Saturday, May 21, 2011

Wearing the thinking cap...

We've been very busy outside, as we've had a break from rain. Any time not spent outside, we've been making cheese, trying to organize the pantry, and doing household chores in between. We're considering our options for another animal shelter on the property as well. The trick--building something with the least amount of cost. Ideas are appreciated and welcome.

In the mean time, I'm going to leave you with our favorite dinner roll recipe. We've been using these to make small sandwiches with chevre and leftover homegrown ham!

Quick and Easy Dinner Rolls
1 pkg dry, active yeast (I buy in bulk so I use 2 1/4 tsps of yeast)
1 cup lukewarm water
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil or melted butter
+/- 3 cups flour, sifted

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Add egg, sugar, salt, and oil.

Add 1/2 the flour, and beat until smooth. Add flour until you achieve a nice dough (not too sticky), and knead until smooth. Roll into balls (bigger than a golf ball, smaller than a tennis ball) and place in a greased pan. Let rise until doubled. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Brush tops with butter while still warm.

5 comments:

  1. What types of animals are you wanting to shelter? Have you seen the cattle panel shelters? They use cattle panels for sides, held by t-posts, then a cattle panel bent into a "U" for the roof, usually covered with a tarp. I'll try looking for a link for an example. We've been thinking of using that for hay storage and for temporary goat shelters when we move them to the woods to chew down the evil forest.

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  2. We are considering a milk cow. We would still have a few goats for company as well. We have a friend that is just down the road, that is a great scrounger. He managed to get some free roof trusses so we're considering putting up a barn/run-in with materials we can scrounge. I'm thinking a cattle panel shelter would be perfect for hay storage though. Thanks Carolyn!

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  3. We're collecting pallets right now for ours. I found some great ideas online using wood pallets to build with. We can get them free all the time, so it's a matter of just grabbing some when we have time. No HUGE hurry because we have to be able to buy fencing before we actually bring in goats!

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  4. Homegrown ham... did you make your own, or have it done at the processor? If at home, where did you get your recipe? We tried to make some at home this year from our pastured pigs and it definitely isn't ham (but some nicely brined roasts). We're looking for a more reliable recipe!

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  5. We have the processor do it for us. We are lucky that we have a processor thats focus is local, sustainable agriculture.

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