Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Lovely day for a ride

Since we rode the Gold Wing yesterday, I figured today was a day to get some things done.  


I sorted laundry and threw a load in the washing machine.  


I skimmed the cream off three gallons of milk and put it in my Dazey churn, which I bought off Ebay years ago, and is about the same age as I am.  I figured after Cliff and I took our walk, I'd churn butter.  
As we were getting ready to go for our walk, Cliff listed several things he could do out in the shop, then said, "But I'm seriously thinking about going for a ride to Jamesport; the Amish might be harvesting corn now."  
I took the top off the churn and covered the jar with foil.  I hung out the load of clothes I had washed.  I made a picnic lunch and made coffee for the thermos.  I went out and milked Bonnie-the-Jersey-cow.  
I left the piles of clothes on the floor and away we went.  


When we stopped by our favorite orchard just the other side of Lexington, the early Fujis they had were in ten-pound bags, and they didn't have any seconds.  $7.50 for a bag.  
"There are other orchards up the road," Cliff said.  
So we went on to Waverly, where nothing was labeled as #2, but all the Fujis looked terrible and could have been graded as #3:  sunburnt and cracked and ugly!  I worked at an orchard for many years, and I know what a good apple should look like.  They wanted $7.99 a bag, the same sized bag that Rasa Orchards were selling for $7.50, but their apples were good.  
Well, we weren't going to be coming home the same way, so I bought some ugly, overpriced apples.  But NEVER AGAIN!
We did have a lovely ride up 24 and 65 highways.  


There are lots of towns with buildings that look like this.  
We picnicked in Chillicothe, and then went to Jamesport.


When we saw a lady driving a horse-and-buggy, we knew we were almost there.  


We saw some Amish fellows getting ready to pick corn, but Cliff didn't stop to watch, even though there was a place near this where a car had pulled off the road.  Oh well, you aren't supposed to take pictures of them anyhow, so this one will have to do.  


Here you see a parking lot for horses.  All that dark stuff?  Horse poop.  
We did some shopping at an Amish store and came on home by a different route, Highway 13.  


We spent $21, but there's lots of good stuff here, and it was all much cheaper than in the store:  garbanzo beans, black beans, split peas (I'm making split pea soup tomorrow!), several different kinds of spices, popcorn, dried banana slices... I bought some of those last year, and loved them.  
Cliff says next year when we go up there, we're taking the motorcycle trailer.  
So, after a nice ride, I came home and looked at the clothes on the kitchen floor and decided to leave them there for tomorrow.  


I sat in my easy chair and churned butter.  




I got out a cookie sheet and measured out 1/3 cup servings of butter and a single one-cup serving that I'll use in baked goods of some kind.  Butter made from unpasteurized cream doesn't keep as long as store-bought butter, so I am freezing it in small amounts to keep it fresh.  
So, that's how my day went.  How was yours?
  

9 comments:

  1. I've never known anyone who could make butter. Probably my MIL could, but she didn't. Wow!! Does it taste fantastic? I would imagine so. It sounds like a great day, spur of the moment. I like times like that. I didn't realize you had Amish there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh I wish George and I could have joined you! lol Sounds like you all had a great day. Who cares about laundry when you can adventure and buy cool things to cook with! ha.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I also am enthralled at the fact that you make butter!

    ReplyDelete
  4. We had a great day! 2nd day in a row that I was able to get out of bed and out of the house. I feel like an adventurer! We bought our anniversary gifts, bought fast food and came home. Glad your day was so great. I always enjoy reading, just don't comment too often. Blessings, Penny

    ReplyDelete
  5. You're my kind of gal, leaving the clothes on the floor and going to have some fun. So sorry you didn't get the good apples, though. I love Fuji ones myself. Looks like you got lots of goodies at the Amish store and at a great price. I am so-oo impressed that you make your own butter. That is awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Donna, do you salt your butter?

    ReplyDelete
  7. I made butter once, a thousand years ago in Girl Scounts. We had to shake the cream in a jar for what felt like a week before it became butter. Yum, that was good stuff....

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jim H.6:20 AM

    Donna, You should post the picture of the horse drawn silage chopper over on YT Tractor Talk. Those guys would really enjoy that.

    ReplyDelete
  9. My day was not as interesting as yours, that's for sure!

    ReplyDelete

I love comments!