Monthly Archives: June 2014

Ultimate Cheese Press Instructional Video

The Ultimate Cheese Press and More!

Wardee from GNOWFGLINS shows us how to use The Ultimate Cheese Press step by step. It’s very simple and seeing it in action lets us know we’re doing it just right.

You’ll find supplies you need to make cheese on our website. Calcium chloride and lipase are here.  Cheesecloth and muslin.  We have a great variety of cultures.

Do you need drying racks, funnels and other cheese making tools? We have two cheese making books. And kits. We have great cheese making kits.

And there’s more! You’ll find more cheese making supplies here.

Cheese Recipes

Bay, basil, sage, roasted bell pepper and olive oil makes a delicious marinade.

Bay, basil, sage, roasted bell pepper and olive oil makes a delicious marinade.

Farmer's Cheese with Garlic & Chive seasoning. Ultimate Cheese Press can be used to form a wheel.

Farmer’s Cheese with Garlic Chive seasoning

We’re proud of our American made products. Made in the USA, they keep our dollars in not just our country but in our communities.

Sale! We’re Having an Independence Day Sale!

Let’s celebrate Independence Day with a sale worthy of fireworks!

We’re proud of our American made products. Made in the USA, they keep our dollars in not just our country but in our communities. That’s cause for celebration!

We’ll start our sale with a store-wide $10 coupon on purchases over $99. Enter code USA4th in the box at checkout. The code is good starting today through Sunday, July 6th, 2014.

The following items are marked at their sale price on the website and the prices are set until the end of July.

One Sale! The Ultimate Cheese Press

The Ultimate Cheese Press

The Ultimate Cheese Press is made for home cheese makers, designed and manufactured by the owner of Homesteaders Supply right here in the USA!  Made from a beautiful grained hard maple, with a lighter basic color with various shades of darker marbling. Each press is as unique as the wood its made from.  $165, the lowest price we’ve been able to offer in a long time.

Our new video by Wardeh Harmon, founder of GNOWFGLINS, is in and features a press treated with organic coconut oil.

Italian Mozzarella Cheesemaking Kit

On Sale! Italian Mozzarella Cheesemaking Kit

Italian Mozzarella Cheesemaking Kit

This Italian Mozzarella Cheesemaking kit is for making real Italian Mozzarella and is exclusively from Homesteader’s Supply!  Most mozzarella recipes call for using citric acid, vinegar or lemon.. making your cheese in about 30 minutes, an easy way to get what you want fast.  But, if you would like to try an old fashioned way to make the best mozzarella you have ever tasted, try our kit where the recipe uses a special Italian culture instead of citric acid, that adds a very unique old-world flavor to this cheese. And of course, the extra time involved making this cheese also enhances the great flavor.  $53.50

Squeezo Strainer and Sauce Maker – Delux

On Sale! Squeezo Strainer and Sauce Maker - Delux

Squeezo Strainer and Sauce Maker – Delux

Free Shipping on the Squeezo Strainer and Sauce Maker – Delux

Making homemade tomato sauce, applesauce and preserves is no longer a chore when you use the All Metal Squeezo Strainer and Sauce Maker, now with Stainless Steel Screens! The Squeezo Strainer made by Best Products today is the same as the old Garden Way Squeezo Strainer later made by Lemra Products. Made the same as it was 25-30 years ago and still made in the USA.

Cherry Pitter Deluxe

On Sale! Cherry Pitter Delux

Cherry Pitter Delux

Delux Cherry Pitter. Made in the USA! Now on sale at $199.00 AND we give you free shipping!

New and improved Cherry Pitter that will easily remove the pits of five cherries at a time, even the largest diameter cherries. It is USA Made and is all stainless steel. The design easily removes the pits without losing the cherries’ juice. With a quick pull of the handle the stones are discarded and the cherries drop into a container below.

Stainless Steel Milking Pail with Chime

On Sale! Stainless Steel Milking Pail with Chime

Stainless Steel Milking Pail with Chime

Stainless Steel Milking Pail with Chime – 13 QT.  Made in the USA!  This is the best pail!  Made in USA. It’s seamless and has no welds! Our sale price is $84.50, a savings of 14%!

Top Outside Diameter: 12-1/4″, Height: 9-1/2″, Bottom Diameter: 8-3/8″, Pail Thickness: Bottom and top rim are .105 (12 gauge) and sides are drawn (flowformed) to between .012 and .015 (28 to 30 gauge).

Porta Milker Milking Machine

On Sale! Porta Milker Milking Machine

Porta Milker Milking Machine

We need to talk!  Give us a call to receive $100 off the Porta Milker Milking Machine. (928) 583-0254

Complete set up:  2 Wheel Porta-Milker Base Unit with Electric Motor, 65# Stainless Steel Bucket & Lid Assembly, and Milking Cluster Assembly to milk One Cow!

We give you personalized service, with added instructions for cleaning the natural, organic way, and we are available to help you with any questions you have about the set up and use of our product.  We don’t just say that we give you good customer service…we actually do it!

Homemade Summer Drinks From Your Kitchen

Homemade Summer Drinks

Homemade Summer Drinks

Homemade Summer Drinks

Ahhh summer! It’s time for delicious homemade summer drinks that quench your thirst, taste great and are healthy. These recipes are child friendly. They can be turned into an adult beverage with the addition of your choice of alcohol. We know a lot of fruit and sweetener can be out of the question for many diabetics so we have a smoothie recipe that’s suitable for most everyone.

Garnishes are easy ways to make homemade summer drinks prettier and might add some flavor. Edible flowers such as chive blossoms, violets and rose petals are perfect. Be sure they haven’t been sprayed with pesticide. Sprigs of mint are great, and an established plant will continue to grow and provide more sprigs.

It’s easy to substitute fresh fruit in your summer beverages as they come into season. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, gooseberries, plums, watermelon, cantaloupe, peaches, grapes, apricots…the list is long.

Freezing fruit to use in place of ice cubes will keep your beverage from being watered down as the fruit thaws. Pureeing fruit before freezing is a nice treat. As it melts you’ll be able to drink the fruit through a straw so you don’t lose it beneath the ice.

Coconut Peach Lemonade

  • 1 tablespoon honey or agave
  • 2 cups of coconut water
  • 2 peaches, peeled and pit removed
  • Juice from five lemons
  • ice
  • garnish – peach slice, spring of mint or a slice of lemon is nice

Put everything but the garnish in the blender. Blend on high until you reach the consistency of a Smoothie. Pour into a tall glass. Garnish and serve with a tall straw.

Freeze strawberries for "ice" cubes that won't water down your beverage.

Freeze strawberries for “ice” cubes that won’t water down your beverage.

Strawberry Watermelon Lemonade

It’s hard to beat sweet, juicy watermelon and strawberries on a hot summer day.

  • 3 cups of watermelon, seeds removed
  • 1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries. Slice one cup, leave 1/2 cup whole.
  • 1/4 cup agave or honey
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 4 cups sparkling water

Combine watermelon, 1 cup strawberries, agave or honey, and lemon juice in the blender. Blend until smooth, approximately 30 seconds. Stir in sparkling water and pour into glasses. Garnish with a strawberry.

Peach Smoothie

  • 1/2 cup sugar free yogurt, peach or vanilla flavor
  • 1 peach, peeled and chopped
  • 1/2 cup skim milk
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 cup ice

Combine all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.

 

Container Gardening: Carrots

Anyone can grow something somewhere thanks to container gardening. How’s that for an abstract statement about a concrete subject? We can grow something somewhere. How about a pot of lettuce in the kitchen window, a celery stalk cut down and planted in a coffee mug, or carrots in a food storage container?

Carrot Container

Carrot Container

This container is 10 inches tall by eight inches across. I filled it with a 75/25 mix of ProMix and well-finished compost.

Choose a carrot variety that is at least an inch shorter than your container. I’m growing Napoli, a variety that grows up to seven inches long. They do well in containers, raised beds and in the regular garden.

Carrot seeds were planted one inch apart starting one inch from the outside of the container. You don’t need to measure. They’re carrots, they’re not that fussy. Carrot seeds must stay moist while germinating so I covered the container with plastic wrap.

Carrot seedling

Carrot seedling

You shouldn’t have to deal with many weeds when container gardening but just in case, this is a carrot seedling.

Carrot Container

Carrot Container

I moved the container outdoors as soon as the weather warmed enough during the day, bringing it inside on cold nights. Small containers like this one are easy to move around as necessary. On cold days that kept the container in the house I moved it to follow the sun if I walked by.

Napoli carrots grown in a container

Napoli carrots grown in a container.

Thin the plants as they grow. If you managed to get just one tiny carrot seed per inch you are my carrot-planting hero and I hope you’ll share your seed-spacing tips. I plan to pull every other carrot as they run out of room but it doesn’t always work out that way. Pull the carrots that need to be pulled. They should all be ready to pull within 10 days of each other.

If you’d like to start again you can dump the growing medium out, amend it with compost and replant. I use the same growing medium two or three times for carrots and once for a leafy green before dumping it into the garden and starting again.

Have questions? Leave a comment and we’ll come back to help.

 

An Important Update for The Ultimate Cheese Press

The Ultimate Cheese Press is our pride and joy. Designed by Jerri Bedell, founder of Homesteader’s Supply and is manufactured by another American company. We’re happy to tell you that we’ve made a change in how our presses are oiled.

We’ve been testing organic non-GMO cold pressed coconut oil and we are very happy with the results. Coconut oil is thicker, soaks into the wood well, and stands up to the acidic nature of whey in cheese making. Presses being shipped now have been treated with coconut oil but If you’d like to order a raw press (not oiled) please request it when you order.

The Ultimate Cheese Press

The Ultimate Cheese Press

Next time you need to treat our press you should follow these steps.

  1. Wash the wood with warm, soapy water. Wash all indentations and where bolts meet wood well.
  2. Air dry for a minimum of four hours, overnight if possible. Be sure the wood is completely dry.
  3. Melt 1/4 cup of organic non-GMO cold pressed coconut oil just until it melts.
  4. Wash your hands to avoid transferring anything to the coconut oil.
  5. Using a lint-free cloth, apply a heavy coat of coconut oil. Place oiled pieces on lint-free cloth or paper towel while the wood absorbs the oil and the oil solidifies. Fold your cloth into small sections that can be pressed into the grooves.
  6. Let the pieces sit for an hour or two before wiping clean with a lint-free cloth.
  7. Inspect all pieces closely. If you’ve missed a spot or the coating of oil is uneven, repeat steps three through five.
Oiling The Ultimate Cheese Press

Oiling The Ultimate Cheese Press

You should hand wash your press with warm (not hot), lightly soapy water after use. Never soak the wood. Be sure to let the pieces dry thoroughly before reassembling the press to store.

The Ultimate Cheese Press

The Ultimate Cheese Press

Motivation Monday – Canning Jars

Motivation Monday

Motivation Monday – a little inspiration to start your week on a good path. Please share your Motivation Monday link in comments. Or share a motivational quote. We’ll visit your blog and leave a comment.

A little inspiration was needed to get the strawberry patch weeded and mulched so I counted the empty canning jars to be sure I have enough for jam. If I don’t get that patch tended to I won’t have enough berries for all I want to put up.

Motivation Monday - Canning Jars

Motivation Monday – Canning Jars