Spring Fling Give-away Drawing!

 Who doesn’t like free stuff and giveaways? Now is your chance to win some really great gifts for Spring.

April 1-14 The Mothering Street Team on Etsy is doing …a Give-Away!! Two beautiful baskets put together with all sorts of wonderful gifts for mothers and children.

Basket #1 – For the kiddos, you’ll receive: A wooden helicopter from Imagination Kids, a silk ring twirl toy and a rainbow wood bead necklace from Sun Anthem, a set of six small cars from Small Town Toys, a felt Totoro applique from Spunky Gal, pirate sandwich wrappers from Creations by Hippie Fairy Lover, a child’s healing necklace (picture pending) from Stones of Healing, and a set of play-dough from MayaMade.

Basket #1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basket #2 - For the hard-working mamas out there: Bath bombs from Circle Natural Goods, beautiful bead bracelet from Little Queen Sheba, a stack of breastfeeding awareness bumper-stickers (to share!) and additional natural decals from Elemental Handcrafts, a Little Ones Sweet Dreams aromatherapy set with Need to Sleep Mist and customizable bed-time poem, and an herbal cloth trivet, both from MayaMade.

Basket #2

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So how do you get to enter the giveaway?

There are 3 easy ways to earn chances to win this collection of great items made by Mothering Street Team mamas all over the country. Do one or ALL of the following and on April 15th, all of your earned tickets will be placed in a pool and one lucky person will be randomly selected to win it all!!!

So here is what to do:

1. Talk to us. Leave a comment at http://mdcmoms.blogspot.com/ from April 1 through April 14. (Remember to add in your email or blog in the comment so you can be reached if you win.) One comment entry per person. Comment = one ticket.

2. Talk about us. April 1 – April 14: Blog about the give-away! Leave a comment at http://mdcmoms.blogspot.com/ linking to your blog. Blogging = two tickets!

3. Shop with us! April 1 – April 14: Turn your shopping habit into more chances to win! Purchase something from one of the participating stores listed and leave a note to seller at checkout that you want to be in the giveaway. $1 = one ticket. No limit!! Participating stores to earn more chances to win are (you can also run a search for MDCSPRINGFLING to find these participating stores on etsy!):

BeansRiceRevolt

 

BrightBlack

 

Circle Natural Goods

 

Creations by Hippie Fairy Lover

 

Elemental Handcrafts

 

Imagination Kids

 

LilBees

 

Little Red Appleton

 

Little Peanut Shop

 

Lyneya’s Toys

 

MayaMade

 

Small Town Toys

 

Stones of Healing

 

Sugar Kane Creations

 

Sun Anthem

 

Whole Mother Creations

 

You’re Inspired

 

Have fun and  good luck!!!

Can Feta Cheese Be Made From Cow’s Milk?

Yes, it can. Though technically, it is not considered Feta, it is considered salad cheese or Greek style cheese. But. it is still quite tasty. Not like real Feta, but when all you have is cow’s milk, it will do. True Feta is made from sheep or goat milk or a combination of the two. So, here is how to make a Feta-like cheese from cow’s milk.

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

1 gallon fresh unpasteurized cow’s milk
1 Tablespoon fresh yogurt 
½ tspn rennet dissolved in ¼ cup water

 

You will also need:

 a large stainless steel pot

a long knife
2 cheesecloths (I use the gerber diaper cloth…works really well)
strainer
cheese mold

follower (mine is made out of wood that I cut to fit into my cheese mold)

 

Warm the milk to 86°F. Remove it from the heat. Take 1 tablespoon of the heated milk and add it to the tablespoon of yogurt and mix well. Mix the blended yogurt and milk into the warmed milk.  Cover and let the  milk sit for one hour at room temperature. While the milk sits, mix the rennet and the ¼ cup of water. Add the dissolved rennet to the milk and stir to mix thoroughly. Let milk sit covered overnight at room temperature. 

The next morning, the milk should have gelled.   Check for a clean break (if you’re not sure what a clean break is…see my previous cheese making posts). Cut the curd into ½ inch pieces. Let the curd sit for 10-15 minutes. Pour about 20 oz of whey into another container (you will need this later for the brine) and pour the rest of the whey off through the strainer lined with the cheesecloth and pour the curds into the cloth too. Let the curds drain at room temperature until no more whey drains out (about 2-4 hours).  Place the drained curds into a bowl,  and mix in a ½ teaspoon of salt, breaking up the curd. Line the cheese mold with the cloth, place the curds inside, and fold over the ends of the cloth. Place the follower on top, and place weight on top of that. I started out with 30lb for two hours and then added another 20lb. Let the pressed curds sit overnight.

The next morning, prepare the pickling brine. Use the 20oz of whey and add 5 tablespoons of salt. Stir to dissolve. Cut the cheese into 1.5 inch cubes and place into a wide-mouth jar. Pour the brine over to cover. Let the cheese pickle for several days in the refrigerator. The cheese will become drier and more easily crumbled with time. Store your yummy cheese in the refrigerator or freeze it.

Yogurt

Draining Curds

Placing Curds in Cheese Mold

Cheese After Pressing

Cutting Pressed Cheese

Cheese in Brine

Finished Cheese

Old Fashioned Donuts…YUM!!!

I have been visiting Starbucks way too often lately for those absolutely delicious Old Fashioned Donuts. So, I decided it was time to kick the habit and make my own donuts. I tried a few recipes and tweaked and worked them until I came up with what I feel is a pretty good donut. Try it out, tell me what you think.

 

Ingredients

Donut Cut Out

Donut Holes

Donuts Frying

Golden Brown

Donuts Cooling

Making Glaze

Finished Donuts

Yum!

INGREDIENTS

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

1 cup milk

1 egg

1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 quarts vegetable oil

 

Glaze

1/3 cup butter

2 cups confectioners sugar

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

4 tablespoons hot water

 

DIRECTIONS

Stir together the flour, ½ cup of sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add in the milk, egg, butter, and vanilla. Mix until well blended.

 

Heat oil to 370 degrees F. (I use my small stainless steel pot and fry one donut and two donut holes at a time.)

 

Spread lots of flour on a flat surface and roll the dough out so it is ½ inch thick. To make round donuts with holes in the middle, you will need to different size cutters. I use a small glass bowl to make the larger circle diameter and a bottle cap to make the smaller circle diameter. I also fry  all the dough from the smaller circle to make donut holes for my 2 year old. He loves them.

 

Fry doughnuts in hot oil until golden brown on one side and  turn them over once. Remove from the oil and drain on a paper or cloth towel on a rack.

 

Combine the butter, confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla in a pot on the stove over medium heat. Add the 4 tablespoons of hot water. Add more water as needed to get the consistency you would like for the glaze. Pour or brush the glaze over the donuts and let dry.

 

Now you have a tasty treat for breakfast in the morning or for a snack.

 

CPSIA

Yesterday I mentioned that I have been very busy preparing to comply with the CPSIA. Well, here it is in a nutshell.

As parents and concerned citizens I’m sure most of us at one time or another have been confronted with the question of lead poisoning. But have you asked yourself what your government is doing to protect your children from lead contained in toys? The answer? They’re banning toys, taking books from schools and libraries, hurting low income families, killing entrepreneurial spirit and risking putting the economy in an even greater depression than we’ve seen in decades. I’d like to introduce you to their solution: the CPSIA.

Do you know about the CPSIA? No? Then I ask you to take a few minutes to find out about it.

The CPSIA stands for Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a new set of laws that will come into effect on 10 February, 2009 and will impact many, many people in a negative way. Make no mistake, this is very real. View it for yourself. If Forbes, the American Library Association and numerous other media are paying attention, perhaps you should too.

How will these new laws affect you? Well, here are a few examples:

To the Parents of Young Students:
Due to the new law, expect to see the cost of school supplies sky rocket. While those paper clips weren’t originally intended for your student to use, they will need to be tested now that your 11-year-old needs them for his school project. This law applies to any and all school supplies (textbooks, pencils, crayons, paper, etc.) being used by children under 12.

To the Avid Reader:
Due to the new law, all children’s books will be pulled from library and school shelves, as there is no exemption for them. That’s okay though, there’s always television. Our children don’t need to learn the love of reading after all.
Article from the American Library Association http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=1322

To the Lover of All Things Handmade:
Due to the new law, you will now be given a cotton ball and an instruction manual so you can make it yourself since that blanket you originally had your eye on for $50 will now cost you around $1,000 after it’s passed testing. It won’t even be the one-of-a-kind blanket you were hoping for. Items are destroyed in the testing process making one-of-a-kind items virtually impossible. So that gorgeous hand-knit hat you bought your child this past winter won’t be available next winter.

To the Environmentalist:
Due to the new law, all items in non-compliance will now be dumped into our already overflowing landfills. Imagine not just products from the small business owners, but the Big Box Stores as well. You can’t sell it so you must toss it. Or be potentially sued for selling it. You can’t even give them away. If you are caught, it is still a violation.

To the Second-Hand Shopper:
Due to the new law, you will now need to spend $20 for that brand new pair of jeans for your 2-year old, rather than shop at the Goodwill for second hand. Many resale shops are eliminating children’s items all together to avoid future lawsuits.

To the Entrepreneur:
Due to this new law, you will be forced to adhere to strict testing of your unique products or discontinue to make and/or sell them. Small businesses will be likely to be unable to afford the cost of testing and be forced to close up shop. Due to the current economic state, you’ll have to hope for the best when it comes to finding a new job in Corporate America.

To the Antique Toy Collector:
Due to the new law, you’d better start buying now because it’s all going to private collection and will no longer be available to purchase. “Because the new rules apply retroactively, toys and clothes already on the shelf will have to be thrown out if they aren’t certified as safe.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123189645948879745.html

To the American Economy:
Already struggling under an economy that hasn’t been this weak in decades, the American economy will be hit harder with the inevitable loss of jobs and revenues from suppliers, small businesses and consumers. The required testing is far too costly and restrictive for small businesses or individuals to undertake.

To the Worldwide Economy:
Due to this new law, many foreign manufacturers have already pulled out of the US market. You can imagine the impact of this on their businesses.

If you think this is exaggerating, here is a recent article from Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/16/cpsia-safety-toys-oped-cx_wo_0116olson.html

And for those of you prepared to be stupefied and boggled, The New Law
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html

Did you know? If this upsets or alarms you, pleast react.

Cranberry Scones

Ok, I am back. Sorry everyone, I have been very busy trying to get my toy store compliant with the current CPSIA legislation. Ugh!!! I will explain more about that one tomorrow. But for right now…

I’m finally getting the scone recipe on here. So, here is the recipe.

Cranberry Scones

2 cups white whole wheat flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablesppoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces

1/2 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup of milk

In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the butter until the mixture forms coarse crumbs. Add the cranberries and mix. Pour in the milk and mix until just moistened.

Form the dough into a ball. Pat out into a round about 1/2 inch thick or to whatever thickness you prefer. Cut the round into 6 wedges. Place the wedges on a baking sheet and bake in the oven at 425 F until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Years ago, before I met my husband : ), I traveled to Scotland and had scones but they had this delicious stuff called clotted cream to spread on your scone with jam. Mmmmm that was absolutely delicious. So, this weekend, that is going to be my new project. How to make clotted cream.

Cranberry Scones

Princesses With Red Hair

We have been really busy lately with craft fairs but we did have the time this week to create  some new toys.  Our niece insisted we make a princess with red hair for her birthday and since I had some red paint, I made a car too.

Happy Birthday Katherine

Little Red Convertible

Making Butter the Old Fashioned Way

Did you know that butter has “natural flavoring” added to it. What is natural flavoring? It is an added flavor concentrate called a starter distillate.   Starter distillate is made from the bacterial fermentation of skim milk or non fat dry milk. Basically, it is added partially as a preservative (it contains citric acid) and also to give your butter a more “buttery” flavor.

But I want to know why store bought butter needs a more “buttery” flavor? I have made butter at home and it tastes like….drum roll please….butter. Without the extra “natural flavoring.” I am really not keen on added flavors and preservatives in my food. So, if you are interested in making your own butter, here is how to do it.

How to Make Butter
Ingredients:
Cream

We use the cream from our raw milk that we buy from Freedom Hill Farm.

Raw Milk

The darker yellow milk at the top is cream. We just pour this off into another jar. Now it’s time to shake, shake, shake. You need to shake the cream until the butter starts to form.

Butter Separating

Once you notice those little yellow globules forming, shake some more until they start to congeal together.

Next, scoop out the butter into a bowl of icewater and squeeze/mash. This is necessary to wash the remaining buttermilk out of the butter. Otherwise, the butter will go bad faster.

Squeezing out the Buttermilk

I use a spoon and keep pushing the butter against the sides of the bowl. As the water clouds up, I pour it out and add more ice water until the water starts to run clearer.

Butter in Ice Water

After the water starts to get clearer, I form the butter into a ball (makes scooping it out of the water easier) and put it in a glass bowl.

Butter

You can either keep it in the refrigerator (make sure you use it within a week or add salt to make it last a little longer) or freeze it and thaw it out when you need it.

Yum…delicious, homemade butter for your fresh homemade scones…uh oh…better get that scone recipe up tomorrow for everyone!