smatterings

walk with me wednesday

Is it really Wednesday??  Two days before Christmas??  How can it be.  Everything moved SO quickly this year.  I lost it.  The year.  When I went to get the Christmas decorations from the attic, they were still at the bottom of the ladder.  Just where I left them, last winter.  Now here it is again.  This is my wake up call.  More walks, more time to create and reflect.  More time for me.  More time....  it is a hard one.

Last Saturday, with news of a large storm on its way, I went to the woods.  It might be the last time I'd see it uncovered for a while.  I love it bare bones, no leaves to hide behind.  Only structure, texture, and the play of light.   What I found was newly frozen ice.  Proof, that Mother Nature does it best.

 

 

 

  and then it snowed. 

Office work

After a couple weeks of work onsite and in the studo, there's tons to do in the office. I figure a day or two should do it. I've got help.

on making yogurt, still and again

There has been a resurgence in yogurt making.  I hear people talking about it and read posts on it more and more frequently.  It is a staple in my diet.  I've made it more or less twice weekly for most of my life.  If you like yogurt and use it often, it pays to make it yourself.  The cost is that of the amount of milk you use and if you make it the way I do, of some additional powdered milk.  That's it. Norma has the costs figured out in her recent post. 

A while back, in 2008, I posted my method for making yogurt.  More recently, I've been reading posts talking about the crock pot method.  I toyed with the idea of using a crock pot several years ago but found that mine stayed too hot for the cultures that I use.  Each yogurt bacteria has, I have been lead to understand, a temperature at which it works best.  Too hot and the culture dies, too cold and it slows down or doesn't work at all.  Also, I like to get it made in a much shorter time frame than the crock pot method uses.  I figure, that if it takes me more than 3-4 hours, something has gone wrong.  Usually, my yogurt works in under three.  My active time in the making depends on how fast I can heat up the milk to scalding.  Not long at all.  The cool down goes on while I do other things, or for about 5 minutes in a sink water bath.  If I have more than 15 minutes invested in the process, I'm lollygagging. The batch I did yesterday went into the frig after about 2 1/2 hours.  

See the way it stays together and yet separates from the side of the pot?  That shows that it has plenty of body.  The texture that you see on the top is from the froth on the milk.  Inside, it is very creamy.  VERY!

It isn't as thick as sour cream, but it could be if you choose to add more powdered milk and let it work a bit longer.  

That's my breakfast.  Fruit, yogurt and a about 1/4 cup of granola.  yummmmmm!

I eat it every morning.  It doesn't get boring.  I look forward to it.  No sugar, no syrup nor honey for me.  Chris, on the other hand, loves his with maple syrup. 

One more thing..

For those of you that prefer using a thermometer, the temp is best between 110 - 120F for most cultures.  If you find you aren't having success, check your temps first.

how we see it

I saw this and asked myself.. why shouldn't everyday be fun? 

Pete the Moose on ABC News

 Pete the Moose Faces Uncertain Future in Vermont - ABC News.  Check it out!

Pete hit it big time the other night.  He was on national news last Tuesday.  It was taped for ABC's  Nightly News more than a month ago, when the trees were still in color.  The battle continues but time is growing short for Pete.  there is an awful lot that ABC didn't say.  For instance,

• There has never been a case of Chronic Wasting Disease in Vermont.

• The advantage to having Pete on the preserve is that the elk that are taken by hunters and as a source of elk meat, are tested for CWD.  Wild deer, shot by hunters this time of year, are not tested.  If CWD was present here, it would be known very quickly.
• The preserve is hardly someone's backyard.  700 acres is a large space.  Go see if you can find a deer or a moose in a 700 acre woodland.  Good luck. 
• There are more than 200 hundred deer and moose living inside the preserve.  Most were born there.  The area was fenced years ago.  No effort was made to remove the native deer and moose before the fence was put up.  It wasn't so much an issue with the state back then.   It is now.  All of these animals are scheduled to be shot in January unless some rational agreement is reached.
• You can help.  Call the governor's office.  Let him know what you think.  Or write to him, or the fish and wildlife.  The link is here. 

• Vermont cares very much about its image.  We depend on tourist dollars and our Made in Vermont trademark. 

(Pete's picture is from an album on his Facebook page.  Good shot, huh?)

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

 

 

Once again, I am tickled to find that the yearly Presidential pardoning of the turkey(s) continues to amuse me.  Thanks go to AP and Reuters photographers.  Let me tell you, a thirty plus pound turkey is pretty impressive, particularly up close and personal.  

I had a wonderful day with many of my very extended family, for which I am very thankful.  I hope you did too.

Now, back to the manufacture of MORE. RED. BOWS. 

we have a winner

  sort of..

When I weighed the acorns the day I picked them up, I weighed only 2 oz. of them. There were seven.  Multiplying that by 8 times gave me 56 acorns.  They were full of moisture from the ground and the biggest I'd ever seen.  When I went back on Sunday afternoon to gather enough of them to make up a pound, many had split.  Although there were still a lot of them, there weren't as many as a few days before.  I'm thinking fat squirrels, happy deer, cheerful chipmunks.  The point is, that today, when I actually weighed out a pound, without choosing which acorns should or shouldn't be included, the count came to 59.  Smaller, dryer, whatever.  No two alike.. Mother Nature, after all.  There you have it.  Nobody guessed 59 acorns.  The numbers ranged from, I think 10 (holy smokes, acorns that size would be on the government's list of dangerous weapons, especially if they were falling 60-100 feet from the sky), to 250.  I assume that acorns are different in other parts of the country.  Steph guessed 57.  Good job!  Great guess.  If you email me your address, I'll send along your prize!  I'll also email you privately so you have my address. 

Those acorns won't go to waste.  After adorning my table as a centerpiece, they will be sent along outdoors to those who will enjoy them the most.  They sure look tasty to me.