I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I still haven't taken down the tree but will do it soon. We had half the family here and I did the requested fried chicken dinner. I made my SIL a traditional tres leches cake. I couldn't believe it would be good.....you pour a quart of mixed condensed, evaporated, and cream (three milks) over the cake and let it soak in overnight. It is topped with whipped cream. I was very surprised at how good it was and not nearly as sweet as I thought it would be. He was very surprised that I made it for him. He is from Honduras.
I may have more guests by January l.................................
Today was a very nice sunny day, a change from what we have been having.
FARM
I have now milked Jewel (Jersey heifer) twice. She lets me milk her without even lifting a leg, but she is very leery of the barn. It takes longer to get her in and out than it does to milk both cows. When I got to the barn this morning DH already had her up the ramp but she wouldn't take that step up into the barn. After about 20 minutes of that nonsense I decided push Willow up behind her thinking that would shove her on. Didn't work. Next I decided to back them both down and make Willow the lead cow since she comes into the barn readily and I thought if I followed (loudly) that Jewel would follow her up and she did! So now we have a new routine. I hope it works next time. If she once gets over that fear of the step up, I won't have to use Willow. We have three bypass stanchions in the milk parlor so I just let Willow in No.1 and Jewel moved down to No.2.
So, I milked both cows and kept the milk separate. I am letting Jewel's sit overnight in a container I can skim easily. Her milk is delicious but we don't want to drink all that rich, golden cream.
After DH came in from checking the cows he said he wanted to take the camera out later and take a picture for me to see the all red calf. I couldn't figure how we could get a red calf from black cows and bulls. We knew the neighbor's bull hadn't visited. He came back with about 50 pictures....he gets carried away but I love seeing all of them. While we were looking at them it came to me: These were from Willow's (she is a red Milking Shorthorn with very little white)bull calf Ferdinand we saved back from over two years ago in August. He is finally breeding the girls. We are delighted.
and here he/she (don't know yet) is with Mama,
I spotted two more reddish ones in the photos,
I kept blaming the neighbor's Hereford bull but couldn't figure why the calves didn't have white faces which is the normal coloration with a Hereford. I have been noticing reddish color for a year now....
The other nice surprise for me (I don't travel over the farm much) was the lush stockpiled grass on the old farm. I bet the cows were pleased once that snow melted.
I still haven't got another shot of Jewel's reddish brown baby but will get one maybe tomorrow.
I may have more guests by January l.................................
Today was a very nice sunny day, a change from what we have been having.
FARM
I have now milked Jewel (Jersey heifer) twice. She lets me milk her without even lifting a leg, but she is very leery of the barn. It takes longer to get her in and out than it does to milk both cows. When I got to the barn this morning DH already had her up the ramp but she wouldn't take that step up into the barn. After about 20 minutes of that nonsense I decided push Willow up behind her thinking that would shove her on. Didn't work. Next I decided to back them both down and make Willow the lead cow since she comes into the barn readily and I thought if I followed (loudly) that Jewel would follow her up and she did! So now we have a new routine. I hope it works next time. If she once gets over that fear of the step up, I won't have to use Willow. We have three bypass stanchions in the milk parlor so I just let Willow in No.1 and Jewel moved down to No.2.
So, I milked both cows and kept the milk separate. I am letting Jewel's sit overnight in a container I can skim easily. Her milk is delicious but we don't want to drink all that rich, golden cream.
After DH came in from checking the cows he said he wanted to take the camera out later and take a picture for me to see the all red calf. I couldn't figure how we could get a red calf from black cows and bulls. We knew the neighbor's bull hadn't visited. He came back with about 50 pictures....he gets carried away but I love seeing all of them. While we were looking at them it came to me: These were from Willow's (she is a red Milking Shorthorn with very little white)bull calf Ferdinand we saved back from over two years ago in August. He is finally breeding the girls. We are delighted.
and here he/she (don't know yet) is with Mama,
I spotted two more reddish ones in the photos,
I kept blaming the neighbor's Hereford bull but couldn't figure why the calves didn't have white faces which is the normal coloration with a Hereford. I have been noticing reddish color for a year now....
The other nice surprise for me (I don't travel over the farm much) was the lush stockpiled grass on the old farm. I bet the cows were pleased once that snow melted.
I still haven't got another shot of Jewel's reddish brown baby but will get one maybe tomorrow.
Knew you'd figure a way to get Jewel into the barn! And look at your reward. What will you do with that luscious-looking cream? Does Jewel's milk taste any different than Willow's? Glad you had a good Christmas with family. Loving all the cattle pics.
ReplyDeleteDear, dear Glenda ~ I enjoyed this post, the photos and the mystery solved of where the red calves came from. So glad you figured out how to get Jewel in to be milked. Where there's a will, there's a way, as the saying goes.
ReplyDeleteMy BIL, married to DH's older sister is Cuban and loves Tres Leches cake. I've had it and it is delicious! I should try it sometime myself. What is your recipe?
I have started taking down Christmas decos and it is already feeling bigger and brighter in here as I took the small tree that was in front of my window looking out into the front patio down this morning. Nice to be able to look out again. It is always a tad sad taking it all down and getting it back into the attic, but at the same time it feels great, to get started with a new year.
I would love to ride around your farm taking pictures, that would be great! Cows, sunshine, the scents.
Have a great weekend and a wonderful 2014.
Love and hgs ~ FlowerLady
As usual I found several recipes on All Recipes. This is the one I chose. SIL said it tasted like the one he is used to eating. I hope he wasn't just being nice.
Deletehttp://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tres-Leches-Cake/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=tres%20leches%20cake&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page
If the link doesn't work, it was the one [posted by Monica.
Glad you can enjoy the farm vicariously like I do your life in Florida.
I think fresh fruit on top would be a good addition but he said he had never had it that way.
Hmmm...that cake sounds yummy with the combination of milks! Love that little baby...and cannot wait to see jewel's!...:)JP
ReplyDeleteI am milking again today and plan to get a picture of her.
DeleteOMG, the cream.....ALLLLLL that CREAM!
ReplyDeleteLove my goats, but have to admit that I long for a small breed cow for milk.
You need a Jersey; they are smaller, don't eat as much and can feed you and raise a calf. It is a win-win situation. Tell your DH I said so (that should really impress him!) You also only milk when you need to...baby or babies take it in between.
DeleteGlenda, I love the pictures of your farm and cattle. And that is some amazing stockpiled grass!!
ReplyDeleteRay, I was really surprised when I saw it. This has been a near perfect grass and hay year. We don't get many of those here.
ReplyDelete