Best Wishes from Goodwife Farm........

May your kiddings all go smoothly
May your milk pails all be full.
May you always know the love
Of your goats, and that's no bull!

Here wishing you a fabulous end to 2009 and a bright future in 2010!

Recipe Tuesday!

I am on Weight Watchers so I'm always looking for healthy filling meals. This is my potato soup recipe. I hope you enjoy it!

Goodwife Farm's Potato Soup

• 1 cup potatoes, diced but not peeled
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup broccoli (fresh or frozen)
• 2 cups water
• dash of salt
• 1/2 cup goat milk

Add potatoes, onion, water and salt to pan. If using fresh broccoli, add it now. Boil rapidly until potatoes are tender. Don't drain as alot of your water will boil off in the cooking process, . Add milk and broccoli (if using frozen) and simmer until thickened and heated through. Serve!

This is really quite yummy. I use either fresh milk or surplus milk that I've canned. This is a nice bowl of soup for one person. You can double or triple your ingredients to make as much as you need!

Till next time............GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM!

What I like Best about my Kinders......

It's so very hard for me to decide what is best about having Kinder goats. Of course their size has to be factored in. I love that they are small enough, but not too small. I particularly like the fact that the boys aren't 250lbs of testosterone! The gals are tall enough to easily fit a pail under, but not so tall that I feel overwhelmed. I'm only 5'3" so they are just perfect for me! I love that the babies are smaller than a chicken when they are born. They are just the perfect size for cuddling. This photo shows my daughter's Barbie horse next to one of Tulip's newborn triplets from January 2009.

I love the milk that Kinders give. I have tasted milk from different breeds and I do have to say that it tasted flat and thin to me. Perhaps this is the way that the goats were fed, but I'll take my rich creamy milk over it any day!

I like the personalities of Kinder goats. My girl Tulip has kidded twice now, and both times she waited for me to be there with her. She talked to me the whole time she was laboring and would lick my face or nibble my ear between contractions. Then after the babies were born, she'd lick a baby, lick my face, lick a baby, then lick my face. It's a good feeling to have!

So many things to love about the Kinder goat that I can't possibly hope to tell you all of them. I've got a solution for you though.............GET SOME KINDER GOATS!

Till next time.........GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM!

Hello from Illinois!

Hi there Kinder Communique' readers! My name is Sarah Paintiff and I live in beautiful Southern Illinois about 45 minutes north of St. Louis Missouri. I am privileged to be the first featured breeder/blogger for the KGBA. I am very excited and honored to be asked to do this. Here's a bit of information about us!

We live on a small homestead that we call Goodwife Farm. We raise Kinder goats for milk and meat, rabbits for meat, and chickens for meat and eggs. We plant a nice big garden every year and I can as much as possible. We will be building a small catfish pond within the next two years so that we can stock our freezer with fresh fish as well. We also have a root cellar in the plans for the next two or three years to make storing all of that yummy produce a bit easier.

I got my start in Kinder goats from a fabulous lady named Rhonda Daniels of Faith Farm in Rochester IL. Rhonda is an amazing woman and has become a valued friend and mentor to me. She helps me out in all things goatish, not to mention the perils and pitfalls of general life! My first foray into Kinders was with Faith Farm's Tulip and Faith Farm's Jett. I no longer have Jett, but I'll never part with my girl Tulip! After getting the hang of, and falling in love with these wonderful animals, I decided that I wanted a registered goat so I turned once again to Rhonda for advice. She contacted Lisa and Craig Lamm of Tickleweed Hill Farm where I purchased Tickleweed Hill's Naomi, my first registered Kinder. Naomi's dam was actually featured in the KGBA newsletter a few years ago, because of giving birth to 6 live kids! Naomi is due for her first freshening in March, and I'm really hoping that we only have twins or triplets! Naomi's breeding is strictly Bramble Patch Kinder, as is my second registered goat, Bramble Patch Kinder Famous, or Luke as we call him. Luke and Naomi will be the start of my registered herd and I've got high hopes for their babies.

Please stay tuned for more Kinder news to come from Goodwife Farm including what I like best about my goats, what I do with my milk, and why everybody needs a Kinder goat!

Doe in Different Stages of Labor

This is an excellent site showing different stages of a normal kidding.


http://www.arkansasdairygoats.com/kiddingphotos.htm

Did you know?

Goat Milk

It tastes much the same as whole cow milk, but better. There are important differences in mineral and vitamin content and indigestibility. Kinder milk is the best tasting milk of all the goat breeds.

A study quoted by Dr. Barbellion of Paris at the International Congress of Medicine showed that "submitted to the action of digestive ferments, human milk and the milk of the goat were digested completely in TWENTY minutes, while the same process applied to cow milk showed only a slight advance after SIXTY minutes."

APPLE SAUCE CAKE-IN-A-JAR

This would make nice gifts.


1 large can (24 oz) of apple sauce, or 3 cups of peeled, chopped apples.
3 eggs
3 cups flour (all purpose)
1 cup corn oil
1 ½ cups chopped walnuts or hazelnuts, pecans, etc
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup raisins, currants, or chopped dates

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F.



Grease and flour 6 or 8 wide mouth PINT jars. Fill the jars about HALF full with cake batter. Bake at 325 for about 30 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes out dry. Remove the jars from the oven ONE at a time, wipe the rim, then cap with simmered canning lid and secure the ring. Cool the jars on a towel until they "ping" and seal. Store on a dark, cool shelf.

SUMMER SAUSAGE

Goat burger makes wonderful Summer Sausage. This would make a nice gift for giving during this Christmas season. There are so many recipes for Summer Sausage but this is the one that I use.

2 lbs. burger
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp. Tender Quick
1 1/2 tsp. liquid smoke
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
Tiny bit of salt

Mix and shape into 3 long rolls. Wrap in Saran Wrap and refrigerate 24 hours.
Remove Saran Wrap. Lay in pan and bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Let cool. Can be eaten right away, stored in refrigerator or frozen.