The Waiting Game

First, a goatie haiku:

Flopsy is pretty,
but she's as big as a house!
Kids are coming soon.


We are playing the usual early spring waiting game. Some of the goats have stopped giving milk, and some are still giving a little. Goats can give milk for 10 months of the year, but stop the last two months before they have babies again.

We had trouble this year getting everyone bred for spring babies. While some breeding sessions looked convincing, and all the best conditions were met, it seemed like nothing was working. We could have ordered expensive tests to know for sure, or just wait and see. So, we're waiting.

Coco Puff bit her date on the tail, so we're pretty sure there will be no babies from her. Jelly went to see a nice Toggenburg buck twice, but since she's giving more milk, not less, she's probably not bred either.

Ol' Mimzy waited until the last minute of breeding season to show any interest, and saw both a Nubian buck and a Boer buck. She's giving less milk, so that's a good sign, but we won't know more for another month.

Flopsy is simply huge! And, huge early. She went to visit a Nubian buck in October, then insisted she needed to go again in late November. She stopped giving milk as if the earlier session was a success. Maybe she just wanted to say "Hi" on the second visit. When Flopsy is this huge, she is resistant to getting up for anything, and sits under the feeder. The other goats know this and use her as a step stool or pillow.

Betty was our surprise this year. After two years of a cystic condition and no success with bucks, she seems to have gotten better, and had a successful breeding with a very nice Toggenburg buck. She stopped giving her mystery milk, and her sides are starting to show signs of life.

We think Flopsy's babies should arrive in March, followed by Betty's in April, and Mimzy in May. All this waiting and rubbing round tummies.

Chicken Pot Pie

We had some leftover chicken, so my mom taught me how to make a chicken pot pie. We used bread dough as the crust. It takes a little effort, but the result is awesome!


Bread Crust
3 cups flour
1 package quick-rise yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups hot water (about 120 degrees)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey

Filling
2 cups cooked chicken, cut in half-inch cubes
2 cups frozen peas and carrots mix
2 cup frozen potatoes O'Brien

Gravy
2 cups cold water
2 chicken-flavored bouillon cubes
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 tablespoon onion salt

Method
Prepare crust by mixing all ingredients together in a big bowl. Once well mixed, kneed with your hands 5 minutes, adding flour as necessary until you have a smooth ball of dough. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean towel and let it rise 45 minutes in a warm place.

Meanwhile, assemble filling ingredients and set aside. Prepare the gravy by placing all the gravy ingredients in a small pot. Heat on medium high stirring briskly with a whisk until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Once gravy has thickened, remove from heat and pour over filling ingredients. Stir to mix well and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.Once the crust has roughly doubled in size turn out on a well-floured bread board or counter. Divide into two parts, one about 2/3 of the dough and the other 1/3. set the smaller piece aside. Using a rolling pin, roll the larger piece out to a 12 inch circle and place in an un-greased, 10-inch glass pie dish. One inch of excess dough will hang over the edge. Add the filling. Roll out the smaller piece of dough to an approximate 10 inch circle and place over filling. Roll the excess dough back over the edge, twisting slightly to form a decorative edge. If desired, brush the top with a mixture of 1 tablespoon honey and 1 tablespoon hot water for a crisp brown top and bake for 30 minutes, until heated through. Allow to sit 15 minutes before serving. Serves 4 to 8 people.

Ideas Sprouting!

We had a great first meeting for this years 4H Young Entrepreneurs' club. I had to think of a new idea. Last year, I had do-it-yourself kits to make bubble gum, hand-milled soap, and artisan cheese. I like do-it-yourself kits, so I'm working on a d-i-y sprout kit and possibly sprouts already grown.

I found out that you can get as much nutrition in one ounce of sprouts as you would in three pounds of the full grown vegetable. I like that I would only have to eat an ounce of broccoli sprouts, instead of three pounds! I ordered some packages of seeds meant just for sprouting. I got alfalfa, and a salad mix of alfalfa, broccoli, and radish. My goats eat alfalfa because it's high in protein, and it helps them make tons of milk. Some sprouts like radish are spicy, and sprouts like broccoli have anti-cancer properties.


I followed some instructions on the internet of how to grow sprouts. They said to soak them in a jar overnight, drain out the water, and just wait. It mostly worked. After six days, my sprouts looked like their sprouts. but definitely not like the ones I see in the store. I found out from another site that they were overcrowded, and probably too cold.

I'm trying another batch now with just half the amount of seeds, and placing them where they will be warmer. I'm also looking for an edible fertilizer that I can add to the soaking water. Hopefully that would help the sprouts look tall and green! I will report back with my results!

Looking Forward to Fun in 4H in 2011

Even though it's just January, thing are starting to get going in 4H. It always seems like a lot of work to plan out a speech for Presentations, and new recipe for the Home Economics contest, and something new to sell for the Young Entrepreneurs table at Sunday Market.

I did try to do a bit of everything last year, which 4H seemed to like, and gave me an award for being an 'Outstanding First Year Member'. Wow! I got a medal for having fun! I like 4H!

Christmas Sugar Cookies

Late in the Fall, the goats give less milk volume, but the milk they do give contains higher butterfat. Our little Nigerian Dwarf goat, Coco Puff gave the highest butterfat percentage, a whopping 9%, though Ol' Mimzy put in a personal best at 8%.

It took us four days to save up the milk from all the goats to make enough cream for the pound of butter for this recipe! It was a lot of work, but the cookies are so good, it was worth the wait. They are thin and crispy, and pretty when held up to the light!


1 pound fresh goat butter
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream together butter and sugar. Sift dry ingredients together and mix into creamed mixture. Roll into small balls and place on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly browned.

Yummy Granola

I really like making yogurt and ice cream from my goats' milk. I had been buying granola to use as a topper. It was really hard to find granola without ingredients I was allergic to, so I found an easy recipe and modified it. This tastes great when still warm and crumbled over ice cream!


2 cups of oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup honey roasted pecans
1/2 honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp goat butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup dried mangoes, cut in small bits
1/2 cup dried blueberries

Lightly oil a 9 inch by 9 inch baking pan, and set aside. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the oats and coconut onto a foil lined baking sheet and place in the oven to toast for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt in a large microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for about one minute, or until the brown sugar is dissolved.
Once the oat mixture is done, remove from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees. Quickly add the oat mixture to the sugar mixture, add dried fruits and nuts, and stir to combine. Turn the mixture out into the prepared baking dish, and compress top evenly. Bake 25 minutes.
Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares. Store in an air-tight container for up to a week....as if this will last a week!

Fun at the Winter Market!

It's been a while since I wrote a post! I had a really great time selling cheese making kits at the local farmers' market with my 4H club this summer. I also did pretty well with my entries at the County Fair.

I signed up for the local winter farmers' market, and have some fun new do-it-yourself kits. Besides the cheese kit, I have a bubble gum kit, and hand-milled soap kit. The bubble gum kit seems to be the most popular.

My mom and I have also started making goat milk soap and a pure olive castile soap. It's a lot of fun picking out different scents, and discovering what people will like. So far, orange blossom goat milk soap and peppermint castile are the favorites.