Short And Semi-Sweet

Short and semi-sweet is how I'd describe this shortest month here in Eastern Ontario.

We had a couple of quite severe snowstorms with high winds and heavy, drifting snow. Makes me grateful that I don't have to be anywhere and can just den up and enjoy the comforts of home.

And we also had stretches of calm, mildness and sunshine. A pleasure to be out and about for fresh air and exercise.

Some snaps I took this month:

Looks like a fox checked or left a pee mail message.

Daybreak finds my screech owl hunting from a sumac branch.

A Northern Shrike terrifies my feeder birds into fleeing for cover.

A pretty Red-Bellied Woodpecker is spending the winter here.

Browsing for a 'take-away'.

A female junco 'eating in'.

The little trough feeder is as popular as ever.

 

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I use a lot of soy milk! In my coffee and tea, on my porridge, for smoothies and for cooking. In fact, that (and cat food) is often my only impetus for a grocery trip. So with the inspiration of a few YouTube videos, I decided to try my hand at making my own soy milk. After trying several recipes, frankly some of which were unpalatable, I hit on a formula which produces a mild and flavourful product. In fact I like it better than any store brand. Also, it can be made for a fraction of the cost.

Unsweetened Soy Milk

To a pot, add 1 cup dry organic soybeans and cover them with hot tap water.

Boil for 5 minutes and discard the water. Do this 3 times.

Cover the beans with hot tap water and stir in a teaspoon of baking soda.

Let soak at room temperature for about 12 hours.

Strain off the soak water and cover with fresh, tepid water. 

With your fingers, rub off and discard the bean hulls by swirling water over them and draining off the floating cases.

Drain the beans.

Sterilize three 500 ml glass mason jars in 225 degree F oven for 10 minutes. Leave in oven until ready to fill them.

Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to 6 cups warm, filtered water. Blend in two batches with half of the beans and 3 cups of the water for 2 minutes each.

Into a nut bag or cheese cloth, strain batches over sieve and 3 quart/2.8 L cooking pot.

Squeeze out as much liquid as possible.

Bring milk to a simmer, then cook on very low heat for 2 hours. Watch carefully to prevent boil-overs and stir frequently with a whisk.

Let cool and pour into the sterilized bottles. Keeps well in fridge for a week. Shake well before use as no emulsifiers were used.

Makes about 5 cups.

 

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The following decadent recipe was inspired by Brenda Gordon. She and her husband produce YouTube videos by the name of "Working Horses With Jim".  They raise, train and work draft horses on their farm in northern New York state. Every Valentine's Day, she makes chocolate covered peanut butter balls for Jim. She shared her recipe and I couldn't resist making a batch for myself. 

Peanut Butter Balls

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups powdered (icing) sugar

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

about 1 1/2 cups (300 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Method

Sift powdered sugar into large bowl.

Melt butter, mix with powdered sugar, then add peanut butter and vanilla.

Mix well. 

Scoop out in tablespoon amounts and roll into balls.

Make sure the balls are chilled before dipping.

Melt chocolate chips and oil in microwave.

Using a fork, dip the peanut butter balls one at a time into the melted chocolate.

Place the chocolate coated balls onto wax paper and refrigerate until ready to serve.

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Daylight is noticeably lengthening now. In the last few days I've noticed my raven couple flying overhead with nesting material. Spring must surely be on it's way!

I leave you with a snap of the optimistic looking little viola flower that I rescued from my driveway last Fall.