Homemade Almond Milk

Step 1:  Measure out 1 cup of almonds

Step 2:  Cover almonds with filtered water and soak for 48 hours in the fridge

Step 3:  After soaking for 48, drain & discard the water, rinse the almonds

After rinsing

Step 4:  Add almonds & 4 cups of filtered water to the blender

Step 5:  Blend on high for 2 minutes

Step 6:  Strain - I put a towel inside the mesh sieve for a fine strain

Step 7:  Squishing all the milk out of the meal

After its drained, I put all of the almond meal into the towel, bring the edges up to create a pouch,

twist the towel to create a tight pouch and squeeze, twisting the towel.  This will get the rest of

the almond milk out of the almond meal.

Step 8:  Pour into a glass jar (I used a 1 qt mason jar), store in the fridge for 4-7 days.  If it starts to smell

funny, discard.

Almond meal - I have plans for this ... stay tuned!

Homemade goat treats - ginger crisps

Occasionally we give our goats little treats like raisins, bananas and ginger snap cookies. They go absolutely NUTS over the cookies! I came across this recipe in The Old Farmers Almanac 2012 and started making our own version. Everybody likes them!

For the horse, we crumble up a couple cookies with chopped apples. For the cows, we crumble a dozen into their grain trough.

For the chickens, turkeys, guineas & peacocks, we crumble up half a dozen and mix it into their scratch.

The dogs get a couple too.

Here's the recipe (I made a couple of ingredient swaps):

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 3/4 cup acorn flour, 3/4 cup all-purpose flour)
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (I used 1/8 tsp sea salt)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup dark-brown sugar
1 large egg (I used a duck egg)
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses (I used black strap molasses)

Here are a few links about using acorns in recipes:
Acorn Pasta and the Mechanics of Eating Acorns, Acorns and the Forager’s Dilemma, and Rich, Sweet & Wild: Acorn and Pine Nut Infused Butter, Wild Things Roundup: Acorn Sweets by Kiva and Loba.