This is a little bit how I feel about having our own milk cow: both incredulous and giddy.
It’s not perfect (I’m mad about the cream), but it’s still pretty awesome.
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What We Spent Our Money On. (New York Times) I love talking about personal budgets — the intricacies of how we save it, spend it, give it — and would freely tell all here, except, I am told, hearing people talk openly about their finances is a little bit like watching someone run around naked: horrifying, disturbing, and culturally inappropriate. So I don’t.
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Here’s another fun New York Times article: the invisible greenspeople and what they do, all about the people who create the landscaping for movies, like moving whole trees(!) The backstory of art-in-the-making is, I think, maybe even better than the final product. Does everyone feel like this or am I the only one?
He rented a beefy motorcycle and solo toured the Kauai Coast, went on a rafting tour, and skydived. (His friend’s parachute didn’t open — GULP — and the instructor had to pull the emergency chute’s ripcord.)
hitch-hiking
When we were hiking down the Beehive, he called to talk: six hours earlier than us, he was hiking up a mountain by himself in the pitch black to see the sunrise. There are wild boars here, he said. I don’t care, I said. I’m getting over a near-death experience myself.
Hearing his tales, I was reminded of what I’d told my kids after our Belize vacation went horribly awry. “You have your whole lives ahead of you in which to explore the world and find the best coral reefs,” we said. “When you find them, send us photos, ‘kay?”
So then my son one-upped me and made a little video. Enjoy!
Hey-hey! Quick pop in here to point out the obvious: it’s hot. Out on the West Coast it’s apocalyptically hot, and here it’s just regular hot, but either way it’s hot. Things are looking up, though! At least for here — by Friday we’ll be topping out at 75 and I’ve made exciting plans to run the oven all day.
In the meantime, I made popsicles. These aren’t just any popsicles, mind — they’re whey popsicles.
Wait! Don’t leave! Hear me out!
I know I said I tried whey in tea and didn’t like it but then I checked a milk book out of the library and it had an innovative recipe for whey-based popsicles and it actually sounded good so I tried it and they were so here I am, eating — or slurping — my words.
Actually, I haven’t eaten a single popsicle yet. But! After I got done filling the popsicle thingies, I used the leftover juice to make a drink and it was all sorts of yum.
So with this recipe, you’ve got two options: beverage or snack. Or — and I haven’t tried this yet — add the juice to a fruit smoothie, or freeze it in ice cube trays to later fancify some lemonade, or drizzle it over vanilla ice cream or pancakes, or, or, or…
You get the point.
P.S. I had a popsicle this afternoon while standing on the deck and watching a storm blow in (and then miss us). The popsicle was creamy and tart and fruity and delicious and refreshing. All the boxes, ticked.
The original recipe called for roasted plums but you can use whatever you have on hand: strawberries, cherries, blackberries, etc. I used about five cups of frozen red raspberries, simmered with a bit of water on the stovetop until soft and jammy, and then pressed through a sieve to remove the seeds.
I used whey from making yogurt cheese (more on this soon); of all the wheys I’ve tried, this one, I think, tastes the most mild and sweet.
4-6 cups fruit 2 tablespoons looseleaf black tea ½ cup sugar 2 cups whey
Roast the fruit, or simmer in a saucepan over low heat, until jammy and soft. If needed, add a bit of water to the fruit so it doesn’t dry out. Press through a fine-mesh sieve to remove seeds and/or skin.
In a separate kettle, simmer for the whey, sugar, and black tea for ten minutes or so. Strain, discarding the tea leaves. (Not sure why I can’t combine this step with the first, hmm….)
Whisk together the whey and fruit juice and chill. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze.
To serve as a beverage: pour 1-2 tablespoons of mixture into the bottom of a glass. Fill the rest of the way with seltzer or tonic water and ice. Garnish with fresh herbs, if desired.
