Homemade Iced Coffee and Sweet Cream

Being a dedicated iced coffee drinker, when I happened upon this Pinterest post I knew I had to try it.  Dana at cravingcomfort.blogspot.com has hit this nail on the head.  Who wants to pay more than $4 for an Iced Coffee drink? I certainly do not! And this version is rich, creamy, delicious and approximately $1 per serving.

 

The process seemed simple enough; add water to coffee grounds and let cold brew overnight.  Ok, I can do this.  Then I realized I didn’t have a container large enough to accommodate a gallon of brewing coffee.  So I figured it wasn’t the container that matter but the time it takes to brew.  I pulled 2 large zip type bags out of the drawer and divided up the grounds and water and I was in business.  With both bags completely full, I squeezed them a bit to ensure all the grounds were wet and let them sit.  The next morning the fun began… the filtering.  This took some time and what a mess.  Did I mention I LOVE ICED COFFEE???? I opted to run the wet grounds through coffee filters as opposed to cheese cloth.  This process took a little over an hour, not that bad.  As the coffee filtered off I put it back into the gallon jug that the purified water came in and stored my iced coffee in the refrigerator.

 

Meanwhile, I prepared the sweet cream.  A can of evaporated milk and one of sweetened condensed milk were combined and placed into a container. 

So, now it’s time to enjoy. I couldn’t wait to try it.  I filled the largest glass I could find with ice, added the coffee concentrate and sweet cream to my glass.  I gave it a good stir and took a sip.  Delicious but just a little sweet to me, so I added some regular milk to it…. Perfection!!!!  I will be making this iced coffee again, just as soon as I finish this batch. 

Simple Homemade Goats Cheese

It has been some time since I last posted.  I’ve had some medical issues but I’m doing a little better now and trying to get back to my passions.  Anyone who knows me knows just how much I value my time in the kitchen, creating, exploring and producing.  Sooooo……

The other day I was given a quart of Organic Goats Milk and decided I couldn’t let it go to waste, so after a bit of internet research I found this:

http://cheese.about.com/od/homecheesemaking/r/How-To-Make-Homemade-Goat-Cheese.htm

I love fun, easy and tasty food and this was all of those.  Needless to say my only experience with goat milk was 27 years ago when my youngest daughter developed milk allergies and I was forced to find alternatives.  She seemed to enjoy it so that was a plus.  I would never give my child something I hadn’t tried first and I was a little hesitant to say the least.  To me it was a little grassy and earthy, if that makes sense. But it was palatable and I figured if she didn’t like it I would find something else. Long story, sorry.

So anyway…. I set out to make this cheese.  I had everything on hand so that was a plus.  However, it does take a bit of time, not much, 2 hours.  The quart yielded 1 cup.  I must admit I expected a bit more.  But I certainly was NOT disappointed in the flavor.  As I was traveling through the process I thought I needed to step it up a bit and text my oldest daughter, because

she has a fabulous sense for these kinds of things.  I asked if she thought a particular herb would be better than another and she suggested rosemary.  I happened to have that in my little window herb garden.  

Once the cheese was complete, I refrigerated it for 2 days because after reading about it I figured it would make it that much better.  Today I placed a small amount on a butter style cracker, my taste buds danced with joy.  I proceeded to have another and yet another.  JOY!!! I’m so glad I did this!  I encourage you to try to make your own cheese and enjoy the fruits of your labor. If you do, let me know what you think.