Well after all the rush that always precedes Xmas we have been relaxing and enjoying the summer weather, which has been very hot and dry for the last couple of weeks.
We've mainly been chilling out around the farm, not working too hard on anything in particular. We've been heading down to the local beach for a swim (the above photo is taken at low tide when beach is flat and muddy!), or catching up with family in Auckland (and going to the lovely beaches there too!). This photo taken at Army Bay, Whangaparaoa -
All in all it's been very relaxing and nice.
We have been doing just a few jobs around the farm however. Yesterday it was tallow making time. Usually we wouldn't pick a super hot day to do this but needs must and since one of our freezers decided it's time was up (it was a very old 'family heirloom'!) we had a fair quantity of beef fat to deal with.
So G fired up the copper boiler and over a few hours we melted the fat (in some water). Once melted and the fire was out (too hot to get near the boiler for any length of time when it was going!) I scooped out the fat and drained it through a muslin- lined sieve to strain out the 'gunk'.
Result is several containers of nice clear beef tallow, ready for the next lot of soap making. I think I will go for the 2 recipes I have tried before as I know they were successful - see this previous post. plus I'm interested in trying one with a bit of oomph for removing grease for the man of the house! Will keep you posted on that soon.
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