Happy reunion

If you drive east from Denver on I-70 and get off at Havana Road going south, you'll come to a stop sign at Smith Road. If you or someone you know has gone astray in life, you may be heading to the Denver County Jail on the left.

But if you turn right instead, you might find some old friends at another facility across the way.
I visited Denver Urban Farm today in search of my goat buddies. And I found them! Look! It's Cutie!
And Sweetie!
And LaFawnduh!
They were living with a number of other goats – including the little doelings whose names I never knew – in a spacious yard at the farm.
In another pen nearby I found James.
He was sharing quarters with a friendly sheep.
Another pen held pygmy goats, who looked like regular goats with really short legs.
The farm has ample garden plots, with a gazebo at the center for birthday parties. (The kids got a full tour, including some pony riding and animal petting.)
There were kids all over the place, working with the animals. Some of them were learning to drive.
Or giving the horses some exercise.
A pair of border collies were watching that with great interest.
The place had a lot of horses.
Some of the corrals had electric fences.
I learned a lesson about the fence with the draft horses, alas. I was reaching over to scritch the black one under the chin and my arm brushed the fence. We both got a shock! Oops.
A flock of sheep was out clearing weeds. Later someone came along and whistled. "Come on, ewes! Time to go home!" And the sheep all trotted off obediently to their pen.
There are also chickens out and about.
Some Brahman cattle (I think that's what the gray one was, anyway).
And even a toothy alpaca!
The folks working there told me I should come back on "goat nights" on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when the kids put all the goats on leashes and take them for walks. I'll have to come walk my buddies sometime!

I wish they were still at their old farm, but I'm glad to know they're in a good situation, unsavory neighbors notwithstanding. If you want to go visit them, too, the farm is open to the public from 10 to 1 on Saturdays, and by appointment other times.

Denver Urban Farm
10200 Smith Rd
Denver, CO 80239
303-307-9332

Sad, sad day

I actually saw this ad before I knew, and thought, "How sad. And how coincidental that the herd is the same kind of goats as mine."

It wasn't a coincidence.

Though the farmer lives in the country, and everyone has horses, cows and chickens, the covenants bar goats and swine. With better neighbors, no one would have cared, as everyone bends the rules in one way or another. But one asshole neighbor complained. A lot.

The goats left today. The farmer is heartbroken, as am I.
One saving grace: the buyer runs an "urban farm" for disadvantaged kids to come learn about animals and agriculture. Cutie, Sweetie, Lafawnduh and James, along with the little girl goats whose names I never knew, will get lots of petting and love in their new home.

The chickens will stay, as they are allowed. Some of them look pretty silly. I'll go back and see them again when they start laying.

The cows are staying for now, but the farmer is waffling on keeping them, as it will be another 10 months at least before Annabelle/Daisy May will calve and start milking. Dozer may stay only long enough to do the one thing he's supposed to.

It costs a lot to keep a cow, especially ones that aren't producing, and the goats had to be sold for much less than they're worth.

I'll miss the critters. A lot.

Cooped up

Went to pick up milk today. Suddenly the little girl goats who used to be shy or indifferent were eager to get some attention from me. You can see from my hand that they're still pretty small.
I wish the photo were better, but I'm stuck using my phone until my new camera arrives. There's been a little snafu with that I'll post on once it's resolved.

The chicken coop is finally completed, too:
The farmer got two small shipping containers to use for storage. They're set against the hillside with a space between them, which was roofed over and enclosed in front. The biddies should be safe from nighttime predators now. Hawks are another story.

Funny farm

Just a few more pictures from yesterday that make me smile.

Trying to catch a rooster.
The rooster was so busy keeping an eye on the scary gloves that I was able to catch him from behind. Once I had him, he relaxed. (I know I already posted a similar picture, but I thought this one was fun, too.)
Then there was James, showing off his studliness for the girls next door. He's the only intact boy goat around, now that Lucky is gone. Goofy's still there, but he's a wether (i.e. fixed).
Cutie has nice nail polish, don't you think?

Friends on the farm

Why is this rooster giving me the beady eye?
Perhaps he disapproves of his perch.
Stopped to pick up milk this morning. Lots of progress happening, with a big coop in the works for the rapidly growing biddies, plus the six or seven roosters. Some of them will go away.

Speaking of going away: Remember Lucky? I called him (un)Lucky because he was going to be barbecue most likely. But no, he lived up to his name and was sold to be a stud. He's got a good life now! A pure white LaMancha is apparently quite desirable.

Cutie got some good scritches from me today. She comes up and rubs her head on you, asking for lovin'. She deserves it. That goat puts out a lot of milk! So much so that the farmer's freezer was full.

Well, now my freezer is, too. This is only part of it. There are more bags on other shelves. I'm going to have a marathon cheesemaking session!

Plus, if you're looking for rennet and other cheese supplies in the Denver area, The Brew Hut on Hampden carries them. Their online store has no cheesemaking products, so I hadn't bothered calling them before. The farmer picked up all kinds of rennet and cultures there.

The Brew Hut
15108 E. Hampden Ave.
Aurora, CO 80014
303-680-8898

W00t! Or should I say g00t!

The whey to save

I'm off to pick up more milk this morning. I'm going to have quite the stash of whey; it's a little harder to use up quickly. I was hoping to make a big batch of no-knead bread using whey instead of water, but I'm not going to have time to bake it. So into the freezer it goes, triple bagged. (I hate to think of trying to clean the freezer if it leaked.)

I missed an opportunity to do another "wildlife in the city" post this morning when I spotted a hawk of some kind on the sidewalk in front of my house. Small, brown, not a peregrine. A bit of white stripiness on a short tail. I tried to get off a shot using Photobooth on my computer, knowing it would fly off if I stood up to get my camera. No such luck.

It's gone now, but the neighborhood pigeons are all freaked out. Their ranks could stand to be thinned, so I hope the hawk sticks around.

Raspberry goat-milk ice cream

I saved out three cups of Cutie's milk from the last batch of ricotta to make ice cream with the abundant raspberries in my yard. I used the same recipe concept as for the honey vanilla ice cream, as it doesn't call for heavy cream.

3 cups of whole milk (goat or cow)
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
vodka
vanilla bean (or a half)
3 cups of berries (or so)
4 beaten egg yolks

First I macerated the fruit in a tablespoon of vanilla sugar (the sugar my beans are stored in) and a splash of vanilla vodka (can't call it true extract yet). I heated the milk with half a vanilla bean, scraped, and the sugar, then threw in the berries. When it was steaming, I ran it through the blender, then whisked it into the egg yolks.

I don't like seeds in my ice cream, so I took the extra effort to force it through a fine chinois. That requires time and patience. The payoff is that all the seeds and berry skins stay behind.

What I was left with was a deep purple, smooth cream. Purple because many of the berries were tending toward overripe. (If you have any kind of fruit past its prime freshness, you can't go wrong by making ice cream with it.) I chilled it overnight, then put it in the ice-cream maker.

Of course, the ice cream came out purple, too. But really good. I think it could've used a tetch more sugar (I used less than half a cup) because I like things sweet. But it tastes very smooth and berrylicious. If I were serving this to company, I would probably top it with berries macerated in a little more sugar, or mix them with sweet whipped cream. Maybe with some dark chocolate cookies on the side.
Other easy frozen treat recipes:
Strawberry balsamic frozen yoghurt
Honey vanilla goat-milk ice cream

Other recently tested goat-milk recipes:
lacto-fermented sauerkraut (with an update)
Mexican chocolate pudding
ricotta cheese
And an excellent use for the ricotta:
Ricotta torte with squash, corn and dill

Ricotta torte with squash, corn and dill

I was excited to see a recipe at 101 Cookbooks a couple of days ago for zucchini ricotta cheesecake. It looked so good! With more than a gallon of Cutie's milk, I knew I could make enough ricotta for it.

This time I used a heavier pot. For curdling, I used two cups of buttermilk, which is half the proportion I've seen called for, but that's what I had. Half of the milk had been frozen, too. Would it work? Call it another experiment.

I stopped stirring early on, except to occasionally run a spatula gently across the bottom. It seemed to be taking a long time, but just as I was despairing, boom, it curdled.
I didn't measure anything this time, so I couldn't tell you how much this made, but it seemed like, I dunno, three cups' worth? Maybe four?

While the ricotta was draining, I grated half a squash. I don't know what kind it was, but it was zucchinilike (there's a photo of it in this post.). I don't think it's a kabocha like they said, but maybe it is. I added the kernels from three ears of corn. Tossed with a little salt and let sit to leach out some liquid.

Once the ricotta was drained I mixed it with half a cup of shredded parmesan, a large minced shallot and garlic clove, the zest of a lemon, and a whole bunch of fresh dill from Wilkerson's Produce. Mixed in two well-beaten eggs.

Since I had the cheesecloth out, I just reused it to squeeze out the juice from the squash and corn, then added them to the ricotta mixture and spread the whole thing in a greased springform pan.

Baked it at 325 for an hour, then topped it with crumbled goat cheese, baked for another 10 minutes, then turned the broiler on for a few minutes more to brown it up a bit. Heidi's recipe suggests that you might have an excess of moisture on top of the cake, but since I drained the ricotta so well, that didn't happen.

It is a little skinnier than Heidi's – my pan was an 8-incher, not 7. But it's as delicious as I thought it would be. Rich and creamy and savory, with a nice sort of chunky texture, though still soft.

I decided to call this a torte rather than a cheesecake. It's easier for me to think of a torte as savory.

As Heidi noted, you could make this with all kinds of vegetables; whatever's handy. I'm thinking asparagus would be good in this. Or maybe Swiss chard. It makes a lot! I will have to freeze some of it and see how it holds up.

It does do well in the fridge overnight. I cut the slice below this morning (middle of the night's not so good for food photography), shot it, then ate it. Yum!
Go check out Heidi's version for making this with store-bought ricotta, and do some experimenting of your own!

Other recently tested goat-milk recipes:
lacto-fermented sauerkraut (with an update)
honey vanilla ice cream
Raspberry ice cream
Mexican chocolate pudding
ricotta cheese

P.S. I'm embarrassed to admit I spelled torte wrong (without an "e") in the original post. I fixed it. Please don't sue me.

Cutie-pie

With temps close to 100, the goats seek the shade of a plastic shelter in their yard, formerly Sweetie's birthing pen.
Turns out it's also a great place to take goat portraits. Nice diffuse natural light with a white(ish) backdrop.
Who can resist such a face?
I was going to use this shot as a What is it? post, but decided it would be too easy.

While I was shooting Cutie, Dozer and Sweetie looked in like scandalized neighbors. I'll leave you to imagine their dialogue.
I couldn't stay long, though.
Bye, Cutie!