French Vanilla Ice Cream

For some reason, we're suddenly getting lots and lots of milk from Brownie.  I have quite a few cheeses curing, several bottles in the freezer for when we dry her off (and I'm gradually adding to this, but not wanting to fill up the freezer just yet when we have 8 animals getting slaughtered for the freezer this week) and every available jug is full.

It occurred to me this morning that I have plenty of eggs and lots of milk and one of the best things I can do with the two together is make custard.  I remembered seeing someone on My Kitchen Rules making an ice cream that was essentially a frozen creme anglaise.  I found a recipe in one of my books for creme anglaise just recently and was surprised to discover that it was simply a custard sauce with no cornflour.

A few minutes spent on google this morning, showed me that creme anglaise ice cream is better known as french vanilla - my favourite flavour of ice cream!  Well, that made it an obvious choice to be making.  I also checked up on making ice cream without an ice cream machine.  It was pretty much as I expected, you just need to pull it out of the freezer every half an hour or so and beat it up again.

The reason for this is the size of the ice crystals that form.  If I just put it straight into the freezer as it was, there would be fairly large ice crystals.  They don't change the flavour of the ice cream, but they do affect the mouth feel of it.  Beating it while it's freezing breaks up those large ice crystals and gives a smoother texture.

Thanks to Nigella, I know that after separating my eggs, I can freeze the egg whites and they'll be fine for pavlova or meringues.  So I place the egg whites in ziplock bags - 6 egg whites in each bag (which is the quantity I tend to use when I make pavlova) and there is no waste.

I have seen recipes that talked about adding the scalded milk tablespoon by tablespoon to temper the eggs.  In my first attempt, I just poured it all in and it came out fine.  

The original recipe was for 1/4 of the amount I have made, but I didn't think it was worth making ice cream 500ml at a time.  This came to approx 3 litres, possibly more.

2 containers of Creme Anglaise for French Vanilla Ice Cream

Creme Anglaise

2 litres of scalded milk
24 egg yolks
3 Cups of sugar
1 tsp of vanilla essence

Whisk egg yolks and sugar together until thick and pale.
Slowly add scalded milk, stirring constantly.
Heat on double boiler, still stirring constantly until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla essence.

In my case, since I'm making this into ice cream, I let it cool, poured it into ice cream containers and put them in the freezer.  They'll be getting stirred every half an hour until completely frozen.

Yummy.

Read More:
New Ice Cream Recipe with Variations

Winter is Certainly Here

We woke up this morning to frost on the inside of the windows.  I'm confident we only got the predicted -5 degrees Celsius overnight and we're still not a patch on Lake Pukaki's -20 from yesterday.  That isn't much comfort however, especially as tonight -7 is predicted.

From MetService.com

As I'm sick with the flu, my darling Hubby has been starting work late and coming home early.  He's been out in the icy mornings getting Miss Nine off to the school bus and milking the cow before he goes to work.  He drags Miss Nine along with him in the evening to feed out the animals and get them settled for the night.

Next week, the homekill man is coming and there will be 8 less animals to worry about.  2 steers, 3 hoggets and 3 pigs are going into the freezer.  This will take some of the strain off the meagre feed resources after a drought-laden Summer and poor growing season.  We've already had to buy in more hay.  I'm a little cranky at how much more we paid for it as there are big chunks of wood throughout the bales - they're big enough that I'm putting them in the wood shed for firewood.

For some reason though, my hens have started to lay more.  They're all older birds so I don't expect an egg a day from them all, most moulted last month (with one changing colour as her new feathers came in) and it's been cold.  But somehow, my daily collection of eggs has doubled in the last week.  *Shrugs* I'm not complaining, I just find it a little odd.

Taken at 11am.

For now, we're keeping the fires burning, wearing thermals, feeding out the animals and I'm keeping an eye on the spots that don't thaw out at all during the day.

Some Thoughts on Cheese Making

Again today, I'm in the process of making cheese.  This time I'm having a go at Edam - it's currently setting after the addition of the rennet.

It struck me today that the really hard part about trying new cheeses is that they take months to cure.  I like to know the success or taste of a cheese before I attempt to make another one.  If the recipe I've used is not right, or something was lost in translation (translation from cheese-making jargon to what I understand).  I'd prefer to know about it before I charge on in potentially making the same mistakes over and over and having a shelf full of cheeses (this represents hours and hours of work and plenty of milk) that are only good for the pigs.

My last batch of Camembert was a disaster.  I'd been getting rather hard crumbly Camemberts but they were still completely edible, you could slice it and eat it just fine on a cracker.  I did some research and wondered if I'd been a bit rough with my curd.  So for the last batch I was extremely gentle.  The curds didn't look like cottage cheese this time, they held their mostly cube shapes.  But it was harder than ever.  you can't safely slice this batch.  I've taken to grating it with a lemon zester and using it in potato bakes where I might have used parmesan.  It's worked okay, but it is frustrating.

Camembert only cures for a month!  Today's Edam will need to wait for two months before I know if it's any good.

I've been making different types of hard cheeses so I'll have a variety to try and decide whether or not to make again.  Currently curing is Gouda and a Farm Cheddar.  Actually, I think they're both up for tasting in the next couple of weeks.

Another thought is that many of the recipes available are not really designed for the home cheesemaker.  The smallest quantity of milk I've found in these recipes is 4 litres.  Most are approximately 10 litres and I've found a few that are 20+.  Four litres is manageable.  Ten litres is easy to work out reduced amounts and conversions.

Ten litres isn't entirely practical unless you go and buy special equipment for cheesemaking.  I've taken to sterilising a large bucket and using that.  Otherwise I have one large stockpot that will only barely hold ten litres and a large bowl that isn't really big enough for all the whey.

A further thought is that it really is quite incredible how a small difference in process can make such a different cheese.  I've made feta, minas, camembert, gouda, edam, cheddar, mozzarella and ricotta.  With the exception of mozzarella and ricotta, most of the cheesemaking process has only small variations in what you do to create such vastly different cheeses.  They use the same cultures (I only have two cultures) and the same volume of rennet.  Camembert has Penicillum Candidum added.  The time left to set, whether or not it's then heated in whey and whether it's pressed are the main differences and then how long it's left to age.

It's a journey anyway and one I'm having fun with.

Simple Cough Syrup

Every year, I make a very simple cough syrup for my family.  It contains no drugs so there isn't a need to measure or worry about how much the children might be taking.

Mostly, I believe, the honey is the thing.  It coats a tickly throat and allows you to sleep.

This will help ease an annoying cough.  It should not be relied upon in place of medical treatment if you have a nasty hacking cough or an infection of some sort.

I use rosehips for their immune boosting properties.  Be sure to use rosehips from the dog rose as other varieties of rose don't always have the same vitamin C content or may have been sprayed.

I use thyme for it's antibacterial properties.  If your throat is slightly inflamed, there is an opportunity for bacteria to take hold and cause an infection.  Thyme also thins and breaks down mucous.

If you can get Manuka honey, it also adds a wonderful boost to this syrup.

I don't use specific quantities because I don't think they really make a difference.  My Herbs tutor always did units of measure as "some" or "a quantity".  As long as you have some of each in your syrup, the only real difference will be the taste.  Although, 100ml of decoction to 4 tbsp honey is a good consistency for a syrup.

Cough Syrup

A handful of chopped rosehips - fresh or dried.
A handful of thyme - fresh or dried.
Water
Honey

Simmer rosehips and thyme in water for ten minutes.
Strain, squeezing out as much liquid as you can.

Add honey to liquid and heat gently to dissolve honey.
Bottle, label and store in the refrigerator.

NOTE:  Do not boil the liquid as this can destroy any benefit you may get from the herbs.
Anything with sugar (honey) has the potential to ferment.

This recipe can also be made with Oatstraw to promote sweating (which is part of your bodies own defensive system), support the nervous system and lift the spirits.

Four Year Anniversary

This weekend marks four years for us on our little farm.  Changing our lifestyle, changing our priorities and learning to enjoy a simpler life.

We came here with grand plans and big ideas.  We were realistic with them for the most part but four years have taught us that we weren't quite realistic enough for some of it.

We've had our share of successes and failures.  We've had panics and frightening times.  We've had joys and pleasant surprises.

Our goal was to become as self-sufficient as possible.  We were bearing in mind that there are things we can't provide for ourselves no matter what we do but some of the things we are providing for ourselves have been more successful than imagined.

We've managed several meals where everything on the plate was grown here.  Although that hasn't been as many as we'd have liked.  One year was a complete potato failure and last year the spuds went well - we are still using them - but all the other veges were a waste of time.

We've only bought two bottles of milk in the last four months.  I'm waiting on cheeses to ripen before I can cut them out of the grocery bill too.  I haven't bought eggs in a year and our excess is well received by friends and family.  Even though I have 30-odd freeloaders most of the time.  Nearly 40 hens and maybe 5 eggs a day at the moment, although every so often I find a hidden stash before the dog does.  He loves them and will even scoff down the bad ones - I hear a crunch, wonder what he's doing and then the smell hits me.

Our neighbours have stopped making jokes about Green Acres and the townies with big ideas and started treating us less condescendingly - although to be fair, it was never a nasty sort of condescension, it was kind and helpful.

Hubby regularly watches Country Calendar (including the old reruns from the 70s) and will get researching for himself when something gets his attention.  His ongoing battle with gorse took a new turn when he saw one farmer comment that it's good to get the animals to do some of the work.  He was finding that cutting it when the grass had grown up around it could be problematic as the grass would wrap around the shaft and bind up the blade of his scrub-cutter.  So he'll now cut some of it away, let the cattle in who eat the grass down around the base of the plants (depending on low-lying branches) and make his job a lot easier.  He's also found that letting it sit for a while after cutting grows better grass underneath.  Last time he was shifting some that he'd cut months ago, he had two cows and two calves on his heels the whole time, cleaning up the grass as he shifted gorse.

It's easy to forget some of the things we've done.  It takes someone to comment or to have a look at some old photos to remind us that there were fence lines we couldn't walk around or paddocks that were completely blocked from view.  We had paddocks that were more gorse than grass and over half of our little farm unfenced. 

Hubby used to make a point of getting rid of all the crap that was around.  Every so often, he'd have a big clear out and make a couple of trips to the dump.  We don't do that very often anymore.  The amount of times the crap we've found has ended up being useful for a project or works for a short term fix has taught us the wisdom in not wasting a potential resource.  The milking shed was built entirely out of recycled bits of rubbish. 

Even the gorse has been useful.  Last winter, most of our firewood was from the big thick branches of gorse that had been killed off previously and were lying around hidden under massive stands of younger, healthier gorse.  I'm talking about wood that is four inches in diameter.  It makes a great firewood, it burns hot, fairly slowly and actually consumes some of the ash in the fireplace - we end up with less ash than we started with.

The house is a constant project of improvement.  Many of the drafts have been fixed, one tube of Selley's No More Gaps on one corner made a ridiculous difference to the kitchen.  The rotten lounge floor has now been replaced, although that ended up needed new beams and joists too.  That cost us half a cattle beast and a pig.  Where one of the add-on rooms had been clad in tin that looked like weatherboards, Hubby and Dad spent a couple of weekends replacing this with timber weatherboards, insulating it and lining it with building paper.  This winter, we've noticed a record difference in heat retention inside, getting up to 15 degrees C difference compared to outside.

I used to think of myself as quite a good knitter and all round crafty person.  I've since come to realise that I could knit and crochet, but now I'd consider myself a bit more accomplished.  I could do the basics before, but now I can tackle more difficult projects with confidence and achieve some lovely results.  These days, I have standing orders from people around me for socks, mitts and jerseys.

You'd think Miss (now) Nine had been born to this life.  The homekill man was trying to be discrete when she was around but I think he was both surprised and delighted by her fascination with the insides of the animals and how they all go together.  I'll never forget her demanding to see the heart followed by "Eww, gross.  Can I touch it?"

We've learned to make both long and short term goals, to celebrate our small wins, to be kinder to ourselves and that there is no such thing as a "free weekend".

We frequently have discussions based around whether we're improving or maintaining and that some things come under both headings.

We've learned the value of water and not to take anything for granted.  We've learned respect for the land, respect for the weather, respect for all our animals and respect for ourselves.

Fencing and Sheep

In our four years on our little block, we've learned a lot about containing animals and that nothing is as simple as it seems.  We used to think fencing was easy - where there was a barrier, animals were contained.

We've since learned that cattle will go over the top of fences when they really want to.  Either straight over and you're left scratching your head wondering if you have magic teleporting paddocks or they'll lean over the top to get feed on the other side and slowly destroy the fence.

Pigs will go under most things - the amount of strength they have in their noses is astounding.  The only thing I've found to contain determined pigs is corrugated iron and electric fencing.

Sheep, however, have been the most destructive force to our fences.  They go under, they go through and they mark their successes for next time with all the wool wrapped around two strands of fence pushed together.

We got Nibbles and her lambs knowing they were escape artists.  They were escaping through five strand cattle fencing so, we were assured, our sheep netting and deer fencing would be fine for keeping them in.

It was for a while.  Then there were the paddocks where some of the fences had already had some stress from two dexter calves being weaned.  Then the sheep would get into the shelter belts and from there they had their run of four different paddocks.  Trying to convince them to clean up one paddock before moving them to the next was a joke.  They were keeping four paddocks down.  Nibbles was rather fat when time came for her to have her lambs.

Bottom strand of fence twisted up to leave a gap for cunning sheep.

I know the big sheep station down the road culls the serial escapers.  As they pointed out, there might be one in a paddock, but it doesn't take long for that one to teach ten others and they'll teach a hundred.  Suddenly, you've got stock you can't keep under control.

At the time when I heard that, I had two sheep.  Both escape artists and one heavily pregnant.  Culling them was really not an option for us.  We had to make our fences sheep tight so they couldn't escape and when their lambs were born, they weren't taught the secrets because there would be no escaping.

A wool wrapped escape point into the shelter belt.

I've heard theories and tips from a number of people.  Some more practical than others.  One told me to wind a strand of wire through the bottom strand of the netting, run it all along the fence and strain it up tight.  Threading it through and around each netting block was challenging but straining it tight enough to stop them didn't happen.  The wire broke - high tensile fencing wire by the way.

Our next idea was to stake the bottom of the fence down.  Rods like tent pegs don't really work.  They pulled up again just with us testing them.  In the end, Hubby cut down several of the flat bar warratah stakes that we had lying around.  He drilled a hole near the top end.  We hammered them in, tied them to the bottom strand of the fence and then he hammered them to below the surface of the ground.  This is a very long and slow and painstaking process (pun not intended) but it seems to work.

Stake tied to bottom strand

Stake hammered to ground level.

It's not helped by the way the fences have been stapled to the posts.  We were told by the guy we bought the place off that the deer fenced paddocks were put up for ostriches.  Ostriches don't need the bottom foot or so fenced, so he'd had to go through and drop all the fences down to ground level.  Except he didn't drop them to the ground, or rather he didn't drop all of them to ground level.  In some places there was more than 20cm (8 inches) between the bottom strand of the fence and the ground.

The gap between the bottom of the fence and the ground.

So our first job in each paddock we're making sheep strong is to drop the height of the fence.  Then we go along staking down the bottom.  In some places a single stake between fence posts is sufficient, in others two is needed.  We've run out of warratahs and flat stake standards so Hubby bought 30mm x 6mm flat bar in 6m lengths and just cut and drilled them from there.

Three paddocks down, two to go!