Egg Custard

And the winner is….Katiegirl! Congratulations! Thanks to everyone who played my game Katiegirl, I’ll send you an e-mail shortly.

The answers:

1)A – yes, cows do have upper teeth, but only in the back. It’s weird. I actually just learned this fact a couple days ago.

2) C – the average cow produces about 8 gallons (about 68 pounds) each day.

3) D – unfortunately, we do all the hard work and yet only get 30% of the money from each gallon of milk that is purchased.

4) A – cows have 220 bones in their bodies. That’s 14 more than humans have.

5) B – the record number of calves one cow had is 39!

I thought it was about time I introduce a little more of my life to everyone. Thanks to Pioneer Woman‘s little Tasty Kitchen Blog that I was featured on a few days ago, I now have a few more readers who may wish to know a bit about me.

When I was in high school, working at a local hunting store, a handsome young man happened upon my register to pay for his bullets. I had actually known this boy existed because his lovely sister asked my permission to give him my phone number. He hadn’t yet dialed my number but when I saw a red-haired guy hand me a box of bullets (or whatever it was he was purchasing), I knew he had to be the one because he looked JUST like his big sis. So I slyly looked at the name on his credit card and sure enough, it was he. My face turned red. I looked down. I mumbled, “Thanks and have a good day.” Later, I learned that his friend who accompanied him on this particular shopping excursion wondered what was wrong with that cute cashier. Ha! Well, the handsome young man later found out that the shy girl with braces who rang up his bullets was the one he was being pushed to call. It took several months, but he finally called. Now we are married. Woohoo! Sorry, that was a long-winded way of saying I married a dairy farmer. But it was fun to type out the story. Never did that before.

So, we (Brad, Jada, Tage and I) live on one of the family farms. Our dairy is large. We (or should I say – our hired guys) milk 550 cows every day. On our farm, we house a lot of the heifers. The milking parlor is on Brad’s brother’s farm. My father-in-law is also in on this operation. I don’t understand all the business aspects of the dairy (yet) but I do understand that there are two whopper milk tanks just up the road and I am free to take as much milk as my little heart desires. And sometimes, it desires pretty much. Egg custard, yogurt, mozzarella cheese, pudding, chocolate milk, you name it, we make and consume it.

And with that, here is my family’s favorite snack/dessert.

Egg Custard

Another recipe from my dear mother

4 cups milk

6 large eggs

2/3 cup sugar (I use a slightly heaping 1/2 cup sugar or 1/3 cup agave)

1/2 t salt

1 t vanilla extract

nutmeg

Heat the milk in a large saucepan until bubbles form around the edges. Meanwhile, in a blender or with a stick blender, beat the eggs, sugar, and salt until very well blended…you don’t want any egg chunks remaining and the sugar should be dissolved. When the milk is hot, temper the eggs by slowly streaming the milk into them while blending/whisking very vigorously. Once all mixed, stir in the vanilla. Divide the custard among individual custard cups or one or two larger oven-proof dishes. Sprinkle with nutmeg (I love freshly grated). Place cups inside a large casserole dish. Fill the dish with water, to about 1 inch from the tops of the cups. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour. You want the centers to be set…they should be a little wiggly but not runny. If you over bake these things they sort of separate – still edible but not nearly as smooth and delectable. Remove from the water bath and cool on the counter before chilling completely in the fridge.

Serves: 10 (3 if you are like the members of my family)

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