Truly, I have...
And no naked butter in sight! /sigh/
So after a neighbour said her boyfriend makes butter(!) & I lamented at home how Dad eats all the cream before we'd be able to make some, & gave them as an illustrious example! - finally, some cream was saved this week.. (it also helped Mom & Dad were away from home most of the time! making wood at Aunt's..)
Mum just used a little pot & a hand mixer.. then she showed me how she pours away the 'water' (I drank most of it - yum!) & just rinses the butter & does things to it with a spoon.. (no fancy equipment used here, just going about it as simple as possible!)
/pic found on Wikipedia/I talked of what people online say or use.. (so Mum used a sieve too, before, she didn't)
She was told the mystery of butter-making by a woman we used to get milk from.. before that, she didn't know how..
It's really simple & quick.. (Poppy may have fumbled with it more, but we had a smaller quantity too..) and also more cost-effective... (considering we get milk anyway.. and this is just a by-product!)
Mum also said if we want to make quark/cottage cheese, we can oder extra 2 liters of milk & just make it! :)
/The woman making quark didn't come to local monthly non-farmers-market this week! Sis said we can visit her though if needed, so quark sources covered! ;)/
(pic found here )Mum &I talked of maybe using the soapwort instead of soapnuts as a more local alternative, for hair washing & washing the clothes.. (apparently the soapwort has 20% saponins in the root, soapnuts only 15%?)
Found some recipes for shampoo, haven't found any for washing clothes yet! Any recommendations?
/pics found here/I also want to make a dish cloth & have looked at patterns online.. only found some brightly colored cotton in Mum's boxes.. not sure if it's okay for dish cloths.. would prefer organic/eco cotton..
Does anyone know if mercerized cotton is okay for dish cloths?
Am rather dreading zero waste week cause I feel totally underprepared, & still haven't planned the menus! /sigh/ And Dad will be sawing the wood much of the time, & I really hate too much noise!!
Sis said, 'Can we have it next year?' lol
Some Horror Gifts from Easter/b-day in advance include non-zero-waste chocolate, & sadly, I couldn't resist it! /sigh/ Hopefully it will get eaten before ZW week - or wait till the end? /Or..?!/ Can I cheat? ;)
Better news:
I called the local newspaper & they're interested in articles how to make less waste. (I said nothing about zero waste week cause I'm not sure we could pull it off! lol) They would be published end-of-May & then once a month, so I have time! :)
Got the 500 media contacts of Slovenian media too (YAY!!:)), & not sure what to do with them?!! (slightly overwhelmed, lol!!)
Not-so-good:
Tomorrow we can't go to the Farmers' Market as Mum has other things, Sis seems slightly ill, & Dad wants to be sawing wood! /sigh/ & I still haven't renewed my drivers' license! /sigh/
The computers I ranted about a few weeks before were discovered under the pine trees and on the grass (!!) at the local wastewater center! /sigh!!/
Definitely something must be done about this!
(Mom said to put them in newspaper too, but I'd prefer to talk to local officials first & try to deal with this quietly & diplomatically, if possible!! alas, I'm no diplomat! & when I think of the damn computers, some of them half broken on the grass, near a river (!) I get headache!! ugh!!)
Head of a local charity agrees a reuse station would be a good idea..
Now if only I could convince the officials etc? & get some money from EU?
(They give money for MUCH stupider projects!!)
National garbage policy is said to be updated in 2 months.. NGOs should definitely have a say, but will anyone bother to do anything?
I feel so... tired, & alone, & ... ugh, not sure exactly what to do & how to go about it..?!! I am just 'poor old me', not so healthy at the time either!! - how can I change any official politics?!!
/img found here/ at least I weeded out the strawberries today! :)
now if only weeding out silly official policies & practices would be as easy!!
Hmm, maybe this is normal before a zero waste week?!! Do tell!! :)
Wow!
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you that you're able to make butter at home! I also want to do it!!! We consume almost a liter of fresh milk every two days... is it a too small quantity? Would you post a recipe, please?
I was searching zero waste butter here but it's impossible. The butter wrapped in tin foil has a very thin layer of paper wich is impossible to separate and the paper wraps have instead a thin plastic layer... :(
And I'm very happy to see you busy with your local newspaper! It's the sign that awareness is growing there! you must be proud!
As regards the other tips I can't help you, sorry! You are very investigative and nothing passes out of your sight! Let us know if you'll find the answers on the way!
And don't feel down if the world seems to run against you! Everything has its time! ;)
Yummy - butter, I'm coming over for tea! We can buy butter in greaseproof paper over here. Ironically it is the cheap 'value' brands that offer this rather than the expensive ones that come in shiny laminated foil.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe the amazing progress you have made with zero waste week. Well done you. I'm so proud of you :)
Dear Danda, thank you! :)
ReplyDeleteWe consume/get 2 liters of fresh milk (directly from the farmer) every 2 days, the trick is to gather the cream and not eat it! (& not use it for other recipes!)
maybe you could gather the cream for a few days (or even a week - see if it holds okay in the fridge?) & see how much you get?
You can make as little butter as you wish..
Mum just put the cream into a pot & used the mixer & whipped it until it 'separated' - then put it on a strain to separate from 'milky water' (or just in a small pot) & rinsed it with tap water, & then mixed it with a spoon or fork, to make a better consistency & wash away any impurities.
There are a lot of videos on YouTube too, I will try to find some that inspired me!
Rae, the butter here is wrapped into aluminum foil+plastics! haven't found any cheap brands with less packaging yet!
(also, even waxed paper is put into mixed waste here!)
Thank you both VERY MUCH for your kind words of support & inspiration!! :)
I do feel like I haven't 'done anything' - yet we've done quite a few things that we haven't done yet!
Maybe I need to blog about it all! :)