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| Rolling hills - a lovely drive... |
Another trip I had last week was to the goat farm to buy some raw goat milk for my yogurt, cheese, and other milk requiring creations.
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| Baby goat. Isn't she cute?! |
I have to admit that I wasn't fond of a goat milk for a long time: I fell yet another victim in a rumor mill about goat milk tasting a bit funny (?!) Did I try it first? No! I just decided I don't like it because many other don't.
When we moved here, I couldn't find any good source of raw cream top milk (in other words non-homogenized), or actually, any source for that matter: Arkansas doesn't allow to sell raw milk for some reason.
So after researching local resources, I found at the farmer's market the Goat Lady, Ginger, (she makes a wonderful goat milk soap), who was kind enough to add me to her goat milk clients list: if I can't have a cow's milk, I'll have to get by with a goat's milk.
It was a pure discovery: goat milk tastes great! I love it. A word of advise: before you say you don't like something try it yourself first, you maybe surprised!
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| Those goats are free to gaze on grass. Grass fed goats produce sweet delicious milk! |
I haven't seen Ginger in about three months because goats were in "producing very little milk" stage. With the spring at the doorstep, the goats surprised me with the milk coming my way.
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| The view along the way to Hackett |
Happy me went on a road trip to Hackett, AR. I love this drive - rolling hills, beautiful scenery, peaceful landscape. Round trip for a balance, harmony, and ... goat milk. I didn't miss the opportunity to buy a carton of fresh eggs, and a new Rose essential oil soap - it smells amazing!
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| Ginger makes soaps in the pretty molds - perfect gift for myself or my friends... |
Since I started my goat milk adventure, I made from it: yogurt, soft cream cheese, and now, ladies and gentlemen, Chèvre!
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| I wanted my Chevre in a bite size form... |
Remind me not to buy a Chèvre in the store again: homemade tastes heavenly good!
Chèvre is very easy to make: add a culture to a milk heated to 86F, let stand for 12 hours, drain and press! And it is much cheaper than a store bought log of Chèvre.
And I can add any flavor I want, such as dill.
Chèvre dill balls were perfect addition to our dinner tonight.
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| Beauty in its pure form... |
If you want to learn more about goats, goat milk and goat milk products, visit Ginger's web pages.
She has some impressive assortment: soaps, lotions, lip balms, sugar scrubs, laundry soaps. I am going to try her other products and will post about it. Stay tuned!
Milk has been used in a beauty products since ancient times, remember Cleopatra's beauty secret?!
Until next time,
Cowboy Country Vegetarian
Copyright © Cowboycountryvegetarian 2011. The whole content of this pages are sole property of the author and can not be used without a consent. Please, e-mail me: tomatomarina@gmail.com to ask questions.
Raw, unpasteurized milk can carry dangerous bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria, which are responsible for causing numerous foodborne illnesses.
ReplyDeleteThe bacteria in raw milk and foods made from raw milk can be especially dangerous to pregnant women, children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems.
We have had some very bad experiences with products made with unpasteurized milk in NC in the past. A few years ago several local young mothers miscarried after eating cheese made with unpasteurized milk. They lost their unborn babies. This happened in the county in which I live.
Also a school in eastern NC had a big outbreak of E. coli when a gentleman demonstrated how one can made butter out of milk. He used unpasteurized milk and spread the butter on crackers for the school children. Many got very sick, some ended up in the hospital when their organs started shutting down.
I hope this information helps explain why health departments encourage people to use pasteurized milk.
Dear Sheila, with all do respect I have to disagree with you on that.
DeleteRaw milk itself doesn't cause any disease, but poor hygiene practices do. I come from a family of scientists, have many scientist friends, and everyone would tell you that there is no direct correlation between those miscarriages and raw milk cheese. Or that the gentleman demonstrated how to make butter from raw milk is to blame for kids getting sick. Unless every single step of those people was traced to the second, there's no direct evidence to blame the raw milk for that. They could have a dirty hands long before they had cheese or butter.
Another issue is that everyone here is so afraid of germs, sanitizes everything, ultra pasteurizes everything, that our bodies loose its immune defense against harmful bacteria.
And in defense of raw milk, I buy it from a person, not from the store. I go to her farm, I see those cute goats. And I need to tell that Ginger's milking station is perfectly clean, much cleaner than some people's kitchens, believe me as a social worker I've seen a lot of people's houses.
And I believe that in free country we should have a choice how to eat out food: raw or not.
What a very interesting adventure. Oh, I have not tried fresh goat milk. Thanks for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteThank you. The milk tastes very good, although we don't drink too much of it, mostly I make milk products as yogurt, cheese.
DeleteThose are cute soaps! I grew up in the city but always dream of country lifestyle. I'm not familiar with Chèvre, but it must be very special cheese. :-) Thanks for sharing, and thank you for stopping by my blog. It's very nice to meet you!
ReplyDeleteI lived in the city all the time, except when I was at grandma's in the summer. This area is very different from what I am use to. It is a new experience for me.
DeleteI've heard that the longer places keep goat's milk the stronger the aroma is! But you're right, I know so many people that say that they don't like it but haven't tried it :P
ReplyDeleteMy next thing on to try list is sheep's milk. I love the cheeses.
DeleteIn France we ate many delicious fresh Chèvre and other cheeses which were made from unpasteurized milk. Love the serene photos from your trip!
ReplyDeleteHi Marina,this is interesting.I never have chevre before but it always sounds good to homemade something from scratch.There is another kind of cheese that is very easy to homemade, it is something that I've learned from another blogger & I want to try out myself but at this time, I want to keep it as a surprise, ok?
ReplyDeleteSure, let's keep is a surprise! Thanks for coming!
DeleteYeah! So exciting! And I am so jealous!! Goat's milk soap?? Definitely checking out that site!
ReplyDeleteYes, I've been using that soap for a year, and just love how it feels on the skin. Go visit her, she is natural!
DeleteNever would have thought of making my own;looks and sounds fantastique!
ReplyDeleteRita
Thank you Rita!
DeleteWhat a fun post and how smart you are to make your own chèvre! I'm sure it is infinitely better than anything you could buy at the market!
ReplyDeleteThe thing is that I just love dill, and I could never find chevre with a dill, so I had to learn how to make my own!
DeleteWow. This looks amazing. I wanted to reach through the computer screen and try that chèvre. Also, funny about goat's milk- I too just assumed I don't like it, but I have never tried it. I'm going to give it a go now!
ReplyDeleteHow funny we, humans, sometimes act, ha?! Thanks Lauren!
DeleteChèvre dill balls - yummmi! It looks great!!
ReplyDeleteI am sure they still make real food in Romania, that famous feta cheese!
DeleteOh the chevre sounds absolutely perfect! I am in awe of your ability to take milk and make such beautiful and yummy creations!
ReplyDeleteThank you Kait, I just followed directions and used memory fragments when I lived with grandma: she made a lot of her own food from scratch. I wish I had it all written down...
DeleteOh how cool. I have always wanted to try to make cheese.
ReplyDeleteWonderful!!! In regard to raw milk, many cheeses in Italy and Europe are made with raw milk and we are all alive and well. As long as the animals are healthy and the milk is treated properly there is no danger. Raw milk is also healthier and tastier.
ReplyDeleteOnce I got listeria from a pasteurized milk soft commercial cheese (vaccum packed) from the supermarket, I was living in London. Yet I never got sick from unpasteurized cheese, even the ones bought over the counters in dairies.