4th of July Fun!

Well, I meant to post this on Monday, which would have been much more appropriate.  But you know, life happens & today's Thursday and here I am posting about our 4th of July.

 

We had a great weekend & I must say, the military really knows how to put on an Independence Day party. 

 

Ephram got to pet lots of different animals & had a blast on his first pony ride. 

 We had a great BBQ with friends & I attempted my first cherry, blueberry pie (fresh, picked I might add).   Here are the highlights!

 

 

                              

                               

                                

 

My uncooked pie....I didn't get a photo of it cooked- it got eaten so fast, but it was pretty!

Goat Cheese Making {a tutorial}

 

Goat cheese is one of my favorite cheeses & during E's first year, seemed to be more mild on his system than cheese from cow's milk.

 

A friend of mine found a great local source for fresh goat's milk & I have been experimenting with making my own goat cheese over the past few weeks!  It is a super economical option (goat cheese is PRICEY!) and also more fresh & nutrient rich as we are able to get it from a local source!

 

Goat cheese is really easy to make and isn't very time intensive either. 

 Here is the rundown of how to make your own goat cheese.

 

You'll need:

 

1 half-gallon raw (or pasteurized) goat's milk

1 TBSP lemon juice

Candy Thermometer

Saucepan

Cheesecloth

 

 

Heat goat's milk over medium heat until it reaches 180* F.  Be sure to watch it closely, so it doesn't overheat!

 

Remove saucepan from heat.

 



                

 

Squeeze in 1 TBSP of lemon juice, stir slightly & wait about 20 seconds or until you start to see curdles form.  This is the whey separating from the cheese.

 



 

 

Transfer the cheese & whey mixture to a cheesecloth sack.  You can also layer cheesecloth over a colander.  Allow cheese to drip & drain the whey off for about 1-2 hours.  The duration of time you allow the whey to drip off will determine the consistency of the cheese.  If you like your cheese more crumbly, you may want to allow the whey to drip off longer. 

 

                

Once it has reached the desired consistency, transfer to a bowl & add salt, garlic & your favorite herbs or spices.  I used fresh dill from our garden in this batch- YUM! :)

                 

 

 

12 months old

 

 

Clearly, I am a little bit  behind on this post.  We were so busy enjoying your first birthday & celebrating you that I almost forgot to do my monthly post on your growth!

 

It has been so wild and also precious, to think over the past year of your life & to think back to the day you made your entry into the world & into our arms.  Your dad & I are so blessed.

 

Two weeks ago, we celebrated your first birthday with family & friends at our side.  Prior to that, in your 11th month of life, you changed so much & turned from a baby to a toddler right before our eyes!

 

Some notable things from month 11:

 

You began full out WALKING.  At 10 months, you had just taken your first steps & this past month we got to watch you take off.  Literally.  You became a walking machine & I think are still quite impressed with your newfound skills.

 

You've also begun to squat & stand back up in place rather than just tumbling down on your bum when you want to grab something off the floor.

 

You have started to communicate more & mommy & daddy are learning your language.  "Ma" means "more" and that is one of your most commonly used words, along with "Ca" for "car", "da" for "that" or "the" and your favorite parental word these days is "Dada".  You also say "Dadee" which we think is your version of "doggie"

 

With your newfound skills, you are much more independent these days & like to get into just about anything you can get your hands on!  You give mom & dad quite the workout!

 

You shake your head, although I'm not sure that you know that means "no" yet, and I am just fine keeping you in the dark on that one ;)

 

Balls & your new hammer toy are some of your favorites now & you are getting really good at sorting toys & putting objects into other objects. 

 

 

We are so proud of you little man & look forward to the next year of life with you!

 

 

Ephram's Bowtie Birthday Bash

Our little man's 1st birthday was this weekend.  It's hard to believe how quickly the year has passed.

 

We celebrated in classy style with friends & family & threw him a Bowtie Bash!

 

Here are some* pictures from the day! 

 (*and by some I mean a TON!)

 

 the spread

 

 bowtie fruit kabobs

 

 cookies from old drum bakery

 

 

delicious cupcakes & cake from my sweet & talented friend!

 

bowtie pesto

 

smash cake (grain & dairy-free)

 

 

 

birthday poster & invitations by Kelley Cummins Design

 

 

 

  

Our little family all bow-tied up (well, dad's wasn't quite tied up yet!)

 



 

 

 

 

 

favors

 



Ben & I were overwhelmingly blessed to celebrate our little man with family & friends this weekend. And Ephram, though experiencing his first sugar high, enjoyed every minute of it :)

a week in review

 

This week started on a high note, celebrating my first Mother's Day with my two favorite guys.  We went out for a delicious brunch & then they spoiled me with an afternoon of shopping.  The icing on the cake was running into this guy, JD, whom we haven't seen in over a year!  What a blessing! Unplanned reunions are the best :)

 

 

 

I also made my first attempt at goat cheese this week & was quite pleased!  More of that to come, for sure!

 

 

As if Mother's Day wasn't enough, my thoughtful husband took E out for the day so I could get some sewing & cleaning done.  What a guy.  Oh & they came back bearing flowers.  What a winning team, and handsome, I might add.

Ephram was very pleased with his father-son outing; he was all-smiles :)

 



 

 

And although I missed them dearly, I was able to get this cute little wreath made for a friend/customer & worked on some of these. 

 

 

Happy Friday!

Curried Pork Burgers

 

 

 

So there was this one time when we bought 1/2 a hog and didn't know what to do with all this newly acquired pork.  Buying portions of animals for eating is a lovely luxury of our area.  We have also purchase a 1/4 of a cow, which by the way, is a mammoth amount of meat.  It's a learning curve each time we do it, as I am not familiar with all the different cuts, etc...

 

Our pork has proved to be the most challenging for me as I just really don't cook a lot of pork period.  What does it go with? What are good flavors to use in cooking it?  All great questions.  None of which, I knew the answers to. With this particular hog, we also got a ton of ground pork, which is not something you see everyday at the supermarket, so again, I had no idea what to do with it.

 

Insert Curried Pork Burgers from Better Homes and Gardens. When I saw this recipe I had to try it, for the shear fact that it calls for ground pork, and seriously, how many people have that on hand? It was our first grill out of the season & we were quite pleased with the results!

Here is our adapted version of BHG Curried Pork Burgers.

What you'll need:

1/4 cup spectrum organic mayonnaise

1/4 tsp. curry powder

1 lb. ground pork

1/4 cup minced shallots

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. curry powder

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

Burger buns (we used Rudi's Organic)

Toppings: shredded red cabbage, tomato, goat cheese, avocado

 

 

Here's what you'll do:

Combine mayo and 1/4 tsp. curry powder in a small bowl and set aside. In a larger bowl combine pork, shallot, garlic, 1 tsp. curry powder, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper & red pepper. Fire up the grill & form your patties. We make ours pretty thin so we were able to get about 6-7 patties out of the recipe but for thicker patties you would probably get about 4 out of this.

Grill patties in a covered grill for 14-18 minutes. Grill buns. Top with mayo & assorted toppings & enjoy!

A perfect spring/summer meal!  We enjoyed ours with carrots & hummus on the side but I also thought kale chips would be a good accompaniment!