A Big Batch of Cultured Butter

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I’m at my friend Shannon’s Nourishing Days blog today, sharing how I make a big batch of cultured butter. How is this different than my cultured butter in the food processor? For one, it is a bigger batch, like 7 to 8 times bigger — instead of yielding 1 pound of butter, I get between 7 and 8. I like this because I can make more butter less often which equals less work. :) I also employ another time saver — culturing the cream while it’s still in the milk.

FREE Video: How to Dehydrate Plums/Prunes

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In the last free video, I showed you how to freeze prunes or plums — this time, I’m showing you how to dehydrate them. They’re easy to do, take up very little storage space and don’t require special temperatures (although cooler is better). The only problem is, they get eaten too quickly! ;)

FREE Video: How to Freeze Plums/Prunes

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It is prune and plum season in Oregon — one of my favorite times of year! In today’s video, I show you how easy it is to freeze plums/prunes for use in the winter. In the off-season, I use frozen plums to make plum sauce or we toss the plums in smoothies. The great thing about using frozen fruit for smoothies is it acts like ice, too!

FREE Video: Whey — What It Is & How To Get It

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You see whey frequently in lacto-fermentation recipes on this blog or in the class, so it is important to cover exactly what whey is, which forms will work for fermentation, and how to get it. This week’s free video and print notes are excerpts from my fermenting class — enjoy!

Free Video: Homemade Fruit Fly Trap

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It’s that time of year! Fruit flies go crazy for fermenting foods, and fermenting concoctions are a hallmark of a traditional kitchen. What to do about them? Try my homemade fruit fly trap. It really works — and better yet, it is simple. Watch me put one together in this short, free video. This post also includes the print instructions.

How to Wax Cheese

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Waxing cuts down on mold and putrefying bacteria’s access to cheese while it ages, and it also prevents cheese from drying out too much. I put off trying waxing as long as I could simply because I didn’t want to use wax. And until we had a cow, we could keep up with the cheeses I made from our goat’s milk — so no need to wax or put up cheese for off-season. Fast forward to now. Getting 4 to 5 gallons of milk a day means I make alot of cheese. So… learn to wax, I must. And I did!

Free Video: Homemade, Natural, All-Purpose Cleaner

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I made up this natural, homemade, all-purpose cleaner recipe years ago. I copied a more expensive cleaner that I really liked. I looked at the other cleaner’s ingredients and realized I had everything it included, so I started making it myself for a fraction of the cost. This post includes a video recipe and a print recipe.

How to Render (Goat) Fat

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My husband and kiddoes butchered a goat last weekend. Naomi came in the house and asked me what I wanted before they hung it or gave the innards to Areli (our dog), and I said, “The fat, the heart and the liver.” The heart and liver I plan to add to other meat dishes to boost nutrition. The fat was destined for rendering and a multitude of cooking uses: definitely frying, perhaps pastries, and possibly soap.

Homemade Raw Cheddar Cheese

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They say this cheddar gets better with age. I don’t know about that because we ate it fresh. ;) For those of you without a cheese press, you can eat the curds fresh and un-pressed!