Easy home made yoghurt

Since I was making fresh yoghurt I thought I would share just how simple

it can be done, in case anyone reading this, have not yet tried it.

As I was loading these photos it made me laugh to load a photo of two jars of water, the whole step by step blogging is actually really fun for me, and at the same time it makes me so much more aware of the whole process which I love. This is a very casual way of doing it, as I rarely measure things when I cook or prepare food, if you want a more detailed description check out

Wild Fermentation, a great great book, not just for fermenting dairy but also on simple wine and mead making and much more. if you haven't yet, check it out!

Ok, back to simple yoghurt making, first I take two quart size jars like the ones below:),

fill them with hot water...

and stick them into a cooler with an old sweater, to heat my "yoghurt maker"

meanwhile, and I don't have a photo of this:), I pour a half gallon of my lovely raw milk into a pot, and slowly heat it. I cannot remember the exact temperature, but I take it off right before it starts to boil, which is when it so hot that you want to pull your finger out straight away.

Then I leave it to cool to about 110F. Which for me translates into when you can comfortably keep your finger in the milk. Obviously you want to make sure your hands are clean.

Then I pour the milk into my two quart size jars, which I have emptied of water, add 1 table spoon of my previous batch of yoghurt, to each jar, stir and wrap first in news paper and then in a tea towel, and stick them back into my heated cooler.

(make sure the yoghurt you use has live cultures)

I leave it in a warm place over night, about 10 hours

and voila, delicious home made goodness

We then have it for breakfast with, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries,grapes, kiwi, walnuts and honey or whatever we have on hand.

Enjoy!!!

This Moment

A friday ritual inspired by Soulmama
A single photo, no words
A moment I want to pause, treasure and remember

Have a wonderful nature filled weekend!

Flowers and wreaths

We spent a beautiful day picking wild flowers, and making wreaths.

We have always enjoyed taking long walks in the country, when we lived there we walked every day, these days while living in the city, we enjoy our country walks a few times a week. We always pick flowers and when in season berries as well. Often these flowers make it home where I love to have lots of vases filled with fresh wild flowers, however today we found a wonderful shady spot under a great climbing tree, where we made beautiful wreaths.

Little Keenan gathered his flowers proudly in his net

Although I have no pictures the children climbed this tree like little monkeys

Happy daisies are the abundant wildflower right now,

I love how from week to week the flower selection changes, it even seems to be color coded.

Right now many white flowers are blooming.

Right before that it seemed to be very yellow, with lots of buttercups everywhere, next I think we will see lots of orange, such as the day lilly, which I found just two of today.

I wonder if I remember correctly..

Kaleena does beautiful creations with flowers..

She made me a beautiful bracelet

Another beautiful day in nature

Many thanks!!!

Farm fresh

Although we at present have not YET manifested a farm life of our own, we are fortunate

to have wonderful farm friends and every week we spend a day on the farm.

It is wonderful for the children to connect in a more personal way to where our foods come from. We have often taken part in the milking process, the children too have milked ( a little), and we have brought the milk home still warm.

For me, once you have experienced raw milk there is no going back.

I feel blessed that the children

have such a close connection to the cows that provide them with milk and yoghurt.

Quick stop at the outhouse...

and on to gather greens and strawberries

And finally the eggs.

The children were there when the baby chicks were brought to the farm, and have helped care for them. Before the frogs, the chickens were Kaleena's favorite and

she would spend most of her time on the farm with them.

I find it helps them not take the food they eat for granted, they have an experience of the process that happens in order to bring the food to their table..

then again, what do I know

And at the end of the day...

Such color, kale, lettuce, herbs and strawberries...

fresh milk and eggs. All freshly picked and gathered.

With love and gratitude

Tendernes

Today I share a wee bit sad story.

My sisters cat brought in a beautiful little cardinal,

and despite our best efforts he did not make it.

How precious this fragile little creature, the children loved him immediately, and of course wanted to keep him, they dug up worms for him, talked to him and gently caressed him, he seemed strong and with the will to live, and yet within a few hours he had gone.

It was so puzzling and disappointing, and it made me sad for the children, that they would not have the experience of saving the little bird, although they of course let go of the bird much more readily than I. They were tender and sincere in their goodbyes, and then on to play.

It was for me another reminder of how beautiful and fragile life is, how precious this moment, and how important to surrender and let go when the time comes.

The magic hour

This evening while I was putting Keenan my youngest to sleep, Kaleena was in the yard creating a beautiful fairy house.

Up until recently I have been putting both children to bed at the same time, it always seemed to work, and afforded me an evening in peace that I personally really need. Keenan who is 3 is however ready for sleep at 6.30 and clearly Kaleena who is 6 was not. So for the past few months Kaleena has been staying up an extra hour, it is an hour for her, in peace, and always in creativity. Usually she will sit on the floor drawing picture after picture, yet now that the evenings are turning warmer this special time, right between the end of the day and the beginning of the night finds her fluttering in the garden in total bliss.
The air this evening was heavily perfumed with the scent of honeysuckle and the birds were all saying their goodnights before they too slowly fell silent. She ran around in her night dress, bare feet, gathering twigs and the like and when I came out she had created such a beautiful little dwelling for the fairies.
How precious and important this last hour of the day, the magic hour...

Backyard bonfire and "snobroed"

Baking snobroed over the open fire is something I did when I was growing up in Denmark. The recipe is real basic, as it was often done away from home in the out doors. The recipe I have calls for 1 pk. of dry yeast, 500g of flour, 1 tsp of salt, 300ml of water and thats it, mix dry ingredients and slowly add water, and then knead together well, no need for rising. We used half whole wheat pastry flower and half spelt flour, and added a little agave as well.
Building a bonfire with the children is always exciting and the simple act of baking bread over the fire just adds to the fun.
So first we mix and knead....










And while we let the dough rest, we build the fire







Rolling the dough into long slim sausages....




And turning it around the sticks, we used bamboo sticks, and remember to cover the top
of the stick with dough so that it does not burn







Bake the bread over glowing embers, and keep turning. It is ready when it sounds hollow when you tap it, and also if it slides of the stick without sticking.



...... and here is one ready to eat



add some raspberry jam, yum!



It is hard to believe that we all washed hands before we started, it was a delicious mess.

This Moment

Joining Soule Mama in a Friday ritual; A single Picture, no words.
A moment from the week past. A moment to remember and hold in my heart.