After a long absence I'm back!
We were in Florida for a wonderful warm week. It's been a bit hard to get back into the groove of things and I know I've been neglecting this blog! (Sorry Catherine!)
So anyway, on to new adventures. New adventures in CHEESE MAKING!
Yes, today, right before my girl's nap, I made fresh mozzarella!
Seriously.
Last year, after reading Barbara Kingsolver's Book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life I became enthralled with the idea of making my own cheese. She had attended a cheese making workshop and gave out the website of the woman, The Cheese Queen, who runs the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company. There I purchased a nifty little kit:
And for $32 which included the supplies, muslin, a thermometer and shipping I can make up to 30lbs of mozzarella or 40lbs of Ricotta (not including the milk of course!) It is supposed to take 30 min but I probably took 45 today as I was checking and double checking the directions.
It is SO delicious! I ended up with a large cheese ball but you can also make smaller ones. (I think I'm going to make a jar of small ones in olive oil with herbs for my SIL's birthday next week)You can make them into string cheese. Over vacation my daughter developed an unearthly love of the cheese stick and it would be a little better eating these than ones made with who knows what.
The local milk is $4.70 a gallon plus $1 worth of cheesemaking supplies and that makes 1 lb of cheese. I have not priced Fresh Mozzarella (of course you can bet I will!) but I am SURE that it is much more expensive and I know this cheese is organic and hormone free as well!
Oh-And cheese making is really fun too!
5 comments:
Really? I've been keeping this "big secret" of yours for literally months, and today you do a post on it? ;) Did you give up on your gc surprise?
Very cool about the cheese though -- sounds like it wasn't too hard and sounds like it's a great value and best of all healthy & yummy!
Oh I knew you would catch me. "Don't tell anyone! I'm making cheese!" I finally got to do it and it was SO NEAT! SO I just had to share! I will still probably make it for you guys some time though! I mean really, who brings homemade cheese!
Christine,
That is so cool!
There is something about fresh mozzarella as opposed to the floppy pre-packaged square in the dairy case, but making your own is taking that up a notch!
Chrissy - Call Olindo's Italian Store on Lyell and see how much their fresh mozzarella is. I buy it all the time, but with other items, I really don't look at the price (it's one vice Rick and I cannot give up). It is so delicious with Italian olives (their price is a quarter of Wegmans bulk olives) and some Tony's Red Wine ... Yumm! So if you're cheese making is less expensive, I'll buy from you! HaHa
Cath,
I have not been to Olindos in a long time! I kind of forgot about them! I'll have to give them a second look!
And I'll be starting my cheese stand outside my house as soon as it's warm enough to sit outside!
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