She also is going to try a dehydrator (as soon as she can find it.... probably it is somewhere in the shop).  I tried several different spots around my fireplace... using my candy thermometer to test it out.... too hot.  The milk cannot go above 118 or the enzymes are destroyed.

Finally.... I put hot water into my crock pot, left it off til it got to 110, then put the jars of yogurt into the hot water, put the lid on and put a thick bath towel over the whole thing.  I did need to turn it on low every couple of hours for about 10 minutes at a time.   The candy thermometer helped me keep track of the temperature.  It has now been in there for 8 hours.  It is at 110 degrees right now, and it is just going to stay in there overnight.  In the morning the water should be cold and it should be finished.  

So, this is a work in progress.  Hopefully it turns out!  Here is a paragraph from the web site where you can get the cultures and the web site.  As soon as I pull it together I plan to switch to countertop yogurt!

Two Types of Yogurt Cultures

There are two types of yogurt cultures: Mesophilic and Thermophilic.  Mesophilic cultures are also known as room temperature or counter top yogurt varieties as they culture best at room temperature (70-78 degrees).  You do not need a yogurt maker to use a mesophilic culture.  Thermophilic cultures require heat to culture properly so using a thermophilic culture requires a way to keep the yogurt at 110 degrees for 4-8 hours (depending on the variety).  Yogurt making appliances are a popular choice when working with a thermophilic culture but other methods can work quite well including a crock pot, oven with a low temperature setting, etc.

Cultures for Health

The House Around the Corner - Jamie's Kefir Bread

Here is another great recipe from Jamie.  It reminded me of a quote which was in a previous article on raw milk found here.  The quote was:

Left to its own devices, fresh milk sours naturally. This is not due to the enzymes in the mix, but to naturally-occurring lacto-fermenting bacteria found in raw milk. Those bacteria produce lactic acid that sours the milk by reducing its pH., i.e., making it more acid. While the uninitiated might think this is milk to be thrown out, the wise know this acid condition actually preserves the milk against spoilage. In days gone by, the Irish housewife typically soured fresh milk overnight by the dying fireplace in preparation for making soda bread the next morning..

It looks like a great recipe.  I will probably use soaked grains to make it, but plan to give it a try.  Thanks Jamie!

While we are in that part of the world.... here is a link to The Good Scots Diet which also talks about Soda Bread.  It is a great article, very extensive and covers a lot of ground.  I really enjoyed reading it.

Quick Kefir Soda Bread

3 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup kefir
1 egg
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Heat the oven to 375 and lightly grease a cookie sheet

Mix all the dry ingredients together and then add the kefir and egg. Mix very well.

Turn out on a floured surface and knead for a minute or two, you're really just trying to shape the bread.

Form dough into a round and put it on the cookie sheet.

Cut a shallow "x" into the top of the loaf and brush with the melted butter.

Bake for 45 - 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Start peeking at the bread about 30 minutes into the baking time, every oven is different.

If you'd like you can continue to baste the top of the bread with the melted butter during baking.

GMO - Activist Information

Personal note from me before you read any of this.  If you have had a lot of GMO's in your diet, or are struggling with some of the terrible side effects, I really believe that you can correct much of the problems by changing your diet.  We are "fearfully and wonderfully made" and have mechanism's in our system, placed there by God.  They just need the right nutrients, some time and some energy to work.

Don't roll around in self pity or hopelessness, instead, change your diet and your families way of eating.  This is dead serious stuff though, please spend some time studying it.  It is important.

No GMO Activist Information

Some of you know that I have been following the GMO story for years.  It is a long, troubling, terrible story of power, money, corruption and borderline insanity.  If you have been following this story, and are persuaded that GMO's are endangering our food supply, our healthy children, our mental abilities and our reproductive capacity, you don't need to read further in this note.  I would, however, encourage you to become activists.  Wherever you land on the political scale..... fight WITH one another to stop this evil, awful perverse ruination of our food.

The best way you can fight is to NOT purchase ANYTHING that contains GMO's.... and contact companies that you used to do business with or purchase products with and tell them why.  If the top 10 American companies shifted away from GMO's, it would change the future.

To help with this, I would like to pass on some very helpful stuff.  The first is an I-Phone app.  It gives you a list of companies that refuse to use GMO's in their processing.    Type in ShopNoGMO and the free app will come up.  You can also go to this website and print up a list of foods that are and are not made with GMO's.  I have printed a bunch of them and will hand them out and take them with me to the store.

The website for this is:  Non GMO Shopping Guide

For those people willing to be genuine activists, there is an excellent website.  I MUST warn everyone.  This group has people from all corners of the political spectrum.  There are folks from the far, far left to the far, far right and everywhere in between.  We all share a common goal of a safe food supply.  Please make allowances for philosophical differences and focus on what is important.  This is a good plan.  Their website can be found at the first link and their information page at the second link.

Institute for Responsible Technology - Action Page

Responsible Technology - Information Page

If you are on Facebook, they have a No GMO's Fan Page which you can join.

Now, if you are unsure about GMO's and the damage that they can do, I would like to list a bunch of articles.  All I am going to say personally is that, in my opinion, GMO's are terrible.  Anyone with young children or in their child bearing years, or anyone who wishes to have optimal health should spend some time studying the effects of GMO's.

If you think that ANY regulatory agency is responsible for keeping your food, your medicine or your health safe, you are naive.  The regulatory agencies tend to have an absolutely incestuous relationship with the corporations and industries that they should be regulating.  Most of them are run by career bureaucrats, not elected officials.   Please, do NOT take my word for any of this.  It is your responsibility to keep your family as safe, as happy and as healthy as possible and you need to know the damage these insidious food products cause.

Sadly, the information we are now acquiring is not based on animal testing.  World populations are the test group.  Spending time on this subject again brought me to probably one of the most appalling quotes I have ever heard.

“Maybe the GM soy will solve

the overpopulation problem.”

 Dr. Mercola, as well as many other groups, have published quite a few articles over the past several months. The reason much of this is coming out is apparently a court case which was won and required the publication of some clinical trials.  I tried to research it myself, but it was overwhelming.  I am going to just post some of Dr. Mercola's articles for sake of consistency.  He might have some pop up ads, if so, I apologize.  I  went ahead and joined the site because of the wonderful articles.  I have found NOTHING in his articles to disagree with... on the GMO issue (unusual for me) and he is a good, clear concise writer.   I have stuff posted on the GMO issue by other authors as well.  You can find it under the GMO label.

One last personal note from me.  The FDA had all this information, and probably more.  Don't allow government officials to tell you what is healthy and what is not.  You need to make wise decisions for your family and loved ones based on knowledge.  You should never just swallow a decree by a bureaucrat.  Be persuaded by facts based on genuine research, not the rigged, bought and paid for stuff they call research.  Deuteronomy 31:6 gives us direction. 

"Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

So, here is some further reading for anyone that wants to be educated on this subject.  Probably the most evil of all is what GMO's do to reproductive development.  There are two articles on this subject, one an overview, one focusing on reproductive and organ failure.  Please go to the first article and scroll down.  Observe the close up of the rat testicles fed gmo and non gmo, and the cell pattern below it.  It is pretty amazing.

I don't know if the high incidence of retardation, development problems or infant mortality are in any of these articles, but should be looked at as well.

10 Reasons why no one needs GM foods

Organ and Reproductive Failure

One of the more perverse aspects appears to be what happens to young children exposed to GMO's.  Is it pure evil that one of the first uses of a genetically modified food was infant formula made with GM soy?  Without testing (that we know of).   Certainly without oversight from anyone that cared.  This article has some excerpts from "Genetic Roulette" and some good info on what can happen to kids fed GM foods.

GM Foods more dangerous for children than adults

This one covers some of the intimidation used on the researchers who tried to sound the alarm early on.  These are just a few... there were more.

If You Find Problems with Genetically Modified Foods Watch Out 

This next one covers the fine art of rigging studies.  A true art form if you ask me.  Not for the novice thug, it takes genuine professionalism.  Luckily, there appears to be plenty of that to go around.

Rigged Studies 

This next article shows some of the enormous influence of Monsanto over Washington D.C.  One man was with the FDA under George Bush, Sr..... and appointed back by Obama.  He worked at Monsanto between times.  Conflict of interest?  It is all over Washington.

We have shipped our evil wares all over the globe.  Our regulators labeled them safe without due diligence.  The headlines in this article cover;  Covering up Health Dangers, Fake Safety Assessments, Promoting and Regulating don't Mix, Evaluations miss most health problems, Hidden information, lack of standards, breaking law and Humans as Guinea Pigs.

An FDA Created Health Crisis Circles the Globe 

Last, but certainly not least, is a warning on the danger of GMO's from the medical profession.

Doctors warn to avoid GMO's 

I think that is all that I can take of this for now.  I can only go back to this every so often.  It is depressing.  For our family, we grow as much of our food as we can using heirloom seeds.  We buy local and organic from people who live in our community and are like minded.  We make an effort to purchase from organic and Non GMO companies (even if I disagree with their politics) and we avoid genetically modified foods like the poison that they are.  Eating out is difficult. 

For the most part, be aware that highly processed food in any form should be suspect.  If it doesn't rot, don't eat it.  Study, learn, be alert and aware, be proactive, be responsible for your families health.

Best of Health to You

Cindy

The House around the Corner - Raw Milk Ice Cream

Lynette's House

Ice Cream from Raw Milk (yum)

Lynette's House has been a raw milk house for a long, long time.  She has a lot of recipes, and is sharing some of them with us.  Her ice cream is really good and I am looking forward to this special treat this summer!

Ice Cream: Beat Until frothy: 3 eggs, 1 1/2 c. Sugar (honey is good too, or a combination), 1/4 tsp. salt. Add: 5 1/2 cups raw milk, 2 cups cream, 3 Tbsp Vanilla. Pour into ice cream maker and follow freezing directions. When its done freezing you can add anything else you'd like. We love adding a package of frozen raspberries. Our ice cream maker holds 1 gallon.

The House around the Corner - Eggs Benedict

 Eggs Benedict

from Lynette

Eggs Benedict (easy): Have ready in blender or food processor: 3 egg yolks, 1 Tbls. lemon juice, pinch of cayenne, 1/4 tsp. salt.  Heat 1/2 cup butter to bubbling stage.  With the food processor running slowly pour in the hot butter (much like making mayonaise).  That's IT.  I like to then pour it into a glass measuring cup and keep in warm in a bowl of hot water.

Lynette's family had an awesome breakfast this morning: Eggs benedict with homemade hollandaise sauce, sprouted english muffins, poached eggs and bacon from Papas homegrown organic piggy.

Thanks Lynette for sharing the idea and the recipe.

Cindy

Raw Milk vs. Homogenized and Pasteurized Milk

The learning curve for Raw Milk has been steep for me.  I came here kicking and screaming and is has never really been on my agenda until I started researching it for the fats portion of this blog.  Amazingly, we are becoming absolute raw milk advocates.  I am still finding this a little hard to believe, but here we are, actually looking into getting a milk cow (or two... or three!)

Here is a page with numerous links for raw milk.  Not to overwhelming, but good information.  It has links to both sides of the raw milk argument.  I have been reading a lot on both sides of the issue and what has bubbled to the surface is not pretty.  I am going to have to quit reading all of these great articles, although it is fascinating.  I know this is getting to be a lot  :)

Mi Milk Maidens

 
As far as the raw milk vs. pasteurized and homogenized argument goes, it appears that a healthy cow, eating grass, taken care of, and careful milking, cooling and handling of the milk provides a healthy, nutritious product.  Raw milk also appears to be the second most contraband item in the United States, right behind illegal drugs.  Go figure.

If you feed your herds garbage (or an unnaturally large amount of grains), have manure everywhere, disgusting things going into the milk (blood, pus..... you get the idea) you might need to pasteurize your milk products so as not to poison everyone drinking the milk.  

If you want to ship your milk product over long distances, have them keep "fresh" for an unnaturally long time, and are completely OK with destroying anything live in your milk product, then the entire pasteurization and homogenization process is right up your alley.

If the idea of complete fats is a puzzle to your dairy, and cream rising to the top of the milk is bothersome to your marketing department, then you definitely want to homogenize that milk!   It completely destroys the fat molecules, so they can never, never be reunited the way God intended.  But you don't have that cream issue to deal with and can sell more product.  A quote from the soda pop article below is intriguing... I am trying to find the studies, but here is the quote.

[You might find it interesting that, as demonstrated in numerous studies, calves fed pasteurized milk die within 60 days.]

We are blessed here in California to have Organic Pastures Dairy.  As I have been studying in depth on this issue, their name came up again and again and again as a model for the state, the country and the world.  They are amazing advocates for clean, wholesome, raw milk.  Their processing is outstanding and  they are passionate about providing this wonderful food to the public.  

Organic Pastures 

It is a continual fight to keep raw milk safe, legal and available in California.  It is always under assault.  I still can't figure out why that is.  When other foods are found to be unsafe, they deal with the individual supplier, not make the entire food illegal.  With milk, however, it is different.  I still don't know why.  I assume it comes down to the same thing as always.  Money and power.

I do know that, in general, when one side just has a bunch of names like "stupid"  "crazy"  "mindless" and goes on and on with the whole "don't you know what's good for you" thing..... it's bad.  The case against raw milk involves a lot of that.  They also have had very few actual, proven instances of death, disease or problems.  There are some, just like in any food based industry.  You should compare that to people with problems with non-raw milk.... oh, we don't want to give out THOSE numbers.

Finally, for those study hounds who want to know the COMPLETE history of the milk pasteurization movement, here is an in depth article containing a history of how we got here.  A quote from the article:

The story of what’s happened to quality milk is the same as the story of what’s happened to America’s farmers. Both have been mostly eliminated, marginalized by a culture that has allowed corporations to promote the big lie that the processing of natural foods has nothing to do with the epidemic of disease that cripples our society. Corporate spokespersons for the food, drug and medical industries have used billions of dollars (a drop in the bucket compared to their profits) to convince most of us that this scam has been carried out for our own good. The corporations and their media and government lackeys proclaim "food safety," while in truth allowing our food supply to be nutritionally depleted, further contaminated, and fostering unsustainability of food sourcing.

Is Soda Pop or Milk Healthier?

I don't ever want to make any decisions for anyone.  Just take a little time while we are in fats and study the raw vs. other on milk.  Check into what the laws are in your state or country.  Can you be proactive in bringing free choice?

One final quote from the Soda Pop article (it is really, really in depth and so good).

Whether one drinks milk at all is a personal choice. The point herein is not to convince anyone to drink clean, healthy raw milk, but rather, as with my related articles, that true health can only be facilitated by getting beyond the industrial agenda based manipulation that permeates our society. Only with sufficient unbiased information, and free choice, can we begin to dig ourselves out of the destructive chronic illness plaguing our quality of life.

Finally, this has been here before (on gut health), but it is still so good I wanted to put it include it again.

A Word About Diet In General

Use common sense and stick with whole, unprocessed foods, free from genetic tweaking (there's still just too much conflicting information out there on that topic), and you'll likely be ahead of the game.

Cook your foods minimally, and you'll be even better off. Learn about sprouting and fermentation. Question everything before letting it past your lips. 

Explore what worked for countless generations before ours, and put it to work for yourself today. You can achieve great health by diet alone. I've done it, and so can you!

 Raw Milk Facts . Com

Best of health to you,

Cindy

The House around the Corner - Raw Milk Stories

 The Lucky Cousins

From Sherri Ann's Keeping Room

     When I was a child we drank fresh (raw) cows milk. I remember my mother scooping the cream from the top of the milk and making delicious butter and whipping cream. My mother and father always said we were not allergic to poison oak because the cows ate the plant as they grazed in the fields and woods near our home; we would then drink their milk so our system developed an immunity. My cousins, who did not drink raw milk, were often covered with the red rash caused by coming in contact with the plant that grows abundantly in our county. When I was young, if you had enough of the poison oak rash, you were not allowed to attend school because it was considered very contagious. I remember once, my cousin was out of school for a week, I was in about 3rd grade and wanted to stay home from school and spend the day with my mother. I went to the edge of the woods behind our home and found myself some poison oak.

     You can imagine what happened next, I stripped the plant of several handfuls of leaves and rubbed it ALL OVER MYSELF...I crushed the leaves and rubbed it on my skin, I broke the branches and used the sap, I found a cut and put some in it...okay, I wasn‘t a very bright child, but I was determined. I was very proud of myself and went back to the house and waited for the itching to begin…I waited...and went to school, the next day, I waited and went to school, the next day, I went to school and decided that my cousins were lucky to have parents who didn't give them fresh cows milk.

     I don't know if there is in fact scientific proof about developing this immunity, but Dad and Mom said so...and that's good enough for me. If you enjoy drinking fresh cows milk, I don't suggest you research in the same manner I did so long ago.

Take Care,

Sherri Ann

The House Around the Corner - Becky's House

Becky's Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

with cultured cream cheese frosting

2 cups of warm water
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons dry yeast
1 cup of sourdough starter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 coconut oil
6 to 7 cups of flour

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let sit for a minute or two. Add the sugar and salt. Mix. Add the oil, 2 eggs, sourdough starter, 2 cups of flour and beat until smooth.

Stir in 3 more cups of flour. Begin kneading the dough, adding the final cup of flour. If the dough seems too sticky, knead in more flour, a quarter to a half cup at a time.
(I do all of this in my Kitchen Aid in about 5 min.)

Let the dough "rest" for 15 to 20 minutes.

Roll the dough into a rectangle that's 24 to 30 inches long by about 16 inches wide. Spread with a mixture of soft butter, cinnamon, brown sugar and vanilla. Starting at the wide end, roll into a log.

Cut the cinnamon rolls into equal sized slices (approximately one inch wide each or slightly more) and place into two greased 9x13 pans. Put in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes (or until the cinnamon rolls are golden brown).

Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then smooth the cream cheese frosting over them.

This recipes makes two dozen cinnamon rolls. If you want REALLY BIG cinnamon rolls, cut into 12 equal pieces 2 inches wide.

Total amount of time needed from start to finish (including time to bake) is about 2 hours.

Cream Cheese frosting:
About 1 cup of homemade cream cheese.
1 cup powdered sugar
1 TBL vanilla

Whip together until smooth and spread over warm cinnamon rolls.

Yummy!