Milk Musings

For the majority of Tristan's life (3 1/2 years now - just to give you a time frame) we've drank raw milk. When that is unavailable, we get the next best thing: milk from the local diary "Homestead Creamery." We get it delivered, making it a little fresher than what is in the stores, and we always get the Whole Creamline milk - meaning it is pasteurized but not homogenized.

Shannon as of lately has decided that he doesn't like "cream milk." Sometimes you'll get a chunk, for lack of better or more descriptive adjectives, of cream in the milk that just won't seem to blend in well. The longer you let un-homogenized milk sit, the more the cream and milk separate. If Shannon even thinks he sees cream an alarm system goes off and we all seek immediate, underground shelter. .......
No, not really. But anyone who's dealt with children's sudden absolutes about food knows the ensuing havoc caused by not adhering to their eating mandates, whether the fault was real or perceived. Tristan it is black beans, broccoli, ranch dressing and onions; Shannon it is cream. Heaven forbid there be good-for-you cream in that there milk!

Tristan, is another matter, as siblings usually are. It was with great amusement this morning that I heard him exclaim that there was cream in his milk. And there was. I had noticed a big glob of it go into his glass last night (don't worry, the glass was in the fridge overnight!! geez - you worry-warts, you!!). I told him it was good for him and to drink it.
Then I heard him announce that he was eating it. OK. He is drinking out of a tall, child-sized, Tervis Tumbler. A tall, narrow plastic cup basically. First I start hearing the noises. For those of you who know me, you know I can't stand "mouth noises." Tristan was reaching his little hands way down into the cup, scraping up some cream on his fingers and eating it. Like the determination to get the last little bit of ice cream or milkshake out of a cup. Relishing in the deliciousness of it. I handled it for a minute or so before I couldn't take it anymore.
I told him to drink it, and was informed that it wouldn't come out! So ... I went and got a long teaspoon and scooped the rest out and let him have at the spoon. I then began cleaning out the cup.

For those of you who've never had raw or creamline milk, clean-up is a little different. The milk clings to glasses and cups, the cream even more so. Warm-to-hot water is a requirement to get it off, as is a little rubbing with a sponge.

While I was cleaning his cup, Tristan announced he wanted water. I told him he could have milk. Then I told him that he could have milk with his lunch.
I'll end this with his reply, his way of saying he wanted the milk right then and there, not later.

"I want milk without my lunch!"

Failed Sour Cream & Real Butter

Not all attempts work the first time we try them, but it is only more encouragement to keep trying! A beautiful example: This was our first attempt at making sour cream. We used our raw milk, or rather the cream from it, and cooked it for a bit, then blended in some of our (traditional) buttermilk. This is it, sitting out to age. It tasted different than store-bought, that was to be expected. What wasn't to be expected was that it never thickened up like we had hoped. Hmmmmm. A dilemma to be sure! But, all was not lost ~ RANCH DRESSING PACKETS TO THE RESCUE!!! And, viola, we made a beautiful, homemade, raw ranch dressing. The taste truly was amazing.

And now, here's something we hope you'll really like: REAL BUTTER!!
On the left you will see a partial stick of butter. I bought it at our local Co-op, and while not organic, it really is a very good quality butter from a respectable creamery. On the right, my homemade butter, made from the cream of our delicious, Jersey-cow, pasture-raised, raw milk. Historically speaking, one could always tell the quality of the butter by just how yellow it was. Any questions?
Ok, I think I heard one - how do you make butter?? Well, it is a merciless sport to be sure! First, start with raw milk and seperate out the cream into another container (I use a 1/3 measuring cup for this). The cream is thick and heavy, when it gets watery looking you're not getting cream! Once you've got your cream, well, here is what I do: 1) I pour it into my KitchenAid mixer and attach my whisk attachment. 2) Start to whipping the daylights out of the cream. Here is where you show no mercy!! ;) 3) You're cream will soon become whipped cream (yes, this is where it comes from) ... but don't get too excited!! ~ Be mean & cruel and keep whipping that cream till it breaks down! Don't give up, you're almost there! 4) Soon, you will have mastered the cream (hee hee) and it will suddenly begin to split ~ with the butter beginning to clump together & buttermilk shooting out. 5) When I say "shooting out" I mean it, so turn down your mixers! 6) Drain off the buttermilk - you want to get as much of it out of your butter as you can. Sometimes if I plan on adding ingredients, I will attach the paddle attachment here. Save the buttermilk, it is great in recipes! 7) Now that you've gotten the buttermilk out, you can add any extra ingredients to your butter that you'd like: salt, honey, garlic (though I wouldn't advise the honey and garlic together, but you may be weird like that and if you are - go for it, I won't judge!), strawberries, various herbs and so on. 8) I like using little metal molds for my butter as they freeze well and it is very easy to pop the butter back out once frozen.
So, there you go, how to make butter. *Note - if you have buttermilk left in the butter it will increase the rate at which it spoils. I've never had any butter that lasted long enough without being eaten to go bad! Now, go find yourself a nice cow and get to milkin'!!