|
Like I need another hobby; another little thing to "pass the time". Rainy days are no good for one reason only, it generates idle minds around here. Idle minds well, Farmer Steve and I tend to use that time to become mad scientists and engineers. Farmer Steve is a home brewer. I am a home brew connoisseur. There is a home brew supply company on my way to my home office in Massachusetts. I stop by every couple months to pick up the yeast or other supplies Farmer Steve may need to keep our drinking habit in full gear. Last time, in May, I noticed they started to carry cheese making supplies in addition to the home brew and vintner supplies. I almost bought the rennet and citric acid when I was there, but convinced myself I did not need to take up another “hobby”. After all, I have a farm, there is plenty to do every day. No need to make up more stuff.
Well, this week as I was picking up some yeast for Farmer Steve I realized I did not have enough cash on hand (basically I had NO cash) and I did not meet the minimum to use my debit/credit card. The choices were: Option A. buy more stuff; Option B. wait until I came south again to pick up the yeast. [Option B. would not have been tragic, as there is a Hef-weizen in a carboy in my pantry waiting to be kegged, thus providing us with plenty of libations in the coming weeks.] Rather than going with Option B. I chose to buy more stuff. That is all it took. I bought supplies for making cheese. For just eight dollars, I bought enough Rennet, Citric Acid, Lipase Powder, and enough bacteria to make up to 8 pounds of cheese, at least.
Today, a rainy day. Farmer Steve is down in the basement implementing the design of his second beer fridge. The first was a prototype. Worked well, but not perfect. Right now I hear him whistling away while drilling holes in the side of a perfectly nice fridge he salvaged a few years ago from a home renovation he was working on. Some wealthy home owner in Biddeford Pool had a 2 year old fridge that didn’t match the house. He asked Farmer Steve to get rid of it to make room for the new stainless steel side by side SubZero model. Of course, Farmer Steve brought it home. As I helped him lug it into the basement I remember asking him why on earth we needed with another fridge. He said he was keeping it for a beer fridge, a newly designed keg-o-rater. He explained that the one we were currently using was merely a prototype. Mumbled something about how it wasn’t big enough, couldn’t keep the right temperature. There were changes and modifications that needed to be made that would enhance its ability to provide us with more delicious beer. This new one will hold up to four soda kegs, at 5 gallons each. [Not sure we will ever have that much beer at once, goodness if we do, and you are our friends, please intervene. It cannot be good.]
While Farmer Steve is down there clanging and drilling, I am in the kitchen above him, making cheese. I have completed my first batch of cheese, a fresh mozzarella. It was so easy and finished in about 30-minutes. Out of 1-gallon of fresh milk, I have 2 pounds of mozzarella cheese. It is so yummy! And it was so darned easy! I cannot wait to make more. The next cheese I want to try is a goat cheese. I will go through the farmers network to find a local goat farmer to get some fresh goats milk. That should be totally yummers. I read that you can make cheese from just about any milk producing animal. Yaks, sheep, goats, and of course cows.
I am just a little curious about making cheese from alpacas, but quickly discounted it for several very good reasons. I know from experience, they are not fond of being milked, they do not produce much milk, which would make collecting enough for making cheese nearly impossible.
Now I have a gallong of whey which is really high in animal protein, can be used in soups and stews, as well as to make other types of cheese. Better still, I hear it is perfect for fattening pigs. I plan on freezing this batch of whey until the piggies arrive.
On another note, still no babies. I am hearing through the grapevine that dams are holding on up to an additional three weeks.
|
