cowboy cookies/juice/local eating/raw milk

cowboy cookies....yummy!!!!
so here is a quick pic and the recipe for the cowboy cookies that ray and i feasted on last week. i made a few changes in the recipe and they were really really yummy. the next time i make these i will probably make a few additional changes, but for now here they are.

yummy cowboy cookies.

the recipe comes from the october 2008 issue of martha stewart living. i halved the recipe and included my changes as follows.

cowboy cookies
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat white flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 oz. unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 brown sugars
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup oats
3 oz. shaved dark 60% chocolate
1/4 shredded unsweetened coconut

sift first five ingredients together. in separate bowl beat butter and sugar till creamy. add eggs and vanilla. incorporate flour. beat in oats, chocolate, and coconut. bake 11-13 minutes at 350 degrees. cool. enjoy!!!!!!

next time i will try using coconut oil instead of butter and add some nuts. i'm trying to use more and more ingredients that are considered healthy. even though i think good butter from antibiotic/hormone free grass feed pastured raised cows is great, coconut oil is supposed to be a really good healthy fat as well. and we all need fat. our cells need fat. also in trying to increase our healthiness, i finally made juice. carrot, apple, and orange juice to be exact. so tasty. i did our tried and true ratio of 4 carrots: 1 apple: 1 1/2 oranges...then proceed to make as much juice as you want. the only draw back in making the juice is the left over veggie/fruit fiber. since nicki no longer has a pig to feed all my food scraps to, and i still don't have a composting bin, it goes right into the garbage. boo.

time to make the juice.

ray helping.

juice. this was our diner sunday night since we had a big big indian lunch downtown.

now a few words about some local eating we have done lately.

sunday breakfast. bacon from caw caw creek farm. bread i made. free range local eggs from the saturday farmers market. butter from happy cow creamery and f.r.o.g. jam from the apple stand near saludia nc.

today's lunch. almost local BLT (non local cheese - but made from raw milk). local heirloom tomato, bacon from caw caw creek farm, bread i made, raw milk cheese, and lettuce from my garden.

another big change in the house this week, is switching from the wonderful happy cow creamery milk to RAW MILK. for those who do not know, raw milk is basically milk straight from the cow. it is NOT pasteurized and is NOT homogenized. nothing, except running it through a filter, is done to the milk once it leaves the cow before it goes into the jug. the benefit is that all the enzymes, vitamins, and good bacteria, that is normally killed in the pasteurization process, is still alive and kicking. ever wonder why some milk is fortified with vitamin a & d. because it is all destroyed during pasteurization. also, generally those who produce raw milk, take much better care of their cows than the poor factory farmed bovines. also it is whole milk, full fat milk. again, fat is good for you. you need fat in the milk for your body to absorb and use the vitamin a & d. well i could go on forever about this, but i won't. for more information visit realmilk.com.

cleveland checking out the new raw milk, which is normally kept in the frig and not by the window. i am getting my milk from white's jersey dairy right down the street from where we live. the cows are pasture raised and grass fed. the bottling facility is clean....i've been there. the cows are not treated with antibiotics nor hormones. also mr. white has a permit to sell raw milk and his milk is tested for safety every month. please do your research prior to buying and drinking any raw milk.

got cleveland??

so with the new milk, i needed to try a new bread recipe. so why not some milk bread? i found this recipe while browsing the wild yeast blog. here is the link for the milk bread recipe. the bread turned out really well. nice and soft with almost a cake like texture, but strong enough to spread butter and jam on it without tearing. i think a grilled cheese is in my future.

the little milk bread ball longing to rise.

after the first rise i separated the dough into four rounds. i let this dough rise much longer than the original recipe called for. for some reason my dough always takes forever to rise. i wonder if it is because i use an organic yeast?

isn't she pretty? this success makes me want to try more and more bread recipes.