September 5, 2012

Ziggy Milk, Ziggy Butter, Ziggy Mozz

Ziggy, one of my Nigerian Dwarf does
Ziggy

Ziggy milk. Icy cold with peanut butter chip chocolate bar cookies

homemade goat butter on homemade pumpkin muffin
Ziggy butter on freshly baked pumpkin muffin.
For more information on goat butter including a how-to, click here.

Ziggy yogurt with home canned figs

goat milk yogurt cheese & homemade blueberry jam on toast
Ziggy yogurt cheese & homestead blueberry jam on toast

Ziggy Mozzarella

Homemade pizza with homemade mozzarella
Ziggy YUM!

In all fairness, Ziggy shouldn't get all the credit. She gives most of the milk, but Edy & Nessie contribute too.

2 Nigerian Dwarf does
Edy & Nessie

Now all I need is an ice cream maker ;)

Related Post:
Homestead Whipped Cream (From Goats!)


32 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh my that sounds delicious! It is one of my dreams to have goats!

Unknown said...

Yes, me too, goats someday! And where do you find canned figs? Looks yummy!

Michelle said...

I'll bet you're both happy to be back in goats' milk! It all looks so yummy, and I must say there are no cuter dairy goats than Nigerian Dwarves. I think you made a change for the better there!

Ngo Family Farm said...

Oh. My. Goodness!! Yum! Got room for one more extra seat in that beautiful and heavenly-scented kitchen of yours?
-Jaime

The Cranky said...

Okay, this is just funny...are you a professional mindreader? I'd just begun researching pygmy goats for future reference and you post this!

Sue said...

All looks so delicious!! Can't hardly wait to get my girls bred so they can start producing some of that yummyness too.

Farmer Barb said...

As one of my children once said,"I come to yours house!" That looks DEEE-LISH

Mama Pea said...

You be in the milk again . . . wa-HOO!

Leigh said...

Jaclyn, I don't think I could live without my goats!

Nancy, I get the canned figs from my pantry. :) Sorry! Couldn't resist! We have fig trees and I can them myself. Just click on the word "figs" in the caption.

Michelle, the milk is the best ever. Funny how life's twists and turns can end up so well.

Jaime, LOL, Thanks to our goats, we do eat very well. :)

Jacqueline, I have a Pygmy buck and he is a real sweetheart. Great personality and everyone I know who has Pygmies, loves them. My girls are Nigerians Dwarfs, another mini breed with good personality. You couldn't go wrong with either, though Pygmies tend to be a bit short legged to milk.

Sue, you're probably working on that right about now, yes? Nothing cuter than kids and nothing nicer than fresh raw goats milk.

Barb, LOL.

Mama Pea, I'm only getting a little over a quart a day and it's turning out to be plenty for the above purposes. I still have hard cheese from last year, so I don't have to make that. This is giving me a feel for how much we actually need. Would still like extra to feed the chickens and someday pigs, but that can be managed when the time comes.

Izzy said...

Goats are on my wish list of kritters. Looks like you have things going in the right direction. Yum on all accounts.

Sandy Livesay said...

Ziggy reminds me of some Bob Marley songs :-)
I love that you're able to make all of your dairy products from milk produced by your goats.
Yes, please give credit to all of them. They work hard and deserve some credit too, lol....
Everything you've made in the pictures above looks delicious, thank you for sharing.

Nina said...

That's an exciting update! It's wonderful to find out that the new girls are giving enough milk to be useful. It seems to be a great alternative to the kinders.

Sherri B. said...

Wow, Ziggy is her own, complete 'dairy section'!!

When I say those sweet faces I just want to grab and kiss their little heads..Love 'em ! xo

Cat Eye Cottage said...

Yum! So jealous!

Renee Nefe said...

we have an ice cream maker that was given to us as a wedding gift. I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually used it or loaned it out for others to use. :p

I think after I spend all the time, money and effort on making ice cream that buying it ends up being cheaper. However, if I had my own milk/cream source that would change things considerably.

Check your local thrift stores for that ice cream maker. The show up here all the time.

Jody said...

I was waiting to see a picture of "Ziggy Stardust" To bad :)

Anonymous said...

I need to ask you about getting cream from goats, to make butter. I read that goat's milk is naturally homogenized, so it's difficult to get cream unless you use a separator. How do you do it? I really would like goats, but the "cream thing" has been holding me back.

Leigh said...

Izzy, goats are wonderful additions to a homestead and we've really enjoyed ours.

Sandy, LOL. The other things I make are hard cheese and whipped cream. Not recently though, so no photos.

Nina, it was a very pleasant surprise to have the additional milk. As much as I love my Nigies though, I'd trade them for Kinders in a heartbeat. Kinders are a little larger, but give way more milk. Plus being dual purpose, there's meat on their bones for the freezer.

Sherri, I hadn't thought of it that way but it's true!

Candace, thanks!

Renee, I'm on the lookout! We used to have one but it got sold during a move. Having to buy all the ingredients didn't make it cost effective. Actually, for just Dan and me we wouldn't need a full size ice cream maker. I've seen some smaller ones that might be perfect for us.

Jody, if Belle invents the recipe, I'll add it to the post!

Brenda, someone else asked about butter making from goats, so I'm getting started on a post. I've heard that too about goats milk being homogenized, but mine always separates. After about 24 hours the cream has distinctly risen to the top. I spoon skim and store in the freezer until I get enough. I'll get photos the next time I make butter and share those.

Anonymous said...

Leigh, your comments about the goats cream were very encouraging. If I had standard sized dairy goats, I would get even more cream! I look forward to reading your upcoming post on making butter from goats milk.

SmithGang said...

Ahhhh to oneday start milking.. everything looks awesome!! Ziggy is a wonderful blessing:)

Bernadine said...

It's so early in the morning here and looking at your beautiful delectables has really made me hungry! All of those photos are beautiful. Ziggy is just amazing and so are her compatriots. Looks like you put every ounce of that precious milk to good use. Yum, yum, yummy!

Anonymous said...

Oh well, I think she is doing a great job!

Anonymous said...

Oh dear, I think I have to come over and partake of all your wonderful goodies. The girls are all doing a fantastic job of keeping you in milk. Lucky girl!

CaliforniaGrammy said...

Oh Leigh . . . I wish we were neighbors. I've got the ice cream maker I'd let you use. Adorable goat "herd" you have. How fun to be able to make your own butter, yogurt, mozarella and yogurt cheese!

Leigh said...

Brenda, I'll get to working on it. The breed of goat is important too. Nubians and Kinders have milk rich in butterfat.

SmithGang, indeed!

Bernadine, LOL. It would make me hungry too. :)

Stephanie, yes she is!

Martha, I'm very thankful for it. :)

Janice, then we could have an ice cream party!

famousthecat said...

AMAZING!!! You are only serving to make me REALLY want a couple of goats, though! It just kept getting better and better... and then... ZIGGY MOZZARELLA?!

Like I said, amazing!

Trish at Tangled Threads said...

It would be very difficult to find a commercial ice cream that would be any where near as good quality as you would make. And your own would have top quality ingredients! To buy that ice cream would cost a fortune. And regular commercial ice cream is full of junk.

Leigh said...

Christie, think whipped cream and ice cream too! (See, I'm an enabler)

Trish, I agree. I used to buy Breyers ice cream, reputed to have all natural ingredients. Last time I almost bought it, I happened to glance at the ingredients. I was surprised to find the same chemical ingredients as the other ice creams. Needless to say, I vowed no more ice cream until we can make our own.

* Crystal * said...

Should not have opened this so late at night..... Now I have the munchies!! Thanks Leigh!! :)

So happy you have milk again.... Are you going to go forward with your Kinder plan? Those Nigies are adorable, but I just can't milk those tiny ones twice a day, every day.... Too hard on my back & hands.... Plus I'm kinda spoiled to my 1/2-3/4 gallon per goat, per milking average that I get with my Alpines & Lamanchas....

Are the new additions meshing well with your original goats?

Leigh said...

Crystal, we're giving the Kinder thing one more shot. We only have the the one Nubian and one Pygmy now, so it would be very slow going to establish an actual herd. If Surprise doesn't settle this year, I don't know what I'll do.

I hear you about the tiny Nigie teats. Ziggy is easier because she has no rear attachments, plus she's large for a Nigerian Dwarf. Her orifices are smaller though, so it still isn't faster to milk her. The other two though, I'm not sure I do a very good job of stripping because my hands are so big, but oh well. At least I have milk and at least it's enough to meet our modest needs. :)

* Crystal * said...

Oh I hope it works out for you this year! Was your pygmy boy able to do the deed last year? Or was it an issue of the doe not concieving despite being bred?

I've seen some awesome Nigerians..... Jobi dairy here in Texas has Nigerians that "a man can milk"..... There is a Nigerian breeder in North Carolina with good udders/teats too.... I think her herd name is Promised Land??

For me though, it's those short legs..... Can't fit my pails under them while still having room for my big hands ;) But their milk is fabulous! So at least you're getting yummy milk :)

Hope your Kinders work this year!

Leigh said...

Crystal, I'm not really sure. Both does resisted our attempts to "help", with a buck boost (small platform); they refused to be held in front of it. I finally turned them all together for about 3 or 4 months. I bought the red topped blood tubes to send off blood samples to check, but Dan was never home on the day I needed to take them to ship them off. When Jasmine broke her leg, the vet did a PG test, but it was negative. Surprise, just never kidded. So I have no idea what happened. She has cycled through 2 heats now and been cooperative with him. I hate to think the problem is with him, but that's a possibility. We'll see. He'll have a turn with the 3 Nigies as well. If nobody settles, I'm gonna assume his ammo is nothing but blanks!

Would love to see some of those Texas Nigies. They certainly do grow things bigger in Texas. :)