Peachy Ice Cream

I haven't found any Arkansas peaches at the local market but thanks to farmers in other states--I've had some really sweet, juicy peaches this week! Flavor rich peaches like these will be perfect in homemade ice cream--a perfect treat for celebrating National Ice Cream Month! 


Fresh Peach Ice Cream

1 quart milk
1 10-ounce package of marshmallows
2 cups sugar
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups Half & Half dairy creamer
3 cups mashed fresh peaches

Combine milk and marshmallows in Dutch oven. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until marshmallows melt; remove from heat. Add sugar and remaining ingredients; mix well. Chill. Pour mixture into freezer container of gallon hand-turned or electric ice cream freezer. Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Pack freezer with additional ice and salt, and let stand for 1 to 2 hours to ripen before serving.

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

                                                                    
         Calves grow up to become  the cows that produce milk, so farmers make it a priority to get them off to a healthy start. I'm thankful  for all the "date nights"  I have riding around on the farm  with the dairy farmer checking calves and cows!

Pineapple-Mint Smoothie

After touring the Mountain View herb garden at  Arkansas Women's Blogger Conference last year, I was  inspired  to try a few herbs in my own garden. Even though I knew mint to be a very prolific and invasive plant, I wanted to have my own bit of mint. I now have a growing patch of mint in a small flowerbed--make that a mint bed with few flowers!

  I've got plenty of mint  for this tasty smoothie recipe that I found in the recipe collection at Dairy Makes Sense.


Pineapple-Mint Smoothie

Ingredients:

6 cubes of frozen crushed pineapple in juice*
2 cups fat-free milk
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint or basil

*Note: Use frozen crushed pineapple to chill and thicken your smoothie.
Spoon contents of a 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple in juice into two ice cube trays and freeze at least 24 hours in advance of making smoothie.

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a blender; blend until smooth. Serve in tall glasses or on-the-go drink container.

                                                                     Happy Wednesday!

Dairy Farmer's Wish List

 I'm making my list and checking it twice tonight in preparation for our monthly milk testing day tomorrow. It's a kind of  dairy farmer's wish list-- its a list of cow's to test for pregnancy and wishing each one will be!  Finding a cow to be pregnant is always  a  big deal because managing the reproductive cycle is a central component on today's dairy farm.   Thanks to new dairy technology, we can now check a cow's milk to determine pregnancy.

Milk pregnancy test is a great tool for the dairy farmer's tool box to assess and maintain herd health, consider reasons for the inability of a cow to get pregnant and to identify open cows early. The test is 98% accurate and can be done as early as 35 days after a breeding date. Most importantly, it is a noninvasive test that requires no additional labor and doesn't create any stress on the cow.

Our monthly milk testing provides information about each cow's milk quality and quantity and provides information about the health of each cow. All of this information is used in making management decisions to help us care for our dairy cows and provide high-quality milk.   Adding the   milk pregnancy test that can be done when we do our monthly milk testing  is a great tool to add to our  dairy farmer tool box!


                  In just 24 hours after we send the sample, I can't wait to see if I get my wish---

                                                                      She's Pregnant!

Homemade Memories

 The highlight of any summer family gathering during my childhood  was the experience of making homemade ice cream.  The adults would fight over who would get to lick the paddle once the ice cream was made but we children fought for the right to sit on top of the bucket while the adults turned the crank!

I wouldn't trade the memories I have of hand cranked homemade ice cream but I do enjoy the ease of making ice cream with the  electric freezer Ryan and I received as a joint birthday gift! Since  July is  National Ice Cream Month, I've decided to experiment with a few new recipes for homemade ice cream.  Butter Pecan Ice Cream recipe  is from one of my favorite recipe books-Jim Graham's Farm Family Cookbook for City Folks.

Butter Pecan Ice Cream

1/4 cup butter
2 cups chopped pecans
7 cups milk,divided
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups sugar
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 5.1-ounce package of vanilla instant pudding mix
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter in large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add pecans. Cook, stirring constantly for 3 minutes, or until lightly browned. Drain and set aside. Combine 1 cup milk, sweetened condensed milk, sugar, and eggs in saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 5 minutes, or until mixture coats back of a spoon. Cool. Stir in remaining 6 cups milk, pudding mix, and vanilla. Add pecans; stir well. Pour mixture into freezer container of a 5-quart ice-cream freezer. Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Pack freezer with additional ice and rock salt. Let stand 1 hour before serving. Makes 1 gallon

 

Happy memory making!

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

 

It's not just people that watch the birds!

 

You can find this pair of Egyptian geese under the shade trees in the yard or in the pasture by the house every afternoon just after the grain is fed to the pregnant cows.

 

 

I'm thankful for the wildlife that live on the farm with us and for the habitat that farms and ranches provide for all of God's creatures.

Rain Gauge Ready

Although we can't change or  predict the weather, we do like to measure the rain when we receive it on the dairy farm.  When the TV weatherman announced this morning that it's been three weeks since rain fell in Northwest Arkansas and mentioned the possibility of showers, I immediately felt it was necessary to hang up the new rain gauge just in case he's right.

 As the farmer's wife,  I've decided that  it isn't always as much the amount of rain that we see in the gauge but it's the hope and encouragement we receive  from the blessing of rain--whatever the amount.

Ryan's been no-till planting a Sorghum Sudan grass crop this week  that will be harvested (Lord willing)  late this summer or early fall. It's definitely dry and dusty but...

We're rain gauge ready!