I have just made butter...

[CurlewKate]

...and yesterday I made vanilla extract. I have never felt more like a parody of myself.

WHERE ARE THE BEHIND COW'S BACK LEGS 😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐

To be fair, demi-levitation probably makes an easier job of milking.

😂 I never noticed that before!
She definitely has 4 legs!

A local shop was giving away over ripe mangoes for free. I made my own mango chutney....it....was...amazing* way better than shop bought. Family got hold of it and it lasted about a week.

Where do I apply for my wanky club membership card?

*Gary Rhodes Great British classics recipe with some extra nigella seeds added

Oh yes, I made mango chutney once too (got a box of them for about a pound at the end of the day on a market) - it was amazing.

I make all my own pickled onions, they are far nicer than shop bought and this year I have made dill pickles with cucumbers from my allotment (allotmenting definitely encourages this sort of thing).

That's a relief. It's always concerning when your pets start breaking the laws of physics.

Back legs or no back legs, what gorgeous cows!

sourcherries
No knead sourdough:
Assuming you already have a generously sized jar of sourdough culture: chuck a load of flour in a bowl. Add salt, sourdough starter, and enough warm water to mix into a loose dough (not too loose! It should be able to keep a ball shape without slumping. It will mysteriously get sloppier overnight). Fold it with a big spoon until it's all mixed in. Cover, maybe giving it another fold before bed. In the morning, fold again and blob onto a floured tray, shaping it until it's vaguely loaf like. Bake for an hour ish at 190- 200 C ish.

Depending on my health I do make chutneys and pickles but for a wanky looking present that is simple get:

a jam ajr
olive oil
pitted olives
mushrooms
capers
peppers
garlic.

Peel a garlic clove and put in the jam jar.

Slice the olives, mushrooms and peppers thinly

Arange the slices in the the jar with the capers and pour in the olive oil.

You need to tap it to get air pockets out, put the lid on and leave it for a week and then hand over as wanky present.

Well, here it is, my first butter. I used the stand mixer, turned my back for a minute and it had all separated, I didn’t even notice it going through the whipped cream stage. It’s in the fridge to solidify a bit more now. It tastes creamier than shop bought butter.

So, the cream cost £2.60, the butter weighed in at 380g, that equates to £1.70 for 250g which is cheaper than a lot of shop butters.

I made my own blackberry jam during the week. Can I join?
I hadn't tasted it since I was a kid, bloody gorgeous. I put it on white soda bread with proper butter and now I'm just thinking that if I make the butter then I have leftover buttermilk to make my own soda bread...

I love this kind of homestead stuff. Especially now since people have house cows which I didn't know was a thing. We'll have to get one I think!

Yes, they are no trouble at all in the house, you'd hardly know they lived there!

@EversoDetermined "So, the cream cost £2.60, the butter weighed in at 380g, that equates to £1.70 for 250g which is cheaper than a lot of shop butters."
That's interesting-I think I got more butter. Or was your cream super expensive? I got 300g of butter from 600ml of cream...

I've been toying with making my own yogurt for ages and now I'm probably going to buy the Lakeland yogurt maker! I'm also going to have a go at making butter.

Can I join?

I have homemade beetroot chutney, pickled pears and sugar free cherry jam in the fridge. Homemade pineapple vinegar in the cupboard and loads of pasta sauce and tomato soup in the freezer made from homegrown tomatoes.

I'm hand stitching a patchwork quilt too.

I found out this week you can make small batch bread in an air fryer.

It was 600mL of Sainsburys Double cream

I made yogurt overnight too and strained it this morning, so that’s set us up nicely for the weekend.

But which grow lamp do you use?

I tell you this thread is a MINE of information.

I forgot, I made elderflower cordial for the first time this year too. Delicious.

I was considering getting a dairy cow (or two, since you can't really have just one), but the paperwork put me off. We do make butter, mozzarella cheese and yoghurt, so we would use plenty of milk, but I've decided to get goats instead. I have no idea how that will work out in terms of making cheese etc, but I like goats and cows are a faff, so goats it is!

(Do I need to say that we have an actual croft, this isn't something I'm going to set up in my garden?) I have kept goats before, and they are by far my favourite creatures.

I bought myself a Kilner butter churn for my birthday a few years ago. I didn't expect to use it much, but then the price of butter shot up, shortages were common in shops, and cream remained relatively affordable, so we use it loads.

I remember a James Herriot book when his father-in-law’s house cow (the Jersey one that served the family’s needs instead of the commercial Friesians) had a heifer calf. The taciturn FIL lavished it with care and affection, so logically…

@EversoDetermined Aldi cream was half that last week! I don't think it was on special offer either.....

Yes, but Aldi is a LOT further away than Sainsburys, would probably spend the difference in petrol. I might try Lidl next time though, there’s one near my work.

This is my favourite thread in AGES!

I cure and smoke my own bacon. Buy pork, salt it for some days, rinse, let sit for a few days, smoke with Maple chips. Yum!

Wanky enough?!

I love doing jam, chutney, pickles. Had a long-standing relationship with my sourdough before I killed it (accidentally)! Now I like using the pâté fermenteé style with a firm starter.

At the moment I'm playing with making ice-cream!