Well...it sounds weird; but, do you give your chicken a bath before you roast it?



Since we are eating birds we raised and butchered ourselves, I find myself giving them a good scrubbing with a little dishsoap before I season and stuff them.

Hey! I KNOW how gross they were before they got packaged.

Do any of you bathe your birds too?
Inquiring minds want to know. I'm checking to see if I need mental help, or if this behaviour is okay.

This morning I made a batch of Kefir soap. Crazy? Maybe. It's such good stuff, and it has alot of heaing properties, so I figured I might as well try it. I used a goat milk soap recipe and modified it. It looks great! I hope it worked. We will see tomorrow when I take it out of the mold and cut it.

Yesterday I made buttermilk from culture and raw goat milk. Looks pretty good. I'll use some of it tomorrow as a culture for raw goatmilk cheddar. Tonight after I milk, I'll strain the milk and put in a culture for a soft cheese called Fromage. It's like a cream cheese, which I would like for cooking.

I'm planning on trying more hard cheeses now that I am overflowing with Feta! It looks so nice with herbs in the jars. I'm planning on giving it as gifts during the holidays. I'll try some soft cheese, rolled in balls and with herb coating stored in olive oil too.

I'm still waiting on a shipment of scents for soapmaking. Can you tell I'm trying to keep busy? Can you tell it's hunting season? I'm not bitter...okay, yes I am.

Anyway, I have tons of tomatoes and yellow squash from the garden. I'm not in the mood for them anymore at all, so I'll process them into something. I have had so much salsa lately- usually we can't get enough, but I guess we have passed "enough" by now!

It's time to head out to the barn and milk, feed, water, and check on an injury. Then...it's time for jammies and a cup of tea and a good book. THE "good Book", actually the comic book version belongin to my 7 year old boy. He loves for me to read out loud from that. I just got my newest No Greater Joy and saw two new books I want! One is a great looking comic book version of Bible stories clearly giving the Gospel, that I want to get my boys. They know the gospel, but they can use it with friends, and get it ingrained into their own brains as well.

Yesterday we butchered 11 cornish cross chickens, a young bronze turkey, and a goose!

We had our best friends out from Brewster to show us how and help. They got to take home a Boer buckling for all their hard work, which blessed us and them.

So now I have a freezer full of birds, and by the end of fall hopefully an elk and two deer. There's something so right about your own meat in the freezer instead of that stuff in the store. Maybe we will do rabbits eventually too.

I need to make more soap this week. I never want to run out of homemade again! I'm spoiled now. I'm going to make the net batch with essential oil instead of fragrance. I have lemongrass, and it should be nice. I like peppermint soaps too, as they wake me up in the morning. I might make a lavender peppermint batch too, since I have so much lavendar growing in the back. Last year I made lavender and rosemary and I like it. I like more natural scents anyway. I also would like to make another batch of the Farmhouse Oatmeal Cookie soap I made last year. That was hands down the best of all.

Well, it's time to get into jammies and be settled in for the night. Tomorrow morning always comes so darn early!

Cool name for a cheese huh? It's just a raw, hard goat milk cheese. That's what I'm making today. It sounds pretty easy, and it's so hot out, I thought I might as well use that to my advantage and do a raw milk cheese that needs to be at the same tempature as my kitchen!

All you need for this cheese, besides a press, which my darling bought me last year, is the milk, some rennet, and kosher salt. One more great thing about this house is the spare room downstairs that stays cool. In the summer I use it for a cheese curing room. The flies never go down there either. Always a plus. he he.

Yesterday I made a mesophillic cheese culture, and two pint jars of raw sauerkraut made with celtic sea salt and kefir whey. I'm sounding weird even to myself here. Oh well, normal is boring.

Yesterday my eldest son and I went to Borders Book store to find some knitting books for Tori, whose 14th birthday is Sunday. A horse-crazy girl who also does kneedle work, Nope, we are not so boring. The two of us had a grand time having lunch and coffee (he had Italian Soda) in the coffee shop while perusing books and magazines in the cool, air conditioned shop. It was 105 outside, so we really appreciated it!
The air conditioner in the truck didn't seem to make a huge difference yesterday. Ugh.

I found the greatest book in the bargain section, all about different countries, cultures, and their foods. It's a huge book full of history and glossy color photos. A homeschool mom's dream. this will be great for our country studies and potlucks we do with a small group of other homeschool families. that's the best $8 I have spent in a long time.

This thursday we have our homestudy. Hooray! finally it feels like there's some action. I am a "give me the botton line, let's MOVE!" -type of girl. It's hard.

I got an email yesterday from a woman who distributes the Above Rubies magazines in her church and community, wanting to be my pen pal. She lives in KENYA! Hello! She's a beautiful, articulate Pastor's wife, and I just can't wait to learn more about her and her country. Life is never dull, I'll tell ya that much. She read my article in AR and decided to email me. What an adventure!

Well, it's time to take my now sterilized supplies and get busy on my cheese. I think I'll make Feta next. I'm out and I eat feta on my salads daily. Who could resist?