Late Bloom America
Stargazing, Mushrooms, Maples, Cliff Jumping, and Texas Adventures
Some of the photos are from Brownwood State Park, Texas. Also in San Saba, Texas.
We spent the past weekend exploring a new state park, Lost Maples in Vanderpool, Texas. The park is rather open which prevents privacy but ideal for RVs and each site provides a covered picnic area among the 30 sites; $20 a night. They do have six primitive sites available; $10 a night. This park really reminded me of Colorado Bend State Park because of the exquisite display of the Milky Way at night and literally every star and planet was visible. Words cannot describe the ambiance of the wilderness at night here.
We used our canopy tent frame and our mosquito screen as a makeshift tent. After using our fine mesh backpacking MSR tent and our 4 season car camping Marmot tent we have found that the minimalist approach, one step above sleeping in the open with no covering, is coolest for Texas camping. So we plan to build a pcp frame for this reason. We used our recycled pop bottle rug I acquired from Gaiam many years ago. It has proved to be the perfect addition to taking to the beach, hanging as a shade curtain at the farmers market, and for laying on the ground to establish a cozier campsite. It’s light, ventilated,waterproof, and one of the most ideal items to have for your outdoor spaces.
What’s most popular at Lost Maples State Park is the vast array of fall color changes due to the fact that there are acres of Maple trees dispersed throughout the park. Maple trees are hard to find in Texas and the majority of the state does not embody the fall color changes that the cooler parts of the U.S. do. They have a status update foliage report on the fall color changes so that visitors can come peruse the park in it’s prime on the Texas State Park website-Lost Maples State Natural Area page. Although we went before witnessing the transition of chlorophyll in action, there were just a few trees that have changed and were changing, less then 10 from what saw. They recommend visiting mid week in the fall, I’m guessing late Sept-early November is going to be ideal this year from what we observed. We have seen some beautiful color changes in the trees in McKinney, and Northeastern Texas, while headed to Arkansas. This may be the case in Eastern Texas and perhaps Northwest Texas too.
We were able to cross this park off our bucket list of State Parks in Texas to visit and wouldn’t mind going again to witness the peaking of the fall turn. We saw a lot of juniper and cypress beds which we feel this would also be a great place to find Morel mushrooms during the wetter times of the year, spring, and fall. We have learned this from the founder of the Texas Wild Mushroom Group. If you are into mushroom hunting in Texas this is a good start to becoming more in the know. We were overzealous to learn that we can actually acquire Morels here! Wohoo, this Michigander has found Morels and Maples in Texas, peace at last.
We went for a 5 mile hike the following morning and it was a pleasant excursion that ended near a spring fed pond (we hiked the East trail and the Maple trail.) Boy was that refreshing, I went swimming while Davin sat atop a cliff. I finally was inspired to jump off it into the waters below after another Texan showed me that it was safe. I’m guessing I was 30 feet up or so. It was exhilarating for sure. I’ve learned that the older I have gotten, the less nerve I have! Davin recorded my plight on his outdoor extreme camera, which consisted of me talking myself through the jump for the first 10 min, boring, and by the time I jumped I had a crowd of 30 or so watching. No backing out then, and alas I did it! “So dramatic,” my husband said! If you know me you know this to be true. Ha ha.We recommend this park, you will enjoy the drive in and out, the winding roads submerged between rock reminded me a little of Pennsylvania and Colorado.
We stopped through Bandera, Texas on the way home. This town claims to be the Cowboy Capital of the world. We witnessed the tail end of a western enactment of Jesse James robbing a bank at the Cowboy Festival, over Labor Day weekend. We sipped on homemade sarsaparilla soda and talked to local vendors. We went to a local restaurant that was ok but was delved in historical roots, nothing to write home about. We wished we had waited to eat because while driving through Boerne we stopped at our favorite local brewer, The Dodging Duck Brewhaus, and man, their food and beer is delectable and a place for your foodie & beer bucket list! They had a pumpkin ale on tap that resembled the taste of Chai in the form of a beer, it was exquisite. Their Nitro Stout was full of body too and Davin enjoyed their 8 time hopped IPA and their Pale Ale on tap. We had the pleasure of meeting the owner Keith and he shared his stories of playing the Trombone at the reunion of the UT Longhorn Band last Saturday in Austin. The first time we visited we met with some old friends of mine from Michigan who were in town. We had a Vanilla Pecan Ale from what I recall then, again, unparallel to others we’ve tasted in Texas. Don’t miss this gem of a find, especially if you live in Texas!
Please Take Part in Gulf Coast Seaweed Survey
So through my sustainability studies at Texas State University, master’s program, I’ve been recruited to help finish some research that will be published; survey marketing project that is reviewing “the marketability of a seaweed-based compost as a “boutique” compost. The seaweed is an invasive species on the Gulf Coast. ” We need 250 more surveys of gardeners who just look at samples of the compost. We need 10 people to actually try gardening with the compost & do interviews later. Anyone interested in taking a seaweed survey for your garden? I am in the Central Texas area doing this research. Please sign up on my site if you are interested in participating in this study.
If you would like to read more about the impact of the latest news on the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative check out the article listed to the featured picture; What Lies Beneath: Scientists Study Seaweed to Understand Gulf Oil Impacts.
Goat Chevre Cheese
Now that my Chevre is made I’m adding herbs to it to make it more tasty. I wondered what to do with the left over sweet whey from the cheese. Make Ricotta! Another great cheese thats great served many ways. I found this article from The Prairie Homestead; Jill. Her site is fantastic and I’m sure you’ll find this information helpful too! Come try a free sample of Herb Chevre or Plain Chevre paired with my blueberry mustard tomorrow at the Manor Farmer’s Market from 4-7pm.
http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2011/06/16-ways-to-use-your-whey.html
Remember the nursery rhyme about little Miss Muffet eating her curds and whey?
Back before I began my real food journey, I didn’t even know what whey was… Never would I have thought that I would ever become so familiar with it!
Whey is the cloudy, yellowish liquid that is leftover after milk is curdled. It’s packed full of protein, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes.
There are two kinds of whey that you will encounter in your home dairying adventures:
1. Acid Whey- the whey resulting from cheese in which an acid has been adding to aid in the curdling process. (Some types of mozzarella or farmer’s cheese).
2. Sweet Whey– the whey resulting from cheese that is cultured or curdled with rennet instead of additional acid. (Yogurt whey fits in this category, as does soft cheese whey and traditional mozzarella.)
If you’ve ever made cheese, no doubt you’ve been amazed (and maybe even overwhelmed…) by how much whey is leftover after the process. It takes a lot of milk to make a little cheese! But, before you pour it down the drain, WAIT!
There are many things that whey can be used for in your whole food household.
(Please note: real whey is not the same as the powdered “whey” sold in health food stores. They are not interchangeable. )
I’ve compiled a list of ideas that to help you to use up this nourishing byproduct.
I prefer using sweet whey in most of these cases. Be careful when adding the acid whey to things like smoothies, etc, as it might really change the taste of things!
(Some of these ideas require the whey to be heated, so if you are interested in keeping all the qualities and enzymes of the raw whey, just skip those.)
16 Ways to Use Your Whey:
1. Substitute it in any baking recipe that calls for water (or even milk). I love making fresh breads and rolls with my leftover whey. Also try it in cornbread, pancakes, waffles, muffins, biscuits, homemade tortillas, and more!
2. Use it to lacto-ferment vegetables, condiments, sauerkraut, chutneys, jams, etc. This is an area that I have yet to really explore, but it’s on my list! This is an incredibly healthful form of preservation that increases the nutritional value of so many things. Check out the book Nourishing Traditions for more info on this topic. (It is important to use raw whey when you lacto-ferment– not acid whey or cooked whey.)
3. Use it to soak grains, Nourishing Traditions style. Depending on your recipe, several tablespoons or more can be added to your grain and legume preparations to make them more digestible.
4. Freeze it for later. If you anticipate a milk-less time of year (perhaps when your animals are dried up), you can easily freeze whey for future use. Try putting it in ice cube trays or small cups to make the proper portion sizes. Then pop out the frozen cubes and store in a baggie.
5. Use it to cook your pastas, potatoes, oatmeal, or rice. Boiling the whey will cause it to lose its raw properties. However, if you feel like you are drowning in whey, this is a wonderful way to use it up and add extra flavor to the foods.
6. Add it to soups and stews. Perhaps it could take the place of some of your homemade stock or broth?
7. Add it to homemade fruit smoothies or milkshakes. The sky is the limit when it comes to all the flavor combos you can make.
8. Use it as a hair product. Now, I personally have not yet tried this, so proceed with caution! But I have seen several sources recommend it as a shampoo substitute, hair rinse, or even as hair gel! Not sure if I’ll be trying this, but let me know if YOU do!
9. Feed it to the dogs. Our dogs love it when I pour a little whey on their dry food and make it into a cereal. It’s quite the treat.
10. Make Whey Lemonade. I’ve seen several delicious-sounding recipes for lemonade-type drinks using whey. It’s on my list of things to try this summer! Check out this recipe from Food Renegade.
11. Use it to water your plants. Dilute it with a good amount of water (straight whey will “burn” your plants- I learned this the hard way…) and pour on your veggies or flowers (avoid using acid whey here). Think how much your container garden would love that!
12. Feed it to the farm critters. Our chickens love it and so did our pigs.
13. Make ricotta. Ricotta cheese is traditionally made from whey. And it’s so incredibly easy! However, this will require the whey to be heated to 200 degrees, so all the raw enzymes will be lost. Fias Co Farms has an excellent ricotta tutorial. I like to make ricotta when I have gallons of extra whey, and then I freeze it for making lasagna later.
14. Pour it in your compost bin. I have yet to do this, but it would be better than dumping it down the drain.
15. Make a marinade. Add your favorite spices and seasonings (garlic, salt, pepper, maybe some rosemary…Yum!) to the whey and allow it to marinate your steaks, chicken, fish, or pork chops. The enzymes in the whey help to break down the meat and add flavor.
16. Use it to stretch your mozzarella. If you’ve ever made mozzarella before, you know that you must stretch the curds at the end of the process. Some recipes say to use the microwave (no thanks!), while others use a pot of hot, salted water. The last several times, I’ve used hot, salted whey to heat my curds before stretching. It has worked great! Check out my mozzarella tutorial here.
Now surely I didn’t cover every single way to use whey… What are some of YOUR whey tricks?
A few other favorite foodie posts:
- A Frugal Cheesecloth Alternative
- Six Tips for No-Stress Canning
- How to Use Pressure Canner
- Where to get Free (or Cheap) Food Grade Buckets
– See more at: http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2011/06/16-ways-to-use-your-whey.html#sthash.02VEan7z.dpuf