I’m back! I can’t promise that I’ll be posting consistently for a while…But I have a really good excuse:) And she’s the cutest excuse ever…if I do say so myself:)
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| Raimy and Saylor meeting their newbie |
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| Rennix meeting her baby sister |
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| Saylor is in love |
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| Daddy and his new princess |
So to experiment with the almond milk flavor a little bit more I bought a few different kinds of vanilla extract. It actually makes a huge difference. So… (yes I’m weird) I looked up recipes for vanilla extract online. I’m currently 5 weeks into the 8 week process.. I am making madagascar vanilla, tahitian vanilla and Ugandan vanilla extracts. I’ll let you know in a few weeks if they are good:)
Stupid easy way to make vanilla extract:
-Choose your vanilla bean type. I bought mine from the online retailer Beanilla. They have a huge selection of beans and the prices compared with the grocery stores in my area are amazing.
-split 5 beans lengthwise
I love extracts… so I am want to try making my own almond, peppermint and orange too…why not!
Anyone drink almond milk?
I was told recently that I needed to post how I make almond milk:) Everyone I’ve made it in front of, has started exclusively making it for their families as well. It is Soooo easy, saves a TON of money and you can change up the recipe to fit your liking!
I make 3 gallons a week! Yes I have piglets!! If your fam drinks almond milk you will be amazed at how much better it tastes homemade. It’s also one of those items that you can buy organic and still be shocked at the ingredients list. With all the preservatives and my favorite ‘natural flavors’ you don’t know what you are drinking! Once you look up what ‘natural flavors’ can entail you will probably steer clear…yuck!
So here it is:
To make about a half gallon (depends on your blender)
-a good blender
-a milk straining bag
-1 1/2 cups almonds (give or take, experiment with different amounts until you find what fits your liking)
-5 pitted dates (you can you use figs too…again depending on how sweet you want it, add or subtract)
-a splash of vanilla extract
-a pinch of salt
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| My out of focus ingredients:) |
Soak your almonds overnight in water. I use filtered water because it absorbs into the almonds. If you wouldn’t drink from your tap don’t use it:)
Once they are finished, drain and really rinse them well, until the water runs clear.
I then throw them and all the ingredients into my trustee vita-mix, fill with filtered water and blend.
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| Before |
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| After
Pour the blended mixture into the strainer over a pitcher. Let sit for a few minutes to let gravity do most of the works. Then ‘milk’ the bag… strangely enough like you would milk a cow!  Voila! You’re finished! You can use what’s left of the almonds to make flour! My mom makes the most amazing cookies out of her leftovers(I’ll ask her for the recipe)!
I let the milk sit for a few hours in the fridge before drinking. Make sure you shake it up everytime before pouring…it does settle.
You can experiment with any kind of nut. Hazelnuts, cashews etc. I haven’t tried any others yet but am interested in trying cashews…
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About 2 hours from Los Angeles is a small mountain town called Oak Glen… My sister, the kids and I visited for the first time yesterday. OH MY WORD! I want to move there! If you are in Southern California I highly recommend taking this day trip.
Oak Glen is described as “New England in SoCal”. The temperature is usually 20 degrees cooler than the valley, so with this hundred plus heat we ran away looking for easier weather:) The entirety of Oak Glen is basically covered in every kind of apple tree imaginable! Orchards cover the mountains…it is beautiful. They also grow pretty much everything else as well!
Our first stop was Riley’s Farm. It felt like we had gone back in time! The farm was originally built in 1880 and it still holds that charm.
We started the morning with an apple tasting, deciding our favorites before going out picking. (Although if you’re going to visit and go picking I’d go to Snow-Line farm a few miles down the road, because Riley’s is so popular and the ripe fruit is stripped before the other farms) They have a few stores on the 760 acres that sell the YUMMIEST jams and apple butters, colonial themed everything, old wooden toys, bonnets, candy and they make their own historical movies that are sold there as well! They have many demonstrations going on as you stroll, how to press cider, candle dipping, ink and quill lessons etc.
We ended our trip to Riley’s with a sit down dinner at Hawk’s Head Public house. There is live music and all the servers sing! My sister and I decided we wanted to live in Oak Glen and work here:)
We stopped at a few of the country stores along the stretch, each neat in it’s own way. There were apple stands everywhere. We stopped at Snow-Line before heading home. I had read online that they make fresh apple donuts. We grew up next to a cider mill in Franklin Michigan and the smell of apple donuts is one of our favorite earliest memories. So we HAD to stop and eat some with the kids! I ordered 2 dozen mini’s and we ate them all within minutes!!
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| Outside one of the stores on the property |
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| Isn’t this land beautiful?!! |
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| After running and picking all day these babies crashed!! |
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| Hawk’s Head Public House |
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| The Armory Band in the BBQ restaurant |
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| Just singing under trees |
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| Our Lunch |
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| My sister Ashley |
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| My sis and Saylor, a server lighting the candle chandeliers and the musicians |
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| Raimy enjoying fresh pressed cider |
We will return often…it was a wonderful trip. Can’t wait until fall when the weather cools and they start selling pumpkins:)
