Milking at Midnight

Eating Her Curds and Whey

Becky is a diligent milk maid who takes prodigious care of her good friend Penny.
Penny, in turn, gives Becky five gallons of unbelievably sweet and creamy milk every day.

Today I had two and a half gallons to work with so I made two quarts of yogurt, a quart of cultured buttermilk, and a gallon's worth of ricotta. I always skim the top of the bucket into a quart jar to get the most cream possible in one jar. That makes it easier to pour off cream for butter.

Ricotta is made by adding a teaspoon of citric acid, dissolved in a quarter cup of water, to the milk and bring it to 185 degrees until the curds separate from the whey. Do not allow to boil.
I absolutely knew it was safe to look away for a second to scrub some pots and pans because I'd have to be a complete idiot to allow the cheese to boil, right?
I allowed to boil.
But it tastes fantastic in spite of my forgetfulness.

I've lost my bottle of rennet so I have to wait for the New England Cheesemaking order to come before I can start making hard cheeses.

Moonlight

Before the moon had risen, a bright orange glow was on the eastern horizon.
We thought it was a huge fire.
Katie took this.

Second Day Blues

This morning two sleepyheads are sore and cozy in their beds.
Three, counting Tom.

One more game in the Richmond tournament and we can rest.

Impressive Tournament

My three daughters were all on our Rec. team which went to a huge girls' tournament way out of our league- if you care about semantics, that is.
The teams we played yesterday were "elite travel" teams.
If we had had a chance to practice together (all 12 of us, which meant we only had one sub!) before the games, we would have been very competitive.
We played almost as well as the other teams, and we had a good time doing it. I could tell that our tough farm girls' attitudes were helping them against the dainty city girls.
Oh, and did I mention that although they were all 16 and 17 year olds, we ranged from 11-16.
Not too shabby, Charlotte County!
Here's the hotel room where we recovered between games.
Soccer's fun, but hair is important, too!

Milk and Eggs

Lots of milk.
Lots of eggs.

Quiche, bread pudding, and French toast are on the menu!

Spiders

This weekend is a big tournament in Richmond.
All three sisters are on the same team, the CCYS Spiders.
Who would dare take on these arachnids?