Reachin' Abaco!

So, as some of you may know, I like to blog about my vacations during the summer.  Most of the time when I am on vacation I am having to write/type on my phone (usually in the "Notes" app), later I cut and paste the words between photos and then when I'm lucky...grab a quick wifi location to upload it all to this blog site.  It is farrrrrr from ideal!  Typing with my thumbs on my phone is an "An A-Number One Royal Bass-Akward Pain in the Arse"!  However, I pride myself in packing light and being divorced from technology while on vacation.  This year...  No more!  I had an entire lovely suitcase all for myself AND a house rented for three weeks WITH wifi!  So, I was determined to blog this year with ease.  I'm on island time and I'm gonna enjoy some of the luxuries that come with staying in one location.  (Unfortunately though, I am not actually used to blogging with just my computer and not my phone.)

This is the year of many firsts!

• First time bringing a laptop on vacation.
• First time blogging a vacation from my laptop and not my phone.
• First time bringing a pet. (Oh yes!  Millie came!!!!)
• First time going to the Bahamas without my folks.  (Well, not actually the first.  Shawn and I went pre-kids on a Spring Break trip to Lubber's Quarters Cay in 1996.)
• First time my niece and her beau have travelled outside of the U.S.  (Yes, I use the double "L".  I'm in a formerly British country...and I like the double "L" anyway.)
• First time flying into the "new" Marsh Harbor Airport.
• First time not arriving by boat or in a chartered airplane.  (Hence the larger suitcase and more luxuries.)

Packing this time was just so completely weird!  I was allowed a large, hard-sided suitcase!  I wasn't sure what to do with all that space!  When we came in our boat and/or my parents' boat, the rule was that all suitcases needed to be soft-sided and that more smaller bags was better than one large duffle bag.  

Also, this time I had to pack for the dog.  Therefore, I brought a collapsable dog crate!   I mean, really.  Doesn't everyone bring a dog crate in their luggage?  

Due to the extra space and not wanting to have my clothes just toss around in the big bag...I brought loads of goodies.  (I imagine that those odds 'n' ends will make their way into this blog over the weeks.)   

Next to the tan DOG CRATE is my treasured pink and orange insulated cup from my dear Ms. Barr .  

In order to be up 'n' out to make our early morning flight, we had to wake up at about 5:00 AM.  But, we were not able to check in to our island home until 3:00 PM.  So, we planned ahead and wore our bathing suits on the flight.  That way we were ready to hit the beach as soon as we landed on Elbow Cay.

Abaco...here we come!

Nicholas, Summer, Emma (my niece), and her steady, Zack.

It's still dark!  But, we're suited up and ready to get wet.

Millie is not quite two.  (Her birthday is in August.)  But, she's already done a lot of traveling and she is quite an excellent purse dog.

Chillin' in her bag.

Millie has a MAJOR attachment to me and has severe separation anxiety.  She whines, cries, whimpers, and barks if I'm out of her sight.  But, the bag plus an 11 pound dog is kind of heavy.  So, she sat on the seat behind me and kept a very watchful eye on her mama.

Once we got to our gate, we had time to settle in for a bit.  The kids walked around, got breakfast, and killed time by playing on their devices.

Going with the "It's Better to Beg for Forgiveness Policy", I took Millie out of her bag so that she didn't have to be cooped up while we were at the gate.  This gate only services small airplanes going to tropical destinations:  Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Key West, Bahamas...  So, I figured all of these folks were chill kind of types and wouldn't mind a recently groomed white fluffy dog sitting on my lap.

I swear I think that Millie likes her leash because she thinks that she's got me attached to her and knows I can't leave.

Once we boarded the plane, I applied the same policy and took Millie out of her bag.  I recently bought her a sling and she LOVES being in it.  So, I figured that was a good way to keep her happy during the flight.

The flight was under two hours.  Millie was GREAT!  However, he decided that she wanted to visit Summer and stand on the tray table for a bit.  Of course, when she's not actually "on" me, she can see me better.

Millie woke Summer from a nap...by pawing at her face.

In no time at all, we could see the Bahama islands!  Millie returned to the sling for the final little portion of the flight and I just patiently waited to return to my precious Abaco.

I was born in Ohio.  But, in my heart, I'm a native Bahamian.  Hello, homeland!

We landed in the new airport and marveled at all of the posh upgrades.  We got our passport stamps and cleared customs with ease.  Then, it was off to the ferry dock for our ride to Elbow Cay.  The kids went straight to the beach for a quick little stroll along the shoreline.

Emma and Zack's first taste of island life.

One of the many "Donnie" ferry boats in the background.

Summer and Emma

Kalik!  Yes, please!

Because Millie was so good in the Tampa airport, during the flight, in the Marsh Harbor airport, in the cab to the ferry dock, and plus we are in de islands... I treated her to a shady under the dock adventure!

Sandy feet!

Aww...  So cute!

I knew that as soon as I arrived in the Bahamas, I was back!  Back in a good way!  I was nervous about missing my folks and doing this trip without them.  I thought I might be sad.  But, the islands spoke to me and sent me this heart.  My first beach treasure of this vacation was perfectly placed there just for me.  "Welcome back, Jennifer.  We've missed you"

"Oh, Abaco...I love you!"

The ferry arrived.  All of the nervous people clogged up the dock and heaved their bags around.  Not me.  I waited.  I stayed on the beach, lagged behind, allowed the staff to load my bags, and boarded the Donnie with ease.

Millie, Nicholas, and I...we done reach!

As per usual, Nicholas made friends with the woman siting nearby. Millie, uncharacteristically, also decided to make friends with the lady.    He chatted on and on with her while I just enjoyed the sea spray and all of the shades of blue in the water and the sky.

 It's official.  We done reach! 

A Day Well Spent Making Butter

One of the things that I love to do during the summer (and all year long) is to go the South Tampa Farm.  I love this place!!! There's so MUCH to love!  But, today I am going to describe just the process of making butter.  This is a dairy farm with anywhere between 15-20 cows...calves of all ages, meat cows/steer, milking cows, and a one "happy" bull.  And, obviously, this butter starts with milk and that comes from these cows.

Nursing Cow

Twice a day the cows get milked...approximatley 4:30 or 5:00 AM and again in the PM. The farm only sells milk that is one day old.  The next day, the "old" milk gets removed from the merchandising case and is replaced with the new day's milk.

Today's Milk

The milk that didn't sell within one day, is returned to the "milk room" and placed on a lower shelf.  (I'm not sure why this milk says "12 Nov." because it's June.  Someone must have been a little off their game when it came time to label these.)  The "old" milk is destined to become a variety of other farm goodies: kefir, whey, cottage cheese, ricotta, mozzarella, yogurt, etc.  (Nothing goes to waste!)  To make butter, the cream must be skimmed.  As you can see in this photo there's a lot of lovely cream at the top of these gallon jugs.

"Old" Milk

Although this farm is very old fashioned and simple, it is NOT so old fashioned that we actually skim the cream with a ladle.  We use this device that separates the cream from the skimmed milk.  You plug in the machine, pour the milk into the silver bowl on top, and from one spout flows the cream and from the other spout...out comes skimmed milk.  (The skimmed milk become cottage cheese.)  The cream gets bottled up and returned to the refrigerator to ripen a bit.

Cream Separator

We have tried to make butter from cream that was separated that day, and it just doesn't "make".  Cream that has been aged and/or has soured, actually turns into butter much more consistently.  The night before, the cream gets set out to warm up to room temperature and further the ripening process.

This collection of cream has some that is two weeks old and some that is just a few days old.  So, the solution is to mix these together to get something that is a little bit of newer and a little bit of the older.  (The more you even all the components, the more likely things will work out.)  

Five and a Half Gallons of Cream

The work area gets a bleach water misting and a thorough wiping.  (I imagine customers think it's important to start with things as clean as possible.)😉

Again, this farm is old fashioned, but not so old fashioned that we actually churn the butter by hand.  We use this "new fangled" yet slightly antique electric churn.  

To assist in the processing steps, I also use super fine cheese cloth and butter paddles (also knowns as Scotch hands).

Soak these in cool tap water while the first batch of cream is churning.  This helps the butter not stick to the paddles and the cheese cloth.

The butter churn works best with a gallon and a half of cream.  I've tried more...there's not enough room for the churn to do the work it needs.  I've tried less...there's not enough liquid to really make the churn have good contact with the cream.

Remember to mix up the older and the newer cream!

This is what the older cream looks like.  It's not "sour" but it's just got the perfect amount of ripening so that it has gotten a wee bit golden and has thickened up some.

Pour the cream into the churn.  Plug it in and come back in twenty minutes.

Note that the cream comes just below the band in the glass.

8:10ish start time, at 8:30ish it should be done.

Check the clock:  twenty minutes!  Notice how the butter is above the band in the glass.  That's why the one and a half gallons of cream is the perfect amount to start with...it GROWS!  The butter is on the top.

Cheese cloth is draped across a colander and that is sitting on top of a stock pot.  This is the point where the buttermilk gets strained so that just the butter is left.

Oops!  A very important step is to smash down the cheese cloth into the colander.  If you don't, the buttermilk and butter will just spill out everywhere!  Pour slowly and pile all the butter up.

The first batch of lovely fluffy butter in the colander!

The buttermilk drips through the cheese cloth and into the stock pot.

Then, the buttermilk gets jarred and packaged later for sale.  This buttermilk is called "sweet" buttermilk and is TOTALLY different than buttermilk from the grocery.  Buttermilk from the grocery is cultured, salty, tangy.  This is not.  This buttermilk is a delicious drink as is!  (Mix in some farm fresh honey for a crazy good treat!)  It can also be used in cooking just like store bought buttermilk.

At the end, five and a half gallons of cream yielded two gallons of buttermilk.

The next step in the process is the rinsing.  Yes.  Rinsing.  The left over buttermilk that gets trapped with the butter is what sours and caused the butter to go bad quickly.  So, it needs to be rinsed out.   Fill the stock pot with some cool water and break apart the butter to allow the water to rinse all of the buttermilk out.  Strain again through the cheese cloth.  Do this step over and over until the water becomes mostly clear.  In the following pictures you can see that the first rinse has very milky water, the second rinse has less milky water, and the third rinse has mostly clear water.  (The wash water doesn't go to waste either!  We save that for the hogs.)

Second Rinse

Third and Final Rinse

Now, is the labor intensive part!  There is a lot of water that must now be removed.  Using the Scotch hands, pick up about 1/4 cup of butter and work it back and forth between the two paddles.  For many years I did this part with my actual hands.  But, on hot summery days (like today) the room temperature and my body temperature made this water removal step a huge mess and not very successful.  

Work this until all of the water has been removed.  Do this over the sink because A LOT of water comes out!

Note the bottom of the left paddle, you can see how the water runs down 'n' out through the channels and down your arms and off your elbows....

Once all of the water has been removed, the butter is ready to be packaged into half pound containers.

Right on the dot!

FORTY FIVE Packages of Butter

A day well spent!  And, I love being able to say that I was THEE ONLY person in the whole entire city of Tampa who made 23 lbs. of farm fresh butter today.  I know that because this is the only farm within the city limits of Tampa and I was the only one there.  

Cactus Cake on a Rainy Day

WE ARE OUT OF SCHOOL!!!  Woo hoo!  Summer time:  lazy-beachy days, nature walks, fun times at the farm...  But, it's been raining off and on for days!  Literally!  And because of that we've watched hundred of hours of TV/Netflix and played almost as many hours of video games.  I dusted the fan blades, wiped down the blinds, scrubbed the tops of the kitchen cabinets, washed the baseboards, fixed and tidied up all sorts of odds-n-ends, napped...  Ho hum.

Summer and I have been compiling a list of fun things to do in Tampa for those days when there's nothing to do.  The list is mostly places to eat and a few destinations.  Unfortunately though, most of the places to go are outside.  So, after some thought...we decided to make a cake!  That'll be a fun inside the house activity.  It'll be something different.  

I used to LOVE to bake during the summer:  whole pies with lattice work, tiny muffin cup sized pies, elaborately decorated cakes...  Sadly, calories got in the way.  Lucky for me though, we're trapped in the house and Nicholas can't get enough calories, Summer and Shawn will eat some, and my nephew, Brian, is visiting for a few weeks and he'll eat some too.  

We braved the rain, went to Michael's for some cake decorating supplies, Publix for some other things, and made a quick stop at the farm for some fresh milk.

The boys settled in for more gaming.

I love making things from scratch but I also enjoy cutting out some of the tedious steps when possible!  We used ready made royal icing and boxed buttercream and cake.

In order to allow for some drying time, the first step in the cactus cake was to work on the flower.  I used a nail and a leaf tip.  The beautifully pink flower was limp and lifeless.  But...meh.  Good enough, right?  (I should have added more powdered sugar to stiffen up the icing after mixing in the coloring because I think that little bit of liquid thinned it out and the petals were a lil sunny side down.)  

There was no way to remove the soggy flower from the nail.  So, we sacrificed a hamburger bun.  It made for a great stand.

Again, knowing that the royal icing needed time to set up, we went on to make the flower stamen and cactus needles.  The cactus needles were just plain white icing but the batch for the flower stamen had some yellow food coloring added to it.  We used a number two tip to pipe out inch long lines.

Summer on piping duty.

The white icing was so thick that I had to change to a number four tip.  Even with a larger hole, the icing was just so thick that we had to take turns piping.  Our hands cramped!  

Number two tip.

Nicholas' turn.  The number four tip was better but still a TOUGH job!

We all needed a break from icing piping.  So, we moved on to the buttercream...a much easier task!  The goal was to make a cactus shade of green.  But, we think that this looks exactly like wasabi!

Wasabi?

Nicholas was honestly not sure if it was wasabi!

Then, it was time to bake the cake.  I'd made this cactus cake in 1993 for myself just for fun.  I am certain that was the first and last time that I used the ball cake pan set.  I moved them with me to two different apartments and two different houses. Although, I'd considered throwing away the pans, for some reason, I never did.  And, I'm glad that I didn't.  What fun to bake a ball shaped cake!

Summer icing the cake.

In the end, the cactus looks pretty darn legit in a new/clean clay pot on a bed of crushed Oreo cookies as dirt.