Chocolate Peanut Butter Spelt Cookies

 

 

 

 

 

These cookies are soft and gooey. Perfect paired with a glass of milk.

 

 

Ingredients

 

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup natural crunchy peanut butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp molasses

1 egg

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 1/4 cup light spelt flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

 

 

Preheat oven to 350F. Prep cookie sheet. I like to lightly butter my pan.

 

In a large bowl beat together the butter, peanut butter, sugar, molasses, cocoa powder, and egg until smooth and creamy.

Stir in the flour, baking soda, and baking powder until smooth.

Spoon dough onto cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

 

Makes about 15 large cookies.

 

 

 

Milkweed Cordial

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our home smelled wonderful this morning while making this!

 

 

 

~Milkweed cordial~

 

6 cups of milkweed flowers (stemsw trimmed)

4 tablespoons of lime juice

2 cups of sugar

6 cups of water

 

 

Rinse flowers after stems have been removed.

Place them in a large pot with the rest of the ingredients.

Bring to a light boil over medium heat. Let boil for about 40 minutes or until it reduces by about a cup.

Strain the cordial.

Can or refrigerate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The arrival of Una-Mae & Gem.

 

We have been preparing for our first baby goats.

Mira, one of our three Nigerian dwarf goat does, was nearly ready to give birth.

With the due date fast approaching, Andrew and I have been working to prepare for the birth and arrival of new kids.

On Sunday morning, Andrew put together the frame of a birthing pen in the covered space between our two goat barns.

Every day I've been watching, looking for signs of Mira going into labour, but not much had been changing.

Her udder grew large about a month ago and she was very round, but there hadn't been any new changes lately. The due date was another week away.

Yesterday was hot, so in the evening we decided to go to our neighbours for a swim. We had a great visit and refreshing swim before we headed home around 6:00pm to do evening chores, starting with the goats.

I went around to the goat barn behind our home and there Mira was cleaning a fresh little baby while she was pushing another out!

I called to Andrew and the kids and then started to help clean the first baby.

Auren ran for some towels.

Mira was birthing standing up so as she pushed out the last baby I lowered it down to the ground.

What a feeling!

I was so excited and happy, I just wanted to cry.

And all three of our own kids got to watch Mira birth the second baby!

I set the second baby in front of Mira for her to clean.

She did such a great job with the first kid that I didn't want to interfere too much.

I sat with a towel and helped dry the kids off.

 

As soon as both babies were dry they started searching for Mira's udder and were both nursing in no time.

Mother Nature astounds me.

Andrew finished putting together the kidding pen so that Mira and her new little ones could settle in for the night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ Gem ~

 

 

 

 

 

~ Una-Mae ~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peanut Butter Spelt Cookies with Chocolate Chips

 

 

 

 

Peanut butter spelt cookies with chocolate chips.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup natural crunchy peanut butter

3/4 cup sucanat or coconut sugar

1 duck egg

1 1/4 cup light spelt or while spelt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 375

In a stand mixer, beat until smooth the butter, peanut butter, egg, and sugar.

Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until combined.

Spoon onto a cookie sheets and bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Little Goat Visit, by Kira

While Andrew worked at home preparing for our goats, the kids and I travelled to Sky River Meadow to visit our new babies.

The trip gave us one more chance to get to know our goats,

and it was time that I learned how to milk!

I'm thankful that Angee gave me the opportunity, and that Carmella (the goat) was very patient with me.

Milking is a very slow, yet relaxing chore.

I'm looking forward to next Spring when I can wander out to the barn early in the morning, sit quietly and milk goats.

We snuggled and played with babies and mamas nearly all day!

The bucks came out for visit and some love too.

Even though they are a little on the smelly side, they are very gentle and friendly.

While I sat on the grass visiting Angee and Erica, we watched the kids strip down and play in a flooded area that was full of tiny tadpoles.

Tired out by the end of the day, the kids finished off the remainder of our picnic lunch on the ride home.

The van smelled of mud, buck and garlic scape pesto.

Our goats will be coming home in a couple of weeks.

We can hardly wait!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

bee balm + tarragon chaga iced tea, by Kira

bee balm + tarragon chaga iced tea

In a 1.9L jar add:

1/2 cup of lemon juice

1/2 cup maple syrup

Fill the jar with brewed chaga tea.

Place a couple sprigs of bee balm and tarragon inside.

Refrigerate for a couple of hours and enjoy!

 

Enchanted Forest , by Kira

 

 

Fairy Spud

 

 

 

 

 

Red Trillum

 

 

 

 

 

Maiden Hair Fern

 

 

 

 

 

Yellow Bellworts

 

 

 

 

Caped Fern

 

 

 

 

Dutchman's Breeches

 

 

 

 

 

Leeks

 

 

 

 

 

Leatherwood

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The False Morel, by Kira

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hoping to forage our favourite mushroom,

we went out into the forest in search of morels.

We found some, but not the edible kind.

These mushrooms are the false morel.

This particular variety is the Beefsteak Morel (gyromitra esculenta).

A look inside shows a stem that is filled with a cotton-like fibre.

True morels, like the Black Morel (morchella elata) or Yellow Morel (morchella esculenta), are completely hollow up the middle of the stem and throughout the inside.

Also, the stem of the false morel is attached at the very top of the cap only,

but the edible morel has a cap that is fully attached to the stem.

 

To be sure about eating any wild mushrooms, take a wild mushroom workshop, get comfortable with mushroom field guides, or have a seasoned mushroom forager help in identification before heading out to collect mushrooms.

 

 

 

 

No Till Gardening, by Kira

 

 

 

 

All of our gardens over the past 5 years have been built hugelkultur style. Hugelkultur is a raised bed garden filled with logs, sticks, compost, and other organic materials; much the way a forest floor works.

I no longer till any of my gardens.

I rarely weed, and seldom need to water.

I mulch heavily in the fall and spring with leaves, compost, straw, or anything organic that will break down.

Once my planting is done I will mulch once or twice in the summer.

This supplies the soil with lots of nutrients and holds moisture longer so I rarely need to water.

The mulch covering also keeps weeds at bay.

This link illustrates Ruth Stout's method for no till gardening.

 

 

 

Homestead Flat Bread Recipe, by Kira

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

6 cups of flour

2 cups liquid (water, milk, buttermilk, or whey)

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp yeast

In a saucepan, heat the liquid until it is warm to the touch.

I like to use water or the whey that is left over after making cheese.

Once the liquid is warm, pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer,

stir in the honey and add the yeast.

Let it stand for a couple of minutes for the yeast to awaken.

When the yeast has started to foam, start adding flour.

I usually use a light spelt, but lately I have been doing a blend of about five cups light spelt and one cup whole buckwheat.

Note:

Liquid and flour measurements will vary a little depending on the type, and moisture content of flour used.

Add a couple cups of flour to the liquid and mix.

Then add the salt and slowly continue to add flour until it has formed a soft sticky dough.(Most of the dough should stick to the dough hook,

but the dough should still be moist and sticky).

In a cool place, covered, let the dough sit for the day or overnight to ferment.

When you are ready to cook you flat breads, pour the dough out onto a floured surface.

Divide and shape the dough into small balls.

Let them rest for a few minutes and preheat a cast iron pan on medium heat.

You can fry the flat breads in a dry pan or use a fat such as butter or lard.

We like to use lard since we have some left over from our pigs and it gives the breads a great taste.

Roll the balls of dough out flat and add them to the hot pan.

Fry them until bubbled and browned, flip and fry the other side.

Store them in a sealed container to help keep them fresh.

But they're best eaten right away.

Here are a few ways that we like to use our flatbreads.

For dipping in soups, stews, chillis, and dips.

Open face sandwiches, topped with cheese, sprouts and hummus or steak. Spinach, melted cheese, and lemony pepper sauce.

Topped like a pizza and broiled in the oven.

Toasted with favourite butters and jams.

For breakfast, serve them with poached eggs and avacodo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Chicks! by Kira

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring has finally sprung!

I am so excited!

The snow is melting and the phoebes have returned.

It has been a long winter and so I'm eager to share some pictures of our first hatch of chicks.

Spring is all about renewal, and chicks really help us get over Winter and ready to grow.

 

 

 

 

 

Poplar Bud Infused oil, by Kira

In a few weeks I am going to be making poplar bud oil.

If you have poplar trees around your home you will recognize the sweet, woodsy smell of their buds opening in the spring.

This is one of my favourite scents.

The buds are picked in early spring before the leaves have started to come out. This is when the buds are rich with sticky medicinal resins.

Poplar buds contain salicin and populin.

These glycosides are similar to aspirin and are effective at reducing pain, inflammation, and fever.

The infused oil is used to treat chapped lips, dry cracked hands,

minor scrapes, and cuts.

It is great for deep massages and relief from arthritis.

If you have little ones in diapers you can use it to prevent or treat diaper rash.

The hardest part of this project will be retrieving the poplar buds!

We have many poplar trees, but most of them are very tall.

The best time to hunt for buds is after a wind storm.

Look for fallen branches on the ground.

Fresh cheese! By Kira.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On my sixth attempt, I finally succeeded at making simple farm cheese.

This cheese is made by heating milk and then adding an acid to separate the protein.

My past attempts weren't total failures; I got some cheese, just not as much as I should have.

The cheese wasn't clumping together properly and I would lose most of it when I strained it through the cheese cloth.

I was talking with my friend the other day about making cheese and she told me she was cooking it on the cookstove.

So that's what I did yesterday.

I cooked the milk on the woodstove and it worked out.

It may have been that I was heating the milk too hot and too fast.

 

Here is how I made cheese.

You need:

- 4 litres of whole milk

- 1/2 cup of vinegar or lemon juice ( I used lemon juice)

On low heat, slowly warm the milk.

The milk was on the woodstove for about an hour while I stirred frequently.

I brought the milk up to about 170F and held it at that temperature for about 15 minutes.

Remove the milk from heat and gently stir the lemon juice in.

The milk will separate almost instantly into whey and curd.

Strain the curd with cheese cloth lined in a colander.

Once most of the liquid has drained, tie the ends of the cloth together and hang it for about an hour to finish draining.

Add salt to the cheese and it is ready to eat!

We feed the whey to the dogs and chickens.