Cheesemaking Help, News and Information

Making Parmesan with Dannon Nicholes

2012-01-31T10:45:00.000-05:00

Dannon holding his latest Parmesan

He's jumping right into the "hard" stuff!

Ricki's daughter, Sarah, always has her eye out for new cheese bloggers and she recently found Dannon Nicholes at Dannon's Big Cheese. Dannon has only been making cheese for 6 months, but his results look amazing! (We keep telling you how easy it is!)

Dannon actually has 2 blogs; one is a great cheese blog with clear pictures of his cheese making, and the other is a blog with tips and advice about going to Disneyland. (Dannon and his family used to go there twice a year when they lived in Utah, but now they have moved to Hebron, Kentucky and he says they will soon be checking out Disney World in Florida.)

Dannon's enthusiasm about all things Disney is contagious and after you check out his blog, you might end up taking a little trip (just a warning!).

When we asked him about being one of our guest bloggers, he said,

I have only been making cheese for a relatively short time, mainly because my wife said I needed a hobby and that I also needed to learn patience. So, after taking a class at the local library, I started making cheese.

I first got Ricki's book at the library and since this past July have made lots of cheese; probably Mozzarella (30 minutes) a dozen times, Brie, Cheese Curds, Manchego twice, Farmhouse Cheddar twice, Parmesan, and Jarlsberg twice.

Parmesan
By Dannon Nicholes at Dannon's Big Cheese

First lets start with the Parmesan. It is going to take 9 months to age before we can eat it.

The ingredients I used are as follows:

2 gallons milk (whole, 2%)
A packet of thermophilic starter
1/2 tsp calcium chloride in 1/4 cup cool water
1/2 tsp liquid animal rennet in 1/4 cool water (or 1/4 tsp liquid vegetable rennet)

Instructions:

Heat milk over low heat (double boiler) to 94ºF.
Sprinkle thermo B over milk and mix well with whisk.
Add calcium chloride and rennet, gently whisk for 1 minute.
Let set for 45 minutes at 94ºF (until a clean break).

Now whisk curds gently to cut curds into pea size pieces.
Let set for 10 minutes.
Slowly raise temp to 124ºF over 1 hour.
Let set at 124ºF for 10 minutes.

looks like cottage cheese after the curds are drained

Drain curds in muslin cloth for 5 minutes.
Put into mold and let drain another 5 minutes.
Apply 10 lbs for 30 minutes then flip.
Apply 10 lbs for 1 hour then flip.
Apply 20 lbs for 12 hours.

using my press for the very first time

I then prepared a salt brine and soaked the cheese at 52ºF for 12 hours (the cheese weighed 1 lb and 12 ounces before brining).

After brining I dried the cheese with cheese cloth and let air dry for 3 days.

Now, it is aging in my cheese cave at 50º, where I first flipped it every day for about two weeks and am now just flipping it every week or so. I have also rubbed olive oil on it now to help keep the cheese from drying out.

This cheese has been hard trying to keep the mold off and I think one reason is because I do not have very much air flow. So, I should probably get a fan.

my cheese after brining

my cheese right now after being aged and rubbed with olive oil

(Note: This article will be continued in 9 months if Dannon can wait that long!)

Super Easy Basket Cheese for Children

2012-01-26T08:07:00.001-05:00

Any kind of cheese looks good when it's made in a basket!

This is not the real thing! But, it's great for demonstrating the cheese making process to children. You can use cow or goat's milk, raw or pasteurized, whole or skimmed-whatever you have on hand. As always- the better the milk, the better the cheese.

Almost exactly a year ago, Jim Wallace posted the recipe for the Original Italian Basket Cheese which you will find in the recipe section of our website under Recipes with Pictures and Step-by-Step Directions. With his directions, you can make a soft or an aged Canestrato the way it is authentically made in Italy.

In another part of the recipe section, under "Recipes Submitted by Our Customers" the very first entry is a recipe for Basket Cheese. This same recipe shows up on many websites when you look up "basket cheese," so it's hard to say whether they took the recipe from our website or whether our customer sent us a very popular recipe!

This recipe would be very easy for a child to make, (with adult supervision, of course) because the temperature never goes above 100F.

Basket Cheese
From Recipes Submitted by Our Customers
(Recipe for printing at the end of this article.)

Handed down by word of mouth to Rosanne Coreano of NY, this recipe produces a rather mild cheese. It is eaten either by itself or enjoyed on Bruchetta or toast, drizzled with olive oil, a pinch of garlic salt and a slice of ripe tomato, Yum!

Ingredients:
    1 gallon milk
    1 tsp rennet
    2 pinches salt

Heat the milk to lukewarm (86-90F) and add the rennet.

Turn off heat and let set for about 40 minutes.

After the milk has set turn the heat back on to low and heat again for about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon pull the curds to the side of the pot. Keep moving the curds for about 10 minutes with the slotted spoon. (This breaks up the curd and keeps them draining.)

Remove the curds from the pot with your slotted spoon and place into a basket (our M222 or M232 is ideal for this).

Return the basket with the curds in it back into the whey and cover the curds with the whey pressing the curds into the basket with your hands.

Remove the basket from the whey and set another mold inside of the first one and put an 6-8oz. glass of water on top of it. (this is used as a weight for pressing the cheese). Press this way for 2 hours.

Take out the cheese and turn over, salt to taste, return to the basket and continue pressing for 1 and a half hours longer. (Note: I love salt, so I rolled the cheese in it, but most people would not want to do that. Even I had to brush off most of the salt later.)

Remove the cheese from the press and refrigerate.

This cheese will have a 3 day shelf life. So get that Bruchetta and enjoy!

For printing this recipe:

Basket Cheese

Handed down by word of mouth to Rosanne Coreano of NY, this recipe produces a rather mild cheese. It is eaten either by itself or enjoyed on Bruchetta or toast, drizzled with olive oil, a pinch of garlic salt and a slice of ripe tomato, Yum!

Ingredients:
    1 gallon milk
    1 tsp rennet
    2 pinches salt
Heat the milk to lukewarm (86-90F) and add the rennet. Turn off heat and let set for about 40 minutes.
After the milk has set turn the heat back on to low and heat again for about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon pull the curds to the side of the pot. Keep moving the curds for about 10 minutes with the slotted spoon. (This breaks up the curd and keeps them drain in.)
Remove the curds from the pot with your slotted spoon and place into a basket. (our M222 or M232 is ideal for this) Return the basket with the curds in it back into the whey and cover the curds with the whey pressing the curds into the basket with your hands.
Remove the basket from the whey and set another mold inside of the first one and put an 6-8oz. glass of water on top of it. (this is used as a weight for pressing the cheese. Press this way for 2 hours.
Take out the cheese and turn over, salt to taste, return to the basket and continue pressing for 1 and a half hours longer. Remove the cheese from the press and refrigerate.
This cheese will have a 3 day shelf life. So get that Bruchetta and enjoy!

Simona Carini's Year of Homemade Cheese

2012-01-22T22:43:00.002-05:00

She's a role model if there ever was one!

It's all at Briciole.

We know how it is- you want to make cheese but you can't find the time. However, the truth is, you really can! It's a brand new year and this can be the turning point for you (as last year was for Simona Carini).

At the beginning of 2011, Simona decided to get serious about her cheese making, and she actually did it! At her blog, Briciole, she has recapped her year and now we can all see how far she's come. It's one year later and she's a real cheese maker.

(By the way, if you're learning Italian, Briciole is the place to go. She supplies the Italian words and their pronunciations for every delicious food she creates.)

un anno di formaggio fatto in casa

a year of homemade cheese

A summary of the year that just ended through the lens of some of my cheese adventures.

(French) Neufchâtel for Novel Food #12

"If you can see the magic in cheese, you can see the magic in everything."

homemade English-style Coulommiers (a.k.a. English farmhouse cheese)

"It is very versatile: try a slice with a muffin for breakfast, or drizzle with olive oiland sprinkle with herbs and a few capers for an easy gourmet appetizer."

robiola

robiola on the cutting board

A nice cheese that can be eaten fresh or aged a few weeks (I used some of it in this dish)

Bel Paese with cacao nibs

Adding a personal touch to an Italian classic cheese

I have featured images of my cheese in several editions of the popular event

Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event, created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook

making cheese (black and white)

homemade French Neufchâtel

fresh homemade ricotta

homemade ricotta draining

with which I often make gnocchi di ricotta

I ♥ making cheese

making cheese requires patience

In May, I attended a weekend workshop with Jim Wallace on making three French cheeses

Wishing all of you the very best for the New Year

Farmers vs Monsanto - January 31st in NYC

2012-01-18T07:01:00.002-05:00

Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse
500 Pearl St., New York, NY 10007-1312

A Citizen’s Assembly of Support for Family Farmers vs. Monsanto

Jan. 31, 2012

When: Tuesday, January 31, 2011 @ 9:00 am

Where: Southern District Court, New York City

If you can't go to the court house, you can help by signing the petition - click here.

Most cheese makers are trying to eat healthy. Many are small farmers trying to live off the land. In our experience, hardly any of them consider genetically modified seeds to be healthy for humans or the environment. Our company simply won't sell GMO products.

But, if you're a farmer who wants to switch from GMO seeds to conventional ones, good luck. For one thing, you may not be able find them if you want to grow corn, soy or cotton seed. Monsanto has bought out most of the other seed companies and made alliances with the remaining few.

If you do find conventional seeds and you plant them anywhere near your previous crops (or anywhere near other farms using GMO seeds), there will be contamination. Monsanto may come to your farm, note the contamination and sue you for patent infringement. If you're like many farmers, you will fight it for awhile, declare bankruptsy and give up farming.

If this sounds preposterous to you- it is Monsanto has an annual budget of $10 million to enforce their patents. Seeds spread (via wind, birds, trucks on the highway and scat from mammals). Wherever their seeds have spread, Monsanto can and does enforce their patents.

Additionally, when a farmer buys Monsanto seeds, he/she is required to sign an agreement not to save the seeds from one year to the next. They have to buy new seeds every year. The seeds themselves are designed to withstand the effects of Roundup, which happens to be Monsanto's most popular herbicide.

Fortunately, there are organizations challenging Monsanto in court to protect our food system:

Yes! I Stand with Family Farmers vs. Monsanto!

We have some exciting news.

On January 31, family farmers, organic seed growers and sustainable farm advocates will travel to New York City to take part in the first phase of a lawsuit filed to protect farmers from genetic trespass by Monsanto’s genetically engineered seeds (GMOs), which often contaminates organic and conventional farmers' crops and exposes them to abusive lawsuits by the world’s largest biotech seed and chemical corporation: Monsanto.

In March 2011, Food Democracy Now! joined the lawsuit Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA) et al v. Monsanto during the first round of plaintiffs, in what could be an historic lawsuit that protects family farmers and challenges the legitimacy of Monsanto’s patents on their genetically engineered (GMO) seeds and their right to sue farmers indiscriminately. There are now 83 plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including sustainable and organic farmers and food, agricultural research and environmental organizations collectively representing more than 300,000 farmers and citizens across the country.

Shortly before the New Year, Judge Naomi Buchwald agreed to hear oral arguments on Monsanto’s motion to dismiss OSGATA et al v. Monsanto in federal district court in lower Manhattan on January 31st, 2012.

This is a crucial moment for America's family farmers and the future of our food supply. Will you let farmers know you support them on January 31st?

To add your name of support, click here to say: “I Stand With Farmers.” http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/515?akid=456.301185.bV3MRh&t=9

We’ll deliver your comments to the farmers before they enter the court to stand up for their right to grow food without threat of intimidation and harassment.

Judge Buchwald’s upcoming decision on Monsanto’s motion to dismiss is a critical hurdle that the case must clear in order for it to move forward.

The motion by Monsanto falls within their clear pattern of diminishing plaintiff’s rights and filing frivolous legal motions similar to past legal maneuvering and makes it clear that Monsanto fully intends to continue to threaten and harass farmers.

According to the Public Patent Foundation, Monsanto has one of the most aggressive patent assertion agendas in history. Between 1997 and 2010, Monsanto admits to filing 144 lawsuits against America’s family farmers, while settling another 700 out of court for undisclosed amounts.

As a result of these aggressive lawsuits, Monsanto has created an atmosphere of fear in rural America and driven dozens of farmers into bankruptcy. Family farmers need your help today to send a message to the world: It’s time to put an end to Monsanto’s campaign of fear.

Click here to say "I Stand with Farmers" so we can deliver that message loud and clear to the farmers who travel to New York to take part in the lawsuit and for farmers everywhere who struggle against Monsanto's unfair genetic contamination of their crops.

Thank you for participating in food democracy,

Dave, Lisa and the Food Democracy Now! team

P.S. For those who are interested or able, Food Democracy Now! and our fellow plaintiffs invite you to take part in a Citizen’s Assembly for Support Family Farmers vs. Monsanto outside the court in an effort to stand up for America’s farmers at this crucial moment in their quest for justice. Click here to RSVP and learn more about how to participate outside the courtroom. http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/519?akid=456.301185.bV3MRh&t=14

This video explains the issue:

Joe Heyen and His Camembert

2012-01-15T07:04:00.000-05:00

He retired, moved to Colorado and now he's making his own cheese.

It's play time now for Joe Heyen. He earned it! Joe taught elementary school for 33 years in the western suburbs of Chicago. He mostly taught fourth and fifth grades (fourth was his favorite), but he also taught six, seventh, and eighth grades in the early years. Now, we think it might be time for him to teach cheese making...

Estes Park is the location for the eastern entrance and headquarters
of the Rocky Mountain National Forest (elevation 7,522 ft.)

How did you get started making cheese?

In 2005, my wife, Mary Jo, and I retired to Estes Park, Colorado, where we enjoy hiking and snowshoeing. Being retired allows me to to pursue a variety of interests. Happily, it now includes cheese making.

I learned about home cheesemaking kind of by accident. In 2006, I read Barbara Kingsolver's, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle." My wife and I are cheese lovers and Barbara's book inspired me to check out Ricki Carroll's website. I purchased her book "Home Cheese Making," and the starter kit for making mozzarella.

Joe used a shortened pine log to fit into the
follower and support the weights. The upper part
of the dowel is tethered to a weighted-down
clothes hangar with a rubber band!

Since then, I regularly make coulommiers and I often get goat milk from a local farm to make chevre. The Moosletter gave directions by Jim on how to make gouda, then gorgonzola dolce, quark, cheddar (a picture of my 'press' was in the November issue of the Moosletter) and camembert. I've made them all! The gorgonzola dolce came out great; my second one will be ready in January, 2012.

Where are you aging your cheese?

Well, for two weeks they were in a plastic box on top of a larger box that has gorgonzola aging. Both boxes were in the garage and held inside box temps of 52-55 degrees. But, now the camemberts are in the mini fridge. As the hygrometer shows, the temp in the fridge is running around 42-44 degrees with humidity in the low 90s.

How did your camembert go?

Today, my wife, Mary Jo, and I had our first bites. Usually, she prefers brie over camembert, but said this one had softer flavors than what she thinks of in camemberts. We both thought it was absolutely delicious. We had it on the kitchen counter warming up a bit, but the next time we are leaving it out longer, to bring out more of the flavor. I'm still eating some as I write this to you, and it is getting better as it continues to warm up. Needless to say, I'm excited! I have a coulommiers in the plastic box aging right now, and, while we enjoy both, the difference in flavor is amazing.

You have mentioned taking notes. Does that work for you?

For me, it's crucial to make notes about my cheese making. Whenever I make cheese for the first time, I follow the directions in Ricki's book as closely as possible then I record what I did and what I did differently, if anything.

I always end my cheese notes with an evaluation (taste and comments by myself and my wife, Mary Jo). Every time I make cheese that I already made, I quickly check my notes for all the times I made that cheese to see what worked and what didn't.

For instance, last week I made quark. I checked my notes for past quarks and discovered that for some I drained the quark a long time and ended up with a drier cheese than I wanted for this particular quark. So last week's quark was only drained for twelve hours, giving me a moister and creamier quark (delicious, by the way).

Also, I recently made four small blue (gorgonzola dolce) cheeses. I just opened the first one up and, while it was delicious, the white portions were more of a caramelized color and the blue mold was very dark... to the point of being black. I emailed your tech site (jim@cheesemaking.com) and asked what happened. Jim wrote back and explained that I probably put too many holes in each of the small cheeses and ended up oxidizing the paste and mold. His response is now part of my notes for that batch of cheeses! Jim, by the way, has responded several times to my cheese making questions and his responses become part of my notes. Here's an example:

Camembert

From: Cheesemaking.com (Jim Wallace's recipe) & Home Cheese Making, p. 158-159

Date: Nov. 10, 2011 Amount/Type of milk: 2 gal. whole from Safeway

1. Ripening
All done according to directions from on-line printout.

2. Renneting
Type/Amount of rennet: A skimpy 1/4 tsp. vegetable, not diluted in water.

3. Cutting the curd
After sitting quietly for 90 minutes, I cut the curd into large one inch or more sections. I didn't stir at all. Then I ladled into the four molds.

4. Draining the curd
I started draining the cheese around 4:00 PM on 11/10/11. I did the first flip after about one hour. One of the cheeses partially stuck to the mat and I needed to scrape some off the mat and sort of press it back into the cheese with the back of a soup spoon. After that, flipping went okay. I kept the cheeses in the molds and draining in the pantry at 75 degrees until 11/12/11 in the afternoon.

5. Salting the cheese
Amount of salt added: 1/2 tsp on top then a bit more to rub the sides. Six hours later I flipped the cheeses and did same procedure. Then I left them out of the molds overnight. Room temp: 70-75 degrees.

6. Air Drying
(Date started: 11/12/11 6:00 AM, Date finished: 11/14/11 10:00 AM)
Room temp during air drying: 57-62 degrees. In plastic box with top off most of the time to speed drying. Ceiling fan was on. Wet sponge in box to help maintain humidity level (at times I put the lid on). At first, cheeses were on metal cooling racks, but overnight the cheese and salt reacted to the metal and the cheese started to blacken. OR ELSE, black mold was starting. I rubbed with cheesecloth dipped in saltwater, used a knife for parts and the resalted the damaged area.

7. Aging
Aging should take 3-4 weeks. 11/14/11thru 11/28/11 Cheeses are in plastic box with sponge: 55 deg. 95 hum. in garage.The garage temp is holding @ 51-55 degrees. Humidity: 95%. Moved to the mini fridge for cooler temps: 11/28/11: temp 43 hum 86 +

Joe took the time to document his process for making camembert in pictures:

Joe said, "You will notice that this picture shows a lot of dark spots on the cheeses. I am almost certain it wasn't mold. I put the cheeses on the aluminum drying racks overnight and when I flipped the cheeses I saw the dark spots. I am fairly certain that what happened was a chemical reaction of the salt on the cheese with the aluminum. I rubbed them with cheesecloth dipped in saltwater and got almost all of it off."

Soy "Cheese" with Louise Dutton

2011-12-28T08:01:00.001-05:00

Louise M. Dutton

This is the most inexpensive cheese alternative you will ever eat!

Normally we keep our focus on dairy products (because that's our area of expertise), but we get a lot of questions about how to make "cheese" from soybeans.

Recently, Louise Dutton from Fort Lauderdale, FL wrote to us with her own recipes for making soy cottage cheese, yogurt and cream cheese. She wrote:

I've attached a doc file with the recipe for making soy cheese, as well as soy yogurt and milk. You can also use this "cheese" in cheesecakes. I use a bit of Mirin in my cheesecake recipe and no one can even tell it's made from soy. (Mirin is a sweet Japanese condiment.)

Although I have never tried it, I would think that by adding nutritional yeast to the cheese it would make it taste a bit like cheddar. I used to make gallon jars of the milk and put some aside for yogurt and cheese.

I also make my own tofu from this recipe as well. After straining the milk, add nigiri or vinegar to the slurry and it acts much like cheese curds you put into molds, but it's tofu. The tofu "whey" can be used to clean with, cook with, or feed to your plants.

I hope this was helpful. I've been making this for well over 20 years. The original recipe was from "The Farm Vegetarian Cooking" printed in 1975, but I've added what works for me.

Louise Dutton's Soy Cheese

Take one cup of dried beans, place in a bowl and cover with 4 cups boiling water.

Soak for 2-4 hours, then drain.

Place one cup of the soaked beans in a blender with 2.5 cups of hot water (be careful, start on low speed and work your way up so you don't burn yourself).

Pour into a pot and repeat with the rest of the beans in the same way. Start boiling and skim off the foam.

Boil for 20 minutes while stirring (you don't want it to stick to the bottom and burn or boil over). Stay on top of it and turn the heat down, maintaining a boil.

Drain through a tea towel.

Squeeze! Pour a cup or two of boiling water over Okara (soy pulp) to get out any extra "milk."

Pour milk a into jar. Cool to 90-115F.

Briskly stir in inoculants (2 tablespoons yogurt or 1 packet of yogurt starter).

Set in a warmed oven (NOT ON!) I warm my oven to 200F before I even start and then shut it off. The pizza stone retains heat and keeps the oven warm. You don't want the temperature over 118F or it will kill your inoculants).

Let sit overnight or until the yogurt has "set."

Drain yogurt into another clean tea towel and hang to drain.

Once the cheese has drained (4 hours or more depending on the consistency you want) place in a bowl and mix in salt to taste and you have "cottage cheese."

OR,
Alternatively, mix cheese, ¼ tsp salt, ½ tsp sugar and 2 tablespoons oil in a food processor and process until silky smooth. Place in a mold or container and chill for a couple of hours until it is set. Unmold and voila! You have cream cheese! Better than store bought soy cream cheese and it doesn't contain chemicals or casein which is a known carcinogen.

So what did we learn? One cup of dry soy beans (roughly 75 cents) and lots of patience, will make you one cup of cream cheese.

Personally, when I do this, I make a gallon of milk from one pound of dry beans, use half for yogurt and half of the yogurt to make the cheese. This way I only have to do it once a week.

You can use the milk as you would regular milk in any recipe. You can flavor it to your liking.

You can make ice cream, or frozen yogurt from the yogurt or even cheesecake from the cream cheese!

RECIPES

Making Yogurt and Soy "Cheese"

1 qt. homemade soy milk (or store bought should work too)
2 Tbls of yogurt or one packet of yogurt starter
Salt

Heat milk to boil stirring constantly.
Pour into sterile jar and cover.
Cool to 110 degrees (if you touch your wrist to the jar, it should be warm but not burn you)
Add the yogurt or starter and stir briskly until dissolved well. Cover and incubate for 2-8 hours. I put mine in a just warmed oven. The idea is to keep it as close to 110-115 degrees as possible for as long as possible in order for it to set. You'll know it's done if you tilt the jar and it separates cleanly from the side of the jar.
Put the yogurt you just made into a cheese bag or make a bag from cheese cloth and hang it for a few hours so the whey drains out of it.

Cottage "Cheese"

Sprinkle with salt and break up.

Cream Cheese

1 cup of the yogurt cheese
2 Tbls oil
1/8 tsp. salt
½ tsp sugar

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth, pour into a bowl or mold and chill for a couple of hours until it is firm.

Soymilk

1 cup of organic soybeans
Water
Optional ingredients (vanilla, almond extract, maple syrup)

Pour 4 cups of boiling water over the beans and soak for 4 hours.
After the soak, rinse them. Place 1 cup of soaked beans into a blender with 2½ cups of boiling water. Blend to a very fine slurry and pour contents into a large heavy pot that won't burn easily. Repeat until all the beans have been processed in this way.

Cook the mixture in a heavy pot set over medium high and bring to a boil stirring frequently. Watch the pot very carefully. When it starts to boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and boil for 20 minutes. Be careful, it will boil over in a heartbeat. Strain the milk over a colander lined with cheesecloth over a 1 gallon pot or bowl or other container. Once you've strained it all, press the pulp and twist the bag to extract as much milk as possible from it. Be careful! It's HOT! Reopen the bag and pour another 2 cups of boiling water over the pulp to extract any milk left and repeat pressing process. The pulp that is left over is called Okara and can be used in other recipes, like "soysage" (yum).
Pour your milk into its final container and add a few drops of vanilla extract, almond extract and maple syrup until desired flavor is achieved. Start with ½ tsp of each.

The faster you cool the milk, the longer it will keep. It should keep for 4-5 days.

Betty Kriel in West Texas

2011-12-23T08:17:00.000-05:00

Betty Kriel having a picnic near the McDonald Observatory

She was inspired to learn how to make cheese while living in South Africa ...

Betty and Herman Kriel live at an observatory! The McDonald Observatory is a research unit of the University of Texas at Austin, with facilities located in the Davis Mountains of West Texas. This observatory is one of the world's leading centers for astronomical research. Herman manages the Hobby Eberly Telescope (HET).

Betty and Herman are both from South Africa. After they were married, they lived for a time at the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) in Sutherland. (Betty's used to living "in the middle of nowhere" because observatories are often located in remote areas where the skies are darkest at night. The views are breathtaking, so, of course, she wouldn't have it any other way!)

A view of the valley from the McDonald Observatory

The 107" Harlan J. Smith and 82" Otto Struve telescopes located on 6,800-foot Mt. Locke

Hobby-Eberly telescope on 6,600-foot Mount Fowlkes

Herman on his first visit to the HET telescope in 2006.

How did you get started making cheese?

We arrived in Texas at the end of February, 2009. I started making cheese last year around September. Got the cultures and recipe books in June and then was too scared to start immediately. Had to get my head around it first.

I was always interested in making cheese (Bets, a Dutch lady whom I got to know living on our mini-ranch outside Pretoria got me interested, but I never had the time before moving to the USA). I was browsing the internet on how to make cottage cheese at home and stumbled upon Ricki’s book and website and decided that was it – I just had to start making cheese…..and I’ve not stopped since!

Betty's kefir grains being re-hydrated. (We first got to
know Betty when she responded to our question in the
Moosletter about where to buy kefir grains.)

What kind of cheese are you making?

I make all sorts of cheese - soft, hard, waxed, stinky ones, etc.. I have three books from which I make cheese (including Ricki's - hers was the first one I purchased and it looks like it's an antique, having been used so many times - I've made most of her recipes).

I haven't ventured into concocting my own recipe(s) yet. Safer to stick to the trusted and tested ones for now. I've had a couple of flops (well many actually, especially when I started off making cheese - which the Javelina got to try) but also many that turned out fine. I usually give away samples to friends to taste and they give me their honest opinion.

Here, I'm pressing cheese with my molds cut from large protein powder containers and using training weights with a wooden stick in the middle clamped to the kitchen cupboard doors with C-clamps. The weights rest on a wooden follower (which you cannot see in this picture). I have a proper press on my wish list at the moment.

Lately I've stuck to waxed cheeses as those require the least babysitting, wet nursing and nappy changing afterwards (we sometimes travel and then I'm away for up to a week and can't look after the washed rind types properly). We also love Camembert and Brie - I usually make large batches of these and give them away as little treats to friends, too.

As I don't have access to fresh farm milk (would love to own a cow somewhere) and/or goat and sheep milk, I make everything from store bought cow's milk. We live at the McDonald Observatory which is in the middle of nowhere, so access to fresh milk is limited (well, really non-existent).

Mats drying off in the oven (set on 170F) after being washed. This dries and sterilizes them at the same time.

How did you begin making cheese?

I started off last year around September with a Swiss cheese (yes, I know - should have chosen a safer option as a first cheese - but then I always tend to jump into the deep end first).

Well, as it happened, we were off to Austin for a week when this cheese was supposed to be pampered on the kitchen counter and wiped with a cloth dipped in brine. I took the cheese with me to the hotel and did what had to be done there. You can imagine what the room smelled like and what Cleaning Services probably thought of this! But the cheese survived and was very good when we had it eventually.

I also love home made butter (from store bought cream) - I started making our own butter many years ago when we still lived near Pretoria in South Africa. I also always use a traditional butter churn which we got as a wedding present from a Dutch couple in South Africa and a butter press that I bought from an antique shop over there. It brings back happy memories when I use it.

How are you aging your cheeses?

I went (probably a bit) overboard as we don't have a basement in our house and I sometimes have quite a few and different cheeses aging all at once. So I have one fridge which runs at around 45-48F and an old one I got for free through our local Freecycle group and which runs at around 50-55F with the help of an external thermostat. These are both standing in our study and of course, opening them sometimes makes the study smell really cheesy! Hubby knows he just has to live with this if he wants to keep eating cheese!

The "old free" refrigerator running on an external thermostat

The newer fridge which is set at a colder temperature

Her other hobbies ...

During the process of interviewing Betty, she mentioned a "few" of her other activities. (Isn't it amazing how interesting cheese makers are?)

I'm into jewelry making but still trying to set myself up again here in the USA in Herman's garage. Had to replace several pieces of equipment when we moved here, e.g. my gas set and workbench, etc. Will hopefully start creating something again early next year.

Here's a picture of what I did with large
used coffee filters. I painted them to look
like lavender bushes. I love lavender!

I also play around with silver art clay from time to time and make beaded jewelry. Then I ventured into making little half-body dolls (I call them thimble dolls - long story and started with my mom collecting thimbles.) last year and wooden wash peg dolls (presently doing my first batch). I also do stained glass (have made a few lamps), do needlework (make clothes for myself), do teabag art (pic below), make chocolate, paint a little, make wind chimes and murals from recycled stuff, etc.

Tea Bag Art

You let the tea bags dry out after using them (obviously spread out from one another and flattened a bit - takes a day or two) and then make a small incision on one side and get rid of the leaves (I mostly throw the leaves onto my plants outside for compost). I iron the bags to straighten them out. I'm now doing a tray and a bowl with the tea bags - using mod podge to glue the bags onto the pieces. There are so many things you can do and make from the tea bags.

Regarding the different tea bag sizes - our rooibos ones are normal sized (like American standard bags), then I also get larger ones from the visitor center here on site (which they use in the cafe) and the long thin ones are those that have been stapled and folded double (I take out the staples and stretch them out).

Making 50 Medieval Cheeses - Kimetha Loidolt

2011-12-19T06:16:00.000-05:00

Kimetha as Waldetrudis von Metten

For those of you who don't happen to be historians, that's from 600-1600AD (a few years ago!)

Kimetha Loidolt (also known as Waldetrudis von Metten) is a longstanding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), a non-profit group with over 50,000 members world wide. They basically re-create the Middle Ages and their research helps folks imagine what the world was like in those days. Kimetha has been active in it for over 20 years.

Five years ago, the group issued the A&S 50 Challenge which involves doing 50 things in the Arts and Sciences between May 1st, 2007 and May 1st, 2015, in honor of the SCA's 50th birthday. Kimetha decided to make 50 types of cheeses that she could authenticate in literature from the Middle Ages.

She didn't decide to do this "out of thin air." Her great grandmother taught her how to make butter when she was a child and when she was 14, she milked her Aunt Bessie's cow. So, by 2007, she had been making butter for 37 years and she was ready to try making cheese.

Of course, at the time she had no idea how much she would enjoy it. At this point, it's only 2012, and she's already made 44 of the cheeses on her list. By 2015, she estimates she will have made and documented 60!

We first found Kimetha at her wonderful blog, medievalcheese.blogspot.com. If you start at the beginning in September, 2010, you can follow her progress (cheesewise) in her posts.

There's a lot of great information about present day cheese making and, also, of course, it's history. She recommends books and videos and she supplies links to articles she likes.

Kimetha and her husband, Marcus

At this point, she's a master home cheese maker and a teacher of classes. In a post about her philosophy, she says,

"What I like best about making cheese and dairy products is that it has allowed me to give others a good understanding that without the basic building blocks of medieval life (in this case dairy products) much of the other arts we practice could not happen.

I have heard a number of times - your cheese or butter is great but not that showy. I respond that is the idea - soft cheeses were one of the primary sources of protein of the working class.

It was by selling their surplus dairy products (butter & cheese) that they earned extra income. With out these basic dairy products, much of the soft cheeses & butter used in cooking could not happen. So, it may not be showy but without it daily life in the Middle Ages would not be the same."

Demonstrating making butter and draining new cheese

Where did you get your medieval name?

Waldetrudis von Metten is a persona I portray in our reenactments (like Civil War groups). I did a lot of research on my areas of interest and developed a bio for her based on that research. Her interest in cheese would have been a skill that she would have practiced in a monastic community.

Marcus and Kimetha at their wedding ceremony in April, 2010

Where do you get your milk?

I purchase my raw milk at a local farmer's market from Homestead Heritage, LLC. This is a Mennonite farming family who also use their milk to make cheese. In Indiana there are only 3 ways to get raw milk: 1. Buy a share in the animal plus pay an up keep fee, 2. Buy raw milk with a label stating "Not for Human Consumption", 3. Own or have a friend who has animals that you can get milk from.

One of the oldest sources of information about
cheese in the Middle Ages

I don't have a label in front of me but it says "For Animal Use - Not For Human Consumption." The gallons are just like what you would buy from your corner market with sealed caps. Their cows and milking facilities pass regular inspections since they make cheese and butter at their farm and sell it on the internet and at several local Farmers Markets. It is unfortunate that in order to comply with Indiana law they must place that wording on their labels.

Blueberry cheese

I am currently researching cheeses made from sheep's milk and plan on trying these next. I joined several dairy groups on Yahoo. One is dairysheep@yahoogroups.com.

Through this group I was able to connect with a sheep dairy in Adrian, OR. They freeze their milk and sell it to local cheese makers. My husband and I also have Shetland sheep but are looking into getting milking Dorset's in the spring so I can have a source of fresh sheep milk for making my cheese.

12th Night in Chicago, IL-Craft Persons Faire, 2011

How do you make your living?

I work for a company that makes door frame parts for Toyota (Edinburgh, Indiana). My main job involves Quality Control for new projects. Making cheese is something I do for fun and as a hobby.

Actually it is a labor of love that has grown to a consuming passion. It is true I do not make my living at this and I have lost count of the number of times someone has said "why are you not selling your cheese?" The simple answer is I love making cheese, and researching the history of cheese. When it starts becoming a chore because it is a "have to" instead of a "want to," I am afraid it would stop being fun.

So I make my cheese for myself, for friends as gifts and I keep my batches small.

Where do you teach your classes?

Twice a year the SCA "Society for Creative Anachronism" the area within the group known as the Middle Kingdom (http://www.midrealm.org/) hosts a RUM, or Royal University of the Midrealm, a day university featuring a myriad of classes in a vast array of topics. Normally RUMs travel around the kingdom so as to ensure each region gets one every couple of years.

The two classes I taught were "Cheese Preservation" and "Hard Cheese 101." Both of these classes are focused on how cheese was made and preserved in the Middle Ages.

Supplies ready for class

Showing students where to buy supplies (our catalog)

Class in session

Showing natural rind and waxed

Dill cheese, green cheese, garlic cheese

Brie, Mozzarella, Gouda, Camembert

Sampling cheeses at the end of the day

See Kimetha's blog - medievalcheese.blogspot.com

Adam & PJ Bauer in Alaska

2011-12-15T06:51:00.000-05:00

PJ and Adam at their daughter's wedding in July

It isn't hard to find a cool place to age your cheese in Alaska!

PJ first wrote to us when we asked our Moosletter readers for their recommendations about where to buy kefir grains. She mentioned that our Cheesemaking 101 video had inspired her husband to make cheese with goat milk from their share of a nearby flock.

She said they first decided to make cheese when their foster children (who were Native Alaskans) were lactose intolerant. (It is estimated that more than 80% of Alaskan Eskimos and Indians are lactase deficient.)

The Bauer's children were able to digest goat cheese, so Adam and PJ dove right into the process of making cheese. And they've never looked back!

PJ wrote:

We did not adopt them, but it was both wonderful and challenging to have them live with us. We had the youngest one for over a year. Sweetest baby girl! All in all, we were foster parents for 20 years and adopted two lovely kids, a boy and a girl, to add to our biological two sons. At last count, over 20 kids have been with us over the years.

Now that all of our children are grown and flown, we are enjoying being of service in our community in other ways. Awful quiet around here, though...

Adam is from Connecticut and I am from Indiana originally. We met in Cordova, Alaska. I came up to can fish and stayed to open an Early Childhood Education Center. Adam was in the Coast Guard.

We shrimped our own boat when we were first married and he crewed on other folks' fishing vessels until the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. We moved to Homer and have had many different jobs between us since then. Currently he is the Director of New Media for the Homer News. You can see lots about where we live by going to www.homernews.com and checking out the Spotted feature.

Here are some of the cheeses that are aging right now. I keep them labeled with the type and date.

Adam wrote:

Ricki Carroll's "Home Cheese Making" book wandered into our house and began to provide fun and entertainment.

Around that time four foster children aged 4 and under showed up with milk allergies. A friend assured us that goat milk would solve all our problems, which led us to purchase a share in a goat, for a gallon of milk a week.

Sadly, the goat milk did not provide a cure for everyone. Between the goat milk and the milk provided by the well-intentioned food assistance for the children, we were swimming in milk that was not being consumed. In a panic, I built a cheese press one evening and moved our bookmark in Ricki's book from soft cheeses to hard cheeses.

One night we found ourselves looking at more milk than would fit into the freezer and I decided we simply had to make cheese. I scrounged around the shop for scrap wood and a couple hours later a cheese press was assembled.

The first few times we used the press I simply filled a pillowcase with pinto beans for a weight. You will notice the back of the press is actually held down onto the porch with a couple screws. I have since built a base for the press and today we use bungee cords to pull the handle down.

Every Monday we would take the children out to the farm and get our gallon of goat milk, and sometimes I combined that with a gallon or two of store milk and made cheese; mostly Manchego, Cheddar, and Romano.

Here is one of our Manchego cheeses. This one was not waxed, we could not wait that long.

Cheddar Cheese - This is the current cheese I am eating - it was made about 8 weeks ago from 3 gallons of milk. It was waxed about a month ago and will certainly not survive the week.

This summer we were getting five or six gallons of goat milk every week. Some weeks I put dividers in the cheese press and pressed two separate cheeses. A couple times I pressed a single large cheese but I found I could not safely hold onto these large cheeses and dip them into the wax pot. These have been oiled with olive oil and continue to age. Note the marks on the cheese from the slats in the press.

We hang our cheeses in our entryway, where it is cool, to dry and develop a rind before they are waxed. For a dollar, we found a fry daddy at the second hand store that works perfectly to wax cheese. The thermostat can be set at 50F and stays there.

After our cheeses come out of the press they hang in the entry way for a couple or three weeks before they are waxed. We have a bunch of cotton cloths (heavier then standard cheese cloth) that we wrap the cheese in. The cheeses are turned and the cloth is changed every couple days.

We found a deep fat fryer at the second hand store for a dollar. It makes a perfect wax pot. The thermostat holds the wax at a perfect temperature. Simply unplug it and let it cool off for next time. We save all our wax from our cheeses when we eat them and throw the wax back in the pot. Word of advice, don't use bees wax to make-up for lost wax when the pot gets low. It creates a brittle wax that cracks and lets mold get started.

This spring the children moved on to loving adoptive homes, but the goat milk continued to come. By summer time, we seemed to be the only milk buyer picking up milk on a regular basis (I guess some folks are not able to schedule a weekly trip to the farm). Our goatherd friends began to send us home with all the excess milk, we turned it all into cheese and returned half to them in trade.

All summer long I was making cheese from five or six gallons of goat milk a week. The only problem with a six-gallon cheese is I can't hold onto it and dip it into the wax pot. We simply oil the big cheeses with olive oil, and let them continue to hang in the entryway; according to Ricki, it's the perfect temperature for a cave, year round.

Making cheese from 6 gallons of milk creates a cheese that is too big to safely hold and dip into our wax pot. Once they have developed a decent rind, I have been oiling them with olive oil and have them hanging in our entryway. If you look closely there is a container on the top shelf with manchego aceite aging in olive oil - come New Years it will be ready to try.

The goats have been dried up, and there won't be any goat milk until next spring. I will make some cheese from store bought milk, since I have gotten into the habit of eating a lot of cheese, but I must say, farm fresh milk does seem to make better cheese. The curds separate better and seem to hold the butterfat better.

Just for fun, we have moose wandering through the neighborhood most of the year. They usually don't bother my garden until late in the fall when I am done with the harvest. This year Momma Moose wanted to fatten up the little ones for winter - they came and ate all my cabbages long before I was able to harvest them.

Chevre Truffles with The Goat Cheese Lady

2011-12-12T07:05:00.000-05:00

She knows her way around a goat!

Lindsey Aparicio milks her own goats twice a day. And she raises chickens (for which she and her husband sell a variety of very cute chicken houses).

A mother of 2 sons, Lindsey grinds her own wheat, makes her own cheese, bakes her own bread and grows her own vegetables. She does all this on the edge of a fairly large city- Colorado Springs, so she refers to herself as an urban farmer.

She's best known for her cheese making classes. She teaches at least 5 morning classes from 8:30-11:30am every month (year round). They sell out way in advance, so if you're interested- click here. She also teaches cheese making classes for kids, and classes in bread making, making goat's milk soap & lotions and raising backyard chickens.

I asked Lindsey to share her post about chevre truffles with us because I am planning to give them to everyone I know during the holiday season. They are as easy to make as they are to eat (and that's saying a lot!). I have been making little chevre balls and freezing them until I'm ready to dip them in chocolate and give them as gifts. What could be better?

Some of mine are are plain and some are chocolate. You can make them any flavor you wish.

Recipe of The Day #14: Chevre Truffles
By The Goat Cheese Lady

Sometimes you just have to make something out of chocolate. If it were me, I’d make things out of chocolate all the time, but I make goat cheese so much that there’s not enough extra time to make all the chocolate stuff I want.

Except for this.

Chocolate Chevre Truffles…with a kick.

I first found the recipe online here, and tweaked it a little to satisfy my new-found addiction to sweet and spicy bitefulls. Or, sweet and dark chocolate balsamic vinegary bitefulls. Either one. They’re both delicious. Mouth watering, actually.

And the little crystal of salt on top of the spicy gives it a special, unexpected zing.

Start with 3 ounces semi-sweet and 3 ounces bittersweet baker’s chocolate.

Melt it in a double boiler, or in my case, a heat resistant bowl set on top of a pan of deep boiling water (in other words, a makeshift double boiler.) The bowl fits snugly into the top of the medium sized sauce pan.

After the chocolate is melted, stir in 6 ounces of fresh chevre. I used my fresh, raw milk chevre. You can use any kind…raw or pasteurized…or plain chevre. (Note: We sell a chevre culture with directions for making it included.)

It’ll look shiny and glossy like this. Don’t eat it yet though. Have patience. And, now let it cool. It’ll get thicker and pastier. Put it in the fridge if you want to speed up the cooling process.

Divide the cooled chocolate in half and add 1 tsp (or more, depending on your spice tolerance) cayenne pepper to the first half. Also add 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup. Mush it all together.

In a second bowl, put the other half of the chocolate and add 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup and 2-3 tsp dark chocolate balsamic vinegar if you can find any. I got mine at The Olive Tap. Stir that all together. If you can’t find the vinegar, just double the maple syrup.

Now, roll them into cute little balls and put them on wax paper. You may have to chill the chocolate again if it starts sticking to your hands.

Melt the rest of the chocolate in the double boiler.

Stop drooling. Just keep working. Your patience will pay off. Now that the chocolate is melted, carefully pour it over the top of each ball…and put a piece or two of coarse salt on the top. If you want. I’m just into the coarse-salt-on-chocolate thing these days.

But, no matter what, you might want to put some little identifier on top of the spicy ones so you don’t confuse them with the balsamic ones. Your friend who hates spicey might never come over again if you give her the wrong one by accident. Yikes.

Once you’ve coated them all, let them cool so the chocolate dries. And, finally………drumroll please………

Now presenting….Chocolate Cayenne Chevre Truffles!

And, Dark Chocolate Balsamic Chevre Truffles!

Now, you can eat them all. Share them with others if you are willing.

And, if you look closely, they have cute little feet. You might want to nibble the feet off first. Just a technique my 4-year-old pointed out.

The Goat Cheese Lady

P.S. This recipe is posted and was created in honor of Belle Chevre and their Kickstarter Project to fund their new creamery. Go check them out!

Recipe:

9 ounces semisweet baker’s chocolate

9 ounces bittersweet baker’s chocolate

6 ounces chevre, plain

1 tsp cayenne pepper, or more, to taste

2 Tbsp pure maple syrup

1-2 tsp dark chocolate balsamic vinegar

Coarse salt

1. Melt 3 oz semisweet and 3 oz bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler.

2. Stir in chevre until fully combined. Let cool.

3. Separate chocolate mixture into two batches. Mix cayenne pepper and 1/2 maple syrup into one batch. Mix the other 1/2 maple syrup and the balsamic vinegar into the other batch of chocolate.

4. Roll into 1? balls and place them on a piece of wax paper.

5. Melt the remaining chocolate in the double boiler.

6. Drizzle melted chocolate over chocolate balls. Top one of the flavors with a crystal or two of coarse salt. Let cool until outer chocolate shell is hard. Enjoy!

The Goat Cheese Lady

719-651-9819
onehouseatatime@aol.com

Using Kefir Grains and Shipping Them to Friends (Part 3 of 3)

2011-12-08T06:56:00.000-05:00

What do I do with all these grains?!

Indeed, they do grow and grow and grow... However, the good news is that they are so loaded with probiotic bacteria and yeasts that you will want to give them to everyone you know.

This article is the third in a series that began with a request we put in the November Moosletter for folks to recommend a good source for kefir grains. We received so much information that it was way too much for one article, so we did three: 1. Ordering them, 2. Growing them, 3. Using them and shipping them to friends.

Ways to Use Kefir:

These are the suggestions we received from our readers who answered our request for information in the November Moosletter:

I generally just make kefir every day and either drink it straight, or put it in a blender drink (smoothie). I also use it in sourdough bread, and occasionally use it for a cheese starter. Sometimes I drain it to make kefir cheese. I feed it to my dog for a probiotic, and occasionally to my goats for the same reason.

Another thing I do, btw, is give my dog extra kefir grains when I have no one to pass them on to. She loves them.
Joy Metcalf

My husband drinks a shake every morning that he mixes with kefir, fruit and ground flax seed.

I've started making water kefir, which I love, in the last several months, and have also used my grains to help the fermentation process when I make sauerkraut and pickles.

I still use goat's milk to make the milk kefir, and I think that's why my grains multiply so well. Plus, I think an environment has developed in my kitchen that helps the grains to grow.
Lynn Knight

I have had them for about a month and I have been making a half gallon of kefir every 48 hours. Just made 1 1/2 cups of kefir cream cheese and put it on sour dough pizza crust today for lunch - yum! I am loving making kefir and putting the whey in my sour dough bread and soups.
Tanya Winchenbach

I use kefir in various forms as a substitute for buttermilk, sour cream (when strained), yoghurt (like Greek style yoghurt), Mascarpone cheese, I make a Farmer's cheese from it (similar to cottage cheese), use it in smoothies, cook with the drained whey, feed the excess grains to the dog and cat, and I've once made a Kefir Cheddar (didn't like the texture and taste of latter much though). Most of my friends and family in South Africa also now use/drink it. They love it.
Betty Kriel

I use them for my French Bulldog who has malabsorption a typical side effect for Frenchies.
Kathy Schweitz

My daughter has colitis and she drinks it almost every day, and her symptoms are alleviated somewhat. The times she doesn't drink it for a while, the more discomfort she feels. I am a big fan of kefir! Two of my children like it and two do not. We flavor it with vanilla, or molasses, or agave syrup when we're looking for a treat.
Lynn Andrade

Sending Grains to Friends:

We heard from many readers on this subject. When you grow grains, you end up sharing the excess with friends and even sending them to folks in the mail. That's why there are so many kefir growers online willing to send grains, many for just the cost of shipping.

(At least one of our responders, Monique Trahan, wrote a blog article about her grains and another about a cheese press she made.)

Our "super responder of the month award" (which earned her our undying love and affection) goes to Betty Kriel, from Texas who sent us step-by-step directions and pictures of the whole process. She researched all this when her mother from South Africa came to the US to visit her. Her mother didn't know how to preserve her grains during the 6 weeks she would be away, so she threw them out. Betty had to send her more, so she did some research and learned a couple of ways to do it:

Two Shipping Methods
By Betty Kriel

There are two ways to dry and transport kefir which I've used:

1. One is to dry grains out for a day and put them in milk powder - if you're traveling, for instance, and the grains will only be kept in limbo for a short period of time.

2. If you want to ship grains over the country, as I did earlier this year to my mom in South Africa, then it's better to dry them out completely before shipping - posting them can take weeks and the grains in milk powder will probably start smelling weird if posted.

Live kefir grains in jug of milk.

1. Transporting air dried kefir grains in milk powder

1. Wash live kefir grains in spring or distilled drinking water until the water is not milky anymore. Do not use chlorinated tap water.

Kefir grains ready to wash in spring water.

Washing kefir grains.

2. Break up kefir grains into smaller pieces (about ¼ inch or smaller) - some grains may produce slimy "strings" when pulled apart - this is OK, normal.

3. Dry with paper towel to get rid of excess water.

Drying on a paper towel.

4. Place kefir grains on plate and cover with netting/mesh/doily to air dry on the kitchen counter - let it dry for at least 48 hours. The grains will still be fairly soft to the touch and not completely dried out and hard.

Grains ready to air dry for 24 hours.

Grains covered with cloth while drying.

5. Cover grains with dried milk powder (any kind) in air tight container with lid firmly closed - fill up container with milk powder completely and make sure the grains are somewhere in the middle, completely covered.

Container filled with any kind of milk powder.

Air dried kefir grains are still spongy to the touch.

Kefir grains buried in milk powder.

I packed the grains like this and transported them to South Africa in 2010. It took about five days from when I packed the grains in the dried milk powder till when I could take them out of the container and start getting them back to life again. I followed the process below to get them activated:

6. Take the grains out of the milk powder - discard the milk powder.

"Treasure Hunting" - taking the grains out of the milk powder.

7. Wash the grains in spring water or distilled drinking water to get rid of milk powder. Do not use chlorinated tap water. Note: the grains may have a yellow/pink/grey-ish color. This is OK.

Kefir in bottle, ready to be revived.

8. Put kefir grains in a glass/plastic jar and fill with about two cups of fresh/store bought milk.

Fresh milk added to grains.

9. Cover with a clean cloth or cap (not too tight to allow gas from the fermentation process to escape) and set aside at room temperature.

10. Wait 24 hours, stirring periodically with a plastic spoon or twirling the jar to mix in the grains with the milk. Note: the mixture may have a very unpleasant extra sour/"rotty" smell for the first couple of days and may also have a pink/grey/yellow-ish color - this is OK. You may also notice a thick residue forming on top of the mixture for a couple of days. This is also OK.

Grains already revived after 24 hours.

11. Strain out the kefir grains with a plastic or stainless steel strainer, put the grains back into a clean jar and repeat the process above in steps 8, 9 and 10 till the grains are white and the mixture has a pleasant/"normal" smell and taste. This will take a couple of days - depending on the amount of kefir and milk used, it may take up to a week or slightly more to get the grains back to life again.

Strained kefir grains.

Kefir grains back in the bottle.

Grains in fresh milk.

Grains still a bit yellow.

Grains back in the bottle.

Fresh milk added.

Strained kefir grains ready to be consumed.

2. Sending air dried kefir grains via postal system (for weeks at a time)

1. Wash live kefir grains in spring or distilled drinking water till the water is not milky anymore. Do not use chlorinated tap water.

2. Break up kefir grains into smaller pieces (about ¼ inch or smaller) - some grains may produce slimy "strings" when pulled apart - this is OK, normal.

3. Dry with paper towel to get rid of excess water.

4. Place kefir grains on plate and cover with netting/mesh/doily to air dry on the kitchen counter - let it dry until completely dried out and hard to the touch. This should take several days. The dried grains will be yellowish and look almost like dried pasta pieces/small dried squashed up macaroni pieces.

5. Once completely dried out, the grains can be placed in a Ziploc bag. Push out as much air as you can and close the bag. It's now ready for shipping. You can of course also use vacuum packing.

I packed the grains like this and sent them off to my mother in South Africa in 2011. It took about two weeks for the parcel/envelope to reach her. She followed the process below to get them activated:

6. Put kefir grains in a glass/plastic jar and fill with about two cups of fresh/store bought milk.

7.   Cover with a clean cloth or cap (not too tight to allow gas from the fermentation process to escape) and set aside at room temperature.

8.   Wait 24 hours, stirring periodically with a plastic spoon or twirling the jar to mix in the grains with the milk. Note: the mixture may have a very unpleasant extra sour/"rotty" smell for the first couple of days and may also have a pink/grey/yellow-ish color - this is OK. You may also notice a thick residue forming on top of the mixture for a couple of days. This is also OK.

9.   Strain out the kefir grains with a plastic or stainless steel strainer, put the grains back into a clean jar and repeat the process above in steps 6, 7 and 8 till the grains are white and the mixture has a pleasant/"normal" smell and taste. This will take a couple of days - depending on the amount of kefir and milk used, it may take up to a week or slightly more to get the grains back to life again.

Growing Kefir Grains (Part 2 of 3)

2011-12-04T06:53:00.000-05:00

The Second in a Three Part Series about Kefir Grains

This series started with a request we put in the November Moosletter for folks to recommend a good source for kefir grains. We had quite a few responses and we received a lot of good information.

It was way too much for one article, so we decided to do a series of three: 1. Ordering them , 2. Growing them, 3. Using them and sending them to friends (will be posted December 8th).

Many readers contributed knowledge, but two of them, in particular, sent us pictures of the entire process they use to grow their grains:

Growing the Grains:

Katie at Pacific Sourdough, Waldport, Oregon

I just add the grains (about two tablespoons) to1/2 gallon of fresh milk (I usually skim the cream off the top first and make creme fraiche, then butter!) and place the jar in a warm spot-my water heater closet works perfect at a constant 75 degrees. I leave it overnight and strain the grains out in the morning or put it in the fridge and strain it when I have time later. The straining is the most difficult part of the process, but all that is required is a stainless steel strainer, a bowl and a little shaking. Then I whizz with the hand blender for super creamy texture.

Whole raw milk to start:

Skim off the cream (or not):

The kefir grains:

Slip grains into the milk:

Give a little shake:

Put in a warm place:

After about 12 hours at 75 degrees, milk has fermented into kefir:

Strain the kefir:

Thick kefir curds:

Save the grains:

Strained kefir is a bit rough:

Hand blend for smooth creamy kefir:

Drink a big glass!

Gene G., Florida

I bought some kefir grains (kefir bacteria colonies that look and feel like little rubbery curds) and have been making it every day for several months now. At first, I wasn't sure if the grains were as healthy as they should be because they never seemed to multiply. Now, however, the kefir grains are multiplying quite rapidly. So much so that I have to give some away to others who can then start their own kefir cultures or I just eat them.

You can also freeze dry them for a back up if necessary. For me, kefir grains are definitely the way to go--they are self-contained colonies of bacteria that love either raw goat or cow's milk, and will also work with pasteurized milk. Every morning I strain the grains out of the batch of kefir made the day before, place them in a new Mason jar of milk and let them do their thing overnight.

If you have too much kefir, just put the jar of milk/kefir grains in the fridge for up to a week or so to slow them down. Then, take them out and proceed as normal when you're ready to make more kefir. If taken care of they should last indefinitely.

Here are the pictures from this morning's kefir grain (kefir bacteria colonies) feeding. As has often been noted kefir "grains" is misleading but that's the word we seem to be stuck with. There is no "grain" involved, rather these rubbery little things are actually living colonies of bacteria.

Here's the milk after 24 hours with the kefir grains.

Note how thick the milk has become:

Stir it up good to allow it to go through the strainer better:

Pour through a non-metal strainer (some say the kefir grains may react adversely with some metals). The solid looking pieces coming out are the kefir grain colonies :

Gently push the milk through the strainer without mashing the grains:

The stars of the show--the kefir grain colonies. These grains have been multiplying rapidly lately, they are about triple in number from what I began with. If you get too many you can eat some of them, give some away to others to make their own kefir, freeze some for emergencies (but I haven't done this yet), or add them to a bigger batch of milk. These grains ferment 12 -16 oz of milk quite rapidly and if I needed more kefir I could easily place them in a larger container or milk, but I can't eat the amount of kefir that I'm already getting.

Place the kefir grains into a fresh batch of milk and allow to sit overnight (or longer to taste) at room temp (low 70s) and repeat the above process the next day. If you need to take a break, put the grains into a jar of cold milk and place in the fridge for a up to a week or so. They will hibernate without suffering any damage. When you're ready for more kefir, reintroduce them to new milk at room temp and resume the process (discard the milk they were being stored in).

Place each batch of newly made kefir in the fridge or leave it out to sour a little more if you like.

More specifics about growing grains:

Contributed by Michael Duke, Utah

I've tried kefir form different cultures as it seems everyone has their own culture. Each kefir is different. I think each culture adapts over time to the local yeast and bacteria in one's home. I know a woman who swears that her baking yeast will contaminate her kefir culture, so she cultures the kefir in her basement far from where she bakes yeast breads in her kitchen. I've heard of another local woman who searches for new cultures, then blends them to obtain different results.

You can harvest the kefir at any time. The longer it ferments the more sour the flavor and the more the milk sugars have been digested. A typical indicator that people use to determine when to harvest is to look for whey "bubbles". I use a clear glass mason jar so I can see the whey "bubbles" form.

Depending on how many grains are used, the volume you are culturing, the amount of kefir from the last batch you included in the culture, the temperature you culture at and the amount of culturing you desire (degree of sourness) you are looking at 10-24+ hours.

The temperature you culture at will change the end product. As I recall, you can culture at just about any temperature below 90 but most folks go for a constant 80-85 degrees. I think the Kefir group at Yahoo has an explanation about the different end products at different temperatures. At some point -- usually after 2-3 days of culturing -- the kefir will truly separate into whey and a kefir cheese.

At harvest time, I very gently stir the kefir to break up the curds into smaller sizes that can be strained. Be careful not to damage the kefir grains. They can be gently squeezed but can be damaged by aggressive stirring. The key is "very gently." You don't want to crush the kefir grains and you don't want to eliminate all of the effervescence.

Then, depending on how strict you are about your culture, use a plastic (NOT metal) strainer to strain the kefir into a glass or plastic (not metal) bowl. I've been told that kefir doesn't like contact with metal but have never seen a good explanation of why. I found a spaghetti strainer that covers half of a pot. This fits nicely over the opening of a large mouth mason jar. I gently shake the jar to help move the kefir curds through the strainer. The kefir grains should be left behind in the glass mason jar.

Some folks re-use the same mason jar. Others start with a clean (sterilized?) mason jar. Add 3 parts fresh, raw milk to 1 part kefir from your previous batch. The previous kefir will contain many enzymes & good bacteria that will jumpstart the next batch in addition to providing a low pH to prevent the growth of "the bugs" you don't want in your milk. Mix the fresh milk and kefir before adding the kefir grains.

Some folks periodically rinse their kefir grains in water to examine them. They can tell the health of the "colony" by looking at them. My eyes are not that well trained. I've been told to avoid chlorinated water when rinsing your grains.

The grains can be stored in fresh milk for about 6 months in the fridge. Or they can be frozen for a couple of years.

Equipment Advice:

My suggestion is to get a pickle keeper to make the kefir in. It makes life so easy.

I got mine on Amazon, but it doesn't appear to be there any longer. Anyway, this makes kefiring so simple. I also wash the grains under tap water every week just to clean them up, and they are none the worse for wear.
George Stevens, Antiqua, Guatemala

Part 3 - "Using Kefir Grains and Shipping Them to Friends" will be posted December 8th.

Ordering Kefir Grains (Part 1 of 3)

2011-12-01T10:36:00.001-05:00

The First in a 3 Part Series about Kefir Grains

This started with a request we put in the November Moosletter for folks to recommend a good source for kefir grains. We had quite a few responses and we received a lot of good information. It was way too much for one article, so we decided to do a series of three: 1. Ordering them, 2. Growing them, 3. Using them and sending them to friends (Dec.8th). Note: These articles are based primarily on the responses we received-they are not meant to be the final word, by any means!

What are kefir grains and why should I grow them?

There are no actual grains in kefir. According to Wikipedia: Kefir grains are a combination of bacteria and yeasts in a matrix of proteins, lipids, and sugars, and this symbiotic matrix forms "grains" that resemble cauliflower. For this reason, a complex and highly variable community of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts can be found in these grains.

There are few, if any, foods more loaded with probiotic bacteria than kefir grains. They are little living ecosystems, packing a whallup of good, disease fighting bacteria. There really is no comparison between living grains and the probiotic supplements you can buy.

If your diet is dairy-free, you don't have to use milk to grow your grains. In fact, you can buy water kefir grains which have been raised in a mix of water and sugar and sometimes a little dried fruit. You can also convert some of your milk kefir grains to water grains which usually takes 4-5 days.

Living grains are not to be confused with freeze dried powder kefir cultures. We sell those, along with our other cultures, for folks who like the taste and texture of kefir without the fuss of growing grains. These cultures do have probiotics in them, but nowhere near as many as in the living grains.

Ordering the Grains:

There are so many sites online for ordering grains that we can't even begin to list them all. The list we have here is limited to include only the ones recommended to us by the readers of our Moosletter after we asked for their advice. (If you were one of the many folks who wrote in-thank you!) Note: If you know of a source not listed, please make a comment (at the end of the article) with the information in it.

ONLINE

Cultures For Health

Cultures For Health - http://www.culturesforhealth.com

Products: Dehydrated water and milk kefir grains, strainers, mineral drops and flip-top bottles.

Support: On-site forum, live chat with customer service reps and a good trouble-shooting section. They also have their own You-Tube video.

Ordering: You can order by phone, fax, mail or credit card (but not with PayPal).

Price: Both milk and water kefir grains are $16.99 + 3.99 flat rate shipping (in Continental US). No international shipping for individual orders.

Deluxe Kefir Grains Kit from Yemoos

Yemoos Nourishing Cultures - http://www.yemoos.com

Products: Fresh and dehydrated water and milk grains, kits, strainers, lids, jars, jar covers, swing-top bottles, etc.

Support: No phone, but extensive FAQ, pictures, weekly interactive Q&A sessions, recipes, monthly drawings.

Ordering: By credit card and PayPal only, shipping is Mondays and Tuesdays only by Priority Mail. Will ship internationally.

Price: $10 + shipping ($5 for fresh and $2 for dehydrated) or you can "adopt a culture" where you order it, try it and if you like it- you pay the fee!

Happy Herbalist

Happy Herbalist - www.happyherbalist.com

Products: Fresh milk kefir grains

Support: Online directions with pictures, 20 page direction booklet with order, toll free phone number

Ordering: Credit cards and PayPal, phone. Shipping is Mon-Thurs.

Price: Fresh grains - $14.95 + shipping, dehydrated grains - $9.95 + shipping. Call or e-mail about international shipping.

Pockets of the Future

Pockets of the Future - http://pocketsofthefuture.com/KefirGrains.htm

Products: Live milk grains

Support: Two online videos of the family making kefir, instructions with 2 pictures

Ordering: Credit cards and PayPal

Price: $20 includes shipping. E-mail them about international shipping

Timeless Health

Timeless Health - http://www.howtomakekefir.com/Need-Kefir-Grains.html

Products: Kefir milk grains

Support: Online video, 2 hour course, online info section, phone (in Germany), e-mail

Ordering: PayPal or use credit card to pay as PayPal guest

Price: $13 includes shipping (from germany), Special now - $23 for 2 hour video course (sold separately for $17) and grains. Ships everywhere except Australia (which doesn't allow kefir into country).

Listings on Amazon:

Here you have the convenience of easy ordering (if you're registered). There are many listings. We received praise for Lifetime Kefir and Bain King (who may not be currently selling).

Listings on eBay:

If you like to order from eBay, there are many folks selling grains. Prices range from $.99+shipping, $5.45, including shipping, and up. There are also complete kits in the $20 range available.

Listings on Etsy:

Prices vary wildly.

MAIL ORDER

Kefir Lady

Kefir Lady - http://www.kefirlady.com

Products: Dried kefir grains and water kefir grains

Support: Grains come with 7 page instructions, online FAQ, phone

Ordering: Send cash or blank money order

Price: $15 + $5 shipping. (If you order more than one kind of grain (milk kefir, water kefir or Kombucha), the shipping remains at $5. Shipping on Mondays only. Will ship internationally.

GEM Cultures - http://www.gemcultures.com

Products: Fresh milk and water grains

Support: One page of links to info sites, phone number

Ordering: Check or money order

Price: Milk grains - $22 + $12 shipping, water grains - $20 + $12 shipping. Shipping is Mondays and Tuesdays only by Priority Mail, (list of many weeks in year when they do not ship). No international shipping.

Eat Yourself Healthy - http://eatyourselfhealthy.webs.com/kefir.htm

Products: Fresh milk and water grains

Support: Workshops, instructions with grains

Ordering: Cash, check or pick up (in Rehoboth, MA) (Note: she ships when you call, not when she gets payment-honor system)

Price: Pick-up - $15, Mail order - $20, Workshops (including grains) - $35, No international.

Cackelberry Farm - bluedogarts@me.com

Products: Fresh milk grains

Support: Instructions with grains, e-mail questions

Ordering: Send check or money order

Price: $12 + shipping ($3 for first class, $6 for Priority Mail)

PICK UP

Lisa's Counter Culture - http://lisascounterculture.com/

Products: Fresh milk and water grains

Support: Workshops

Ordering: Pick up in Palo Alto, CA (call first)

Price: $15 in a small glass jar

LISTS OF SUPPLIERS

http://www.torontoadvisors.com/Kefir/kefir-list.php

You look up by state and town (it would be great if the list was divided by state with town in them). A lot of the entries are for pick-up only.

kefir_making@yahoogroups.com

INFORMATION


The Kefir Maker

http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html

The famous Dom. Many folks recommended his site as a great source of information.

http://kefirgrains.info

The kefir maker

Caroline Abbott Revisited

2011-11-27T13:30:00.000-05:00

Caroline in her new cheese kitchen

Life after the Year of Yeast Contamination...

Back in May, we did an article about Caroline Abbott in Otsego, Michigan who had "mystery holes" in her goat cheese. After months of research and experimentation, she finally realized that it was being caused by yeast bacteria in the air from making bread.

Recently, Caroline told us she had solved the problem by setting up a new cheese kitchen in her basement. Now she's back in "business" making all kinds of cheeses for her family...

Abbott Farm

So, what's new?

After all these months, I finally have my new cheese kitchen! All summer long my daughter has been making bread outside on the deck. Now it is starting to get cold, and she really can't do that anymore, so it was just in time!

We made A LOT of cheese this summer. At one time my daughter was making two two-pound cheeses a day six days a week. We filled up one beverage cooler and a dorm refrigerator and bought another beverage cooler and filled that up!

The goats are still producing well enough to make cheese at least four days a week, which is really good for this time of year.

We have been able to start EATING our way through the oldest cheeses, which makes room in the coolers for more new cheese.

Caroline's daughter, Anneliese

We went on vacation for two weeks in September and my farm sitter made cheese for two weeks and had no problems! We are eating colby, co-jack, gouda, manchego and some montasio.

We opened up a romano from May 31 and it didn't have much flavor yet. I think I waxed the romanos too early, so they are not dry enough. We have made a couple since we got home and I will leave them a little longer before waxing.

What is your "make room" like?

We have a large basement with a walk-out. Half of it is finished, the back half is divided into three unfinished rooms, the center room is the furnace room and we have three deep freezers and a large refrigerator for our milk in there.

New beverage cooler

The other two rooms were just unfinished storage rooms. I homeschool my kids, and one of the finished rooms is our school room. Off of the school room is one of the unfinished storage rooms, which I was using for storing my home-made soap and my bottles and baskets. That is the room we converted into a kitchen.

It is 9' X 12', so it is large enough for the kitchen counter, sink and stove, plus room for shelving for storage for some of my soap and lotion supplies, as well as canning equipment and other "food" equipment that has been tucked into places all over the basement and kitchen upstairs.

We built our house eight years ago. Originally the room we made into the cheese kitchen we planned to make into a dark room someday, so we had the plumber set the pipes to put in a sink someday. That made things a lot easier, because the floor is poured concrete, which would have made a big headache for putting in a sink.

Since it is right off the school room, my younger kids can use it for science experiments, too. My older kids are jealous of that - they had to do everything upstairs and improvise. We just are making sure they don't do any experiments involving yeast in there!

Older beverage cooler

How are you aging your cheese?

The coolers are actually beverage coolers by Haier. They are just like wine coolers except they have flat shelves instead of shelves designed to hold wine bottles. They look just like the little coolers you see at the checkout at stores with the pop and water in them.

Because they are designed for beverages, they stay around 50 degrees, perfect for cheese. I got mine at Sam's Club, the most recent one was $120 and we probably have 50 cheeses packed in there. Our area of the country doesn't have any natural caves, so this is terrific.

What have you learned lately?

Before we had our yeast contamination issue we had spent three years experimenting and perfecting our cheese making. We settled on the recipes that worked for us, that we liked and that were practical for our setting.

We "tweaked" recipes based on what worked in our setting, for instance, we discovered that it was inconsistent to attempt brining Italian cheeses because unless you make a new brine each time (using 2 pounds of salt!), you don't know the exact salinity of your brine.

We had problems with our cheeses molding. So, after some experimentation, we discovered we could salt the curds like we did with our mesophilic cheeses and it tasted the same and gave us a consistent result. Much easier, without a big jar of brine taking up space in the refrigerator.

Taking cheese out of the press

Another thing we learned along the way was that smaller parmesans and romanos need to be waxed at some point, or they turn into a rock! But, like I said before, we are still working out the exact timing on that, so they aren't too moist.

We also learned that we like colby to be moist. The temperature at which you wash the curd and bring it down to determines how moist the cheese ends up.

Making Mozzarella

All this explanation is to tell you that we developed recipes and procedures that work and taste like we like. We make these over and over and can make them without even looking at a recipe now because we know the procedure so well.

So, although we don't take notes, we know what we do and have worked it out to something we do without even thinking about it. Some things we have written out in step by step format for teaching purposes, especially if it varies significantly from a recipe in a book. We aren't done "tweaking".

We are always figuring out ways to make it more practical. Like just recently we discovered it works just as well to "cook" the curd on the stove as it does to do it in the sink in hot water. It takes less time, less energy, less water and the result is the same.

Because I make so many pressed cheeses, I have found it is easier to use the disposable cheese cloth available from New England Cheesemaking. I bought a bulk pack (twelve at a time, I think), and it lasts a long, long time.

As I have the opportunity to teach more people how to make cheese, new questions come up that make us look at how we do things to determine if it can be done a better way. When we discover something that works, we keep doing it until it becomes part of the routine.

Abbott chickens

Abbott turkeys

Caroline sells honey (bears and jars), beeswax lip balm, soaps and goat's milk & honey lotion http://www.michiganbeekeepers.com/honey/abbott.

She ships anywhere.

Abbott Farms

Otsego, Michigan

269-692-2328

Sandie McDonald - Making Cheese and Teaching How

2011-11-22T08:11:00.000-05:00

She's made every cheese in our book!

Sandie McDonald began making cheese in 1981 and she has been ordering supplies from us ever since. Her copy of our book (Home Cheese Making) is so old, it has the original name- Cheesemaking Made Easy!

Now Sandie is teaching classes out of her home (Midden Meadows Farm) in Langlois, Oregon. That is, when she isn't running her business- Wild Rivers Wool. Sandie works 12 -14 hour days, processing about 10 lb. of raw animal fiber every day of the week.

She has 40 head of purebred Shetland sheep on her 32 acre farm on the southern coast of Oregon, 15 miles south of Bandon. With the sheep, she has one baby alpaca, chickens and fruit trees. At one time, she had goats, but she says:

We declared the farm a "No Goat Zone" in 1990. I love goats, but they are smart, unlike sheep, and the joke around here is, "What does GOAT stand for? Gets Out All the Time."

Sandie and her husband have three daughters and 4 grandchildren, so far. Their youngest daughter is 17.

Sandy teaching a workshop.

How did you get started making cheese?

Well, my 10 year old daughter joined 4H, and brought home a 4 month old "chain animal" purebred registered Jersey heifer calf. We were required to breed her and return a heifer calf to the "chain animal" program. When a cow gives birth, especially a milk cow, all of a sudden there's all this milk.

I have to tell you the conversation between my aunt and myself when we acquired this tiny sweet little deerlike baby animal. She asked me "What are you going to do with all that milk?" (She'd grown up in the post depression era, on a dairy farm, hand milking 6 animals before going to school every morning.) I enthused, "We're going to make butter, and ice cream, and cheese..." She replied dryly, "Yeah? And what are you going to do the NEXT day?"

It turned out that cheesemaking became my sole recreation. I was working full time 10 hours away from home as a legal secretary, I'd get up, milk the cow, make a cheese, go to work, come home, milk the cow, make a cheese, and go to bed. That was the beginning.

Sandie with her milk cow, and her (then) 2 year old daughter Marion. Sandie says "Marion would beg for a cupful of warm milk every morning. (Ick). The cow was a purebred Jersey 4H chain animal, and her milk was 1/3 cream, no kidding. Her name was Carmel, and we all loved her. She unfortunately died of liver failure after producing twin calves, and we still miss her. You could milk her without tying her up, anywhere, without even grain to munch. The only time she ever kicked over the bucket was when she shifted her weight and stepped on a cat...."

What kind of cheese did you make back then?

When I had the milk cow, I made everything in Ricki's book, plus called them on how to make provolone and some others that weren't in the book.

I made my own blue version using cultures from the original old Langlois Blue Cheese Factory that was here till the late 1960's... the culture is alive and well in Wisconson, (Maytag brand) so we can get more when we need it.

I think my favorite cheese I ever made was the best Parmesan I ever tasted. It took 6 months of careful babysitting, but it was SO worth it.

Oh, and since I run sheep, I did make one sheep cheese, but I don't have milking machines and milking non-dairy breed sheep is... not easy.

Fresh cow's milk cheeses

What kind of cheese are you making now?

These days, without a milk cow, having to purchase unhomogenized cow's milk from local producers that live an hour's drive from my farm, I usually make a fresh cheddar, and if we're really feeling frisky, ricotta afterward.

Everyone loves the squeak of the fresh cheddar, and since new green cheese* is such a novelty to people, it doesn't last long enough to make it to a refrigerator or to need any long term babysitting.

Fresh goat's milk cheeses

I also make fresh goat cottage cheese at the request of the local organic goat dairy, when they have too much excess milk. I have an agreement with them, 3 gallons of milk come over, half the cheese goes back.

And they also request the whey when I'm too rushed to make ricotta too. They use it in their garden.

I will never have a cow again although I keep contemplating a milk goat. I'm 57, and have two separate shoulder injuries, one sustained when I was 34, and the other more recently, so milking a cow is out of the question without machinery, and where's the fun in that? I loved milking.

Literature laid out before a workshop

Do you have any advice for new cheese makers?

Buy Ricki's book. It's how I learned.I also have a list of things to purchase from your catalog that I hand out to them.

Start SIMPLE. Make one kind of cheese over and over for a while. And unless you have a milk animal, be prepared to spend a lot of money for just a little cheese, because it's not cost effective to make cheese unless you have free or very inexpensive milk.

Supplies ready for a workshop

I emphasize you can't be clean enough. Boil things, use bleach, wash hands, etc.

Here's my shopping list: Ricki's book (Home Cheese Making), good thermometer (grocery store ones are inaccurate), the mesophilic and thermophilic cultures, the liquid vegetable rennet (organic or not, both are great), basic kit mold, and ALSO the "disposable" ricotta molds, because you will need to be making small cheeses to give away to people for the rest of your life, and these are great for that. I usually advise people to hunt and gather the rest of what they need, to look around their house, they usually have the other things they need.

What kind of classes are you teaching?

I usually run a 2 hour cheese class, we dive right in and introduce the culture and the rennet, then I talk about cheese making in general, hand out your catalogs, give people an idea of what I think they should purchase if they want to do this again.

Then, we cut the curd, taste the curds and whey, discuss whether or not there really was a spider that little Miss Muffet saw, or if she just wanted to avoid eating her curds and whey... then we salt the curds by hand. We discuss what to do with the whey while salting.

Usually someone wants to take it home and try making ricotta, so I give it away (I'm pretty busy). Then, as you see, we taste the new pressed cheese thoroughly.

I hurry the process of course, all the way through, to keep people's interest, and to keep the class to 2 hours. It makes a great moist squeaky fresh cheddar.

You may note in the photo of the fresh cheese that I pressed 1/2 using a piece of cheese cloth, and 1/2 using just the ricotta mold, to show how to get decorative effects on the outside of cheese, and how to create a smooth exterior suitable for keeping for several months after waxing.

I have two separate types of cheese class, one is a demo, where I simply lecture and do it all while they watch, the other is hands on. Usually I require each student to bring his/her own equipment (I furnish a list), milk, etc., so there is no danger of cross contamination, health wise.

This particular class was given to a weaving/spinning guild, so I furnished the equipment and we made two cheeses, one with store homogenized milk, and one with pasteurized local goat's milk. We used mesophilic bacteria culture and liquid vegetable rennet. As you can see from the photos, everyone enjoyed eating the fresh cheese. A good time was had by all.

The best part of any workshop is tasting the results.

How do you advertise your classes?

We advertise our classes through my business, Wild Rivers Wool Factory, Inc. (wildriverswool.com) and through word of mouth. There's no schedule, we arrange the classes around the students' needs. Have kettle, will travel.

* Archaic (apparently!) term for new cheese, cheese that hasn't been aged, although it is of a variety that is intended to be made. Ever hear the expression "the moon is made of green cheese"? Green would be the euphemism for "unripe" in this case. A cheese is green until it's ripened by the bacteria culture introduced while making it.

Contact Info:

Factory outlet store phone - (541) 348-2033 (10 to 5, Tuesday through Saturday)

E-mail, sales@wildriverswool.com

Farm/factory/home phone (541) 348-2550

Wild Rivers Wool Factory, Inc., P.O. Box 33, Langlois, OR 97450

Raid at Quail Hollow Farm in Nevada

2011-11-18T11:16:00.000-05:00

The farm is located 50 miles north of Las Vegas in the Moapa Valley

Another Skirmish in the Battle for Food Freedom ...

As Joel Salatin says in the title of his latest book- "Folks, This Ain't Normal!"

A couple of days ago, Ricki got an e-mail about an outrageous event that took place in Nevada last month. We read it and agreed that it seemed too weird to be true. But, just on the chance that it was, I checked it out.

Amazingly, it did turn out to be totally true. A Southern Nevada Health Inspector raided Quail Hollow Farm on the night of their "Farm to Fork Dinner" for 100 guests and made them throw out all of their food. Just to be sure they didn't feed it to their pigs, they forced the farmers to pour bleach on the food they had thrown out! They did this because the meat the farmers were serving (from their own cows) was not Grade A Certified by the USDA.

The following video is hard to watch: (More videos at Really Vegas Photo)

Laura and Monte Bledsoe, owners of Quail Hollow Farm are very nice people. They gave us permission to use pictures from their website (all the pictures in this article) and to share with you this letter they wrote to their dinner guests and their CSA Shareholders after the incident:

Laura Bledsoe in their garden

Letter from the Bledsoes

From their website - http://www.quailhollowfarmcsa.com/30.html

Dearest Guests, (You have all become dear to us!)

What an evening we had this last Friday night! It had all the makings of a really great novel: drama, suspense, anticipation, crisis, heroic efforts, villains and victors, resolution and a happy ending.

The evening was everything I had dreamed and hoped it would be. The weather was perfect, the farm was filled with friends and guests roaming around talking about organic, sustainable farming practices. Our young interns were teaching and sharing their passion for farming and their role in it. (A high hope for our future!) The pig didn’t get loose. Our guests were excited to spend an evening together. The food was prepared exquisitely. The long dinner table, under the direction of dear friends, was absolutely stunningly beautiful. The music was superb. The stars were bright and life was really good. And then, …

for a few moments, it felt like the rug was pulled out from underneath us and my wonderful world came crashing down. As guests were mingling, finishing tours of the farm, and while the first course of the meal was being prepared and ready to be sent out, a Southern Nevada Health District employee came for an inspection.

Monte Bledsoe with young friend

Because this was a gathering of people invited to our farm for dinner, I had no idea that the Health Department would become involved.

I received a phone call from them two days before the event informing me that because this was a “public event” (I would like to know what is the definition of “public” and “private”) we would be required to apply for a “special use permit.” If we did not do so immediately, we would be charged a ridiculous fine. Stunned, we immediately complied.

We were in the middle of our harvest day for our CSA shares, a very busy time for us, but Monte immediately left to comply with the demand and filled out the required paper work and paid for the fee. (Did I mention that we live in Overton, nowhere near a Health Department office?) Paper work now in order, he was informed that we would not actually be given the permit until an inspector came to check it all out. She came literally while our guests were arriving!

Friend Sara helping with the apples

In order to overcome any trouble with the Health Department of cooking on the premises, most of the food was prepared in a certified kitchen in Las Vegas; and to further remove any doubt, we rented a certified kitchen trailer to be here on the farm for the preparation of the meals.

The inspector, Mary Oaks, clearly not the one in charge of the inspection as she was constantly on the phone with her superior Susan somebody who was calling all the shots from who knows where.

Susan deemed our food unfit for consumption and demanded that we call off the event because:

1. Some of the prepared food packages did not have labels on them. (The code actually allows for this if it is to be consumed within 72 hours.)

2. Some of the meat was not USDA certified. (Did I mention that this was a farm to fork meal?)

3. Some of the food that was prepared in advance was not up to temperature at the time of inspection.
(It was being prepared to be brought to proper temperature for serving when the inspection occurred.)

4. Even the vegetables prepared in advance had to be thrown out because they were cut and were then considered a “bio-hazard.”

5. We did not have receipts for our food. (Reminder! This food came from farms not from the supermarket! I have talked with several chefs who have said that in all their years cooking they have never been asked for receipts.)

Jars of cider

At this time Monte, trying to reason with Susan to find a possible solution for the problem, suggested turning this event from a “public” event to a “private” event by allowing the guests to become part of our farm club, thus eliminating any jurisdiction or responsibility on their part.

This idea infuriated Susan and threatened that if we did not comply the police would be called and personally escort our guests off the property. This is not the vision of the evening we had in mind! So regretfully, again we complied.

The only way to keep our guests on the property was to destroy the food. I can’t tell you how sick to my stomach I was watching that first dish of Mint Lamb Meatballs hit the bottom of the unsanitized trash can.

Here we were with guests who had paid in advance and had come from long distances away anticipating a wonderful dining experience, waiting for dinner while we were behind the kitchen curtain throwing it away! I know of the hours and labor that went into the preparation of that food.

Monte with a cider press he made

We asked the inspector if we could save the food for a private family event that we were having the next day. (A personal family choice to use our own food.) We were denied and she was insulted that we would even consider endangering our families health.

I assured her that I had complete faith and trust in Giovanni our chef and the food that was prepared, (obviously, or I wouldn’t be wanting to serve it to our guests).

I then asked if we couldn’t feed the food to our “public guests” or even to our private family, then at least let us feed it to our pigs. (I think it should be a criminal action to waste any resource of the land. Being dedicated to our organic farm, we are forever looking for good inputs into our compost and soil and good food that can be fed to our animals. The animals and compost pile always get our left over garden surplus and food. We truly are trying to be as sustainable as possible.) Again, a call to Susan and another negative response.

Okay, so let me get this right. So the food that was raised here on our farm and selected and gathered from familiar local sources, cooked and prepared with skill and love was even unfit to feed to my pigs!?!

Winter squash and pumpkins

Who gave them the right to tell me what I feed my animals? Not only were we denied the use of the food for any purpose, to ensure that it truly was unfit for feed of any kind we were again threatened with police action if we did not only throw the food in the trash, but then to add insult to injury, we were ordered to pour bleach on it.

Now the food is also unfit for compost as I would be negligent to allow any little critters to nibble on it while it was composting and ingest that bleach resulting in a horrible death. Literally hundreds of pounds of food was good for nothing but adding to our ever increasing land fill!

At some point in all of this turmoil Monte reminded me that I had the emergency phone number for the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) on our refrigerator. I put it there never really believing that I would ever have to use it.

We became members of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund several years ago as a protection for us, but mostly to add support to other farmers battling against the oppressive legal actions taken against the small farmers trying to produce good wholesome food without government intrusion.

Little friend of the family enjoying the view

The local, sustainable food battle is being waged all across America! May I mention that not one battle has been brought on because of any illness to the patrons of these farms!

The battles are started by government officials swooping down on farms and farmers like SWAT teams confiscating not only the wholesome food items produced but even their farm equipment! Some of them actually wearing HAZMAT suits as if they were walking into a nuclear meltdown! I have personally listened to some of their heart wrenching stories and have continued to follow them through the FTCLDF’s updates.

Well, I made the call, told my story and within a short period of time received a phone call back from the FTCLDF’s General Counsel, Gary Cox. When told the story, he simply suggested that we apply our fundamental constitutional right to be protected against “unlawful search and seizure.” I simply had to ask Mary two questions. “Do you have a search warrant?” “Do you have an arrest warrant?”

Sam, an intern in 2008

With the answers being “No”, I politely and very simply asked her to leave our property.

As simple as that! She had no alternative, no higher power, no choice whatsoever but to now comply with my desire.

She left in a huff making a scene shouting that she was calling the police. She left no paperwork, no Cease and Desist order, no record of any kind that implicated us for one thing, (we had complied to all their orders) only empty threats and a couple of trash cans full of defiled food. I will get back to “the inspector” and her threats shortly.

Let’s get to where it really gets good. While I am on the verge of a literal breakdown, Monte and Gio get creative. All right, we have just thrown all of this food away, we can’t do this, we can’t do that, what CAN we do? Well, we have a vegetable farm and we do have fresh vegetables. (By the way, we were denied even using our fresh vegetables until I informed our inspector that I do have a Producers Certificate from the Nevada Department of Agriculture allowing us to sell our vegetables and other farm products at the Farmers Market. Much of our produce has gone to some of the very finest restaurants in Las Vegas and St. George.)

The view from the back of the house

The wind taken out of the inspector's sails, Gio and his crew got cookin’. It just so happened that we had a cooled trailer full of vegetables ready to be taken to market the following day. Monte hooked on to the trailer and backed it up right next to the kitchen.

Our interns who were there to greet and serve now got to work with lamp oil and began harvesting anew. Knives were chopping, pots of pasta and rice from our food storage were steaming, our bonfire was now turned into a grill and literal miracles were happening before our eyes!

In the meantime, Monte and I had to break the news to our guests. Rather than go into the details here, you can see the video footage on Mark Bowers and Kiki Kalor’s (our friends and guests) website at: http://www.reallyvegasphoto.com/Events/CSA-Farm-Government-Inspection/19707296_v2zFML#1546717636_dJJDZjw

We explained the situation, offered anyone interested a full refund, and told them that if they chose to stay their dinner was now literally being prepared fresh, as just now being harvested. The reaction of our guests was the most sobering and inspirational experience of the evening. In an instant we were bonded together.

They were, of course, out-raged at the lack of choice they were given in their meal. Out-raged at the arrogance of coming to a farm dinner and being required to use only USDA (government inspected) meats.

Outraged at the heavy handedness of the Health Department into their lives. Then there was the most tremendous outpouring of love and support.

Monte at the break of dawn

One of our guests, Marty Keach, informed us that he was an attorney and as appalled as everyone else offered his support and counsel if need be, even if it be to the Supreme Court. He was a great comfort in a tense time.

With their approval, Giovanni and crew got cooking and the evening then truly began. The atmosphere turned from tense and angry to loving and supportive. As soon as I heard my brother Steve sit down and begin strumming his guitar, I knew something special was happening. Paid guests volunteered their services. Chef Shawn Wallace, a guest, joined Gio and his team his knife flying through the eggplant and squash. Wendy and Thierry Pressyler and so many that I am not even aware of, were helping to grill and transport dishes. Jason and Chrissy Doolen offered to run quick errands. Jeanne Frost, a server for the Wynn hotel, didn’t take a seat and began serving her fellow guests.

Before long we were seated at the beautiful table and the most incredible dishes began coming forth. It was literally “loaves and fishes” appearing before our very eyes! We broke bread together, we laughed, we talked, we shared stories, we came together in the most marvelous way.

Now this is what I had dreamed, only more marvelous than I could have ever imagined! The sky being bright with glittering stars, we had the telescopes out and invited any guests who desired to look into our starry heaven. While we were looking into the heavens, heaven was looking down upon us! I can’t tell you the number of times I have felt the hand of providence helping us in the work of this farm.

Greenhouse

As hard and demanding as this work is, I KNOW that this is what we are meant to do.

I KNOW that it is imperative that we stand up for our food choices.

I KNOW that local, organic, sustainable food produced by ourselves or by small family, local farms is indispensible to the health and well-being of our families and our communities now and in the future!

If this work were not so vitally important, the “evil forces” would not be working so hard to pull it down. We were victorious, we will be victorious, we must be! Our grandchildren’s future is at stake!

Back to the inspector. She did call the police. You must remember that we live in a small town. We know these officers. They responded to the call dutifully but were desperately trying to figure out why they had been called. Never in all of their experience had they ever received a call like this.

Friends of the family visiting the farm
Mary, the inspector, demanded that they give us a citation. The officer in charge said that she was to give us the citation, she responded that no, they were to give us the citation, which they then asked her for what violation. Even with the help of her superior on the phone she could not give them a reason.

They asked her to leave which she did. The police were very kind and apologetic for the intrusion. All of this was done without fanfare and out of sight of our guests. The police officers are commended for their professionalism!

Now that we have come to the last chapter of our novel, I realize that it ends with a cliff-hanger. As happy as the ending was, it isn’t “happily ever after” yet. This will remain to be seen in the ensuing days, weeks and even years ahead.

CSA share basket
Tom Collins, our County Commissioner, furious by the events that took place, having formerly been a board member for the Southern Nevada Health District is putting together a meeting with himself, the current board members and ourselves to make sense of all this mess.

As so many of you have related verbally and through emails your desire to help and be involved, we will keep you informed as events take place. I feel that we have been compelled to truly become active participants in the ongoing battle over our food choices. This is just one small incident that brings to our awareness how fragile our freedoms are. We are now ready to join the fight!

We would encourage all of you who can to contribute and to become a member of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund. They are not only fighting for the farmers, they are fighting for the consumers to have the right to choose. You can find them at farmtoconsumer.org

As I close, I am reminded of the passage written so forcefully by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence:

“He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.”

The same battle continues. I pray the result of the battle will be the same, that we have been “endowed by our Creator with … life and liberty”.

We love you all, and thank you with all our souls for your continued love and support! We will stay in touch.

With warmest wishes for you and your families,

Monte and Laura Bledsoe

Written from Quail Hollow Farm October 24, 2011

The Bledsoes ask for your support of the Nevadans for Food Freedom:

http://quailhollowfarmcsa.com/31.html

Farm Food Freedom Coalition

http://www.quailhollowfarmcsa.com/index.html

Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund

http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/

The Year of Cheese with Suzanne McMinn

2011-11-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

A year ago, we challenged Suzanne to make a different cheese every month and she accepted the challenge.

We had noticed her fun website and her easy going writing style, so it was a "no-brainer" for us. (As Ricki is the "Cheese Queen," Suzanne is Her Royal Highness the Queen of the Barnyard!)

Suzanne reasoned that she would be forced to learn and grow if she had a monthly commitment.

And, it worked. She did become a fine cheese maker and, in the process, she taught her readers and our readers how much fun it is to make your own cheese.

The year is over and now Suzanne has to focus on some new projects, but we promise to hound her relentlessly until she returns. Meanwhile, of course, you can get your Suzanne fix anytime at Chickens in the Road.

The Year of Cheese
By Suzanne McMinn
http://chickensintheroad.com/cooking/the-year-of-cheese/

In the past year, I’ve made huge strides in my cheesemaking thanks to my cheese challenge with New England Cheesemaking. It all began with a profile about me on the blog at New England Cheesemaking. (Check that article out if you haven’t read it!) Before my cow could say moo, I was opening my “cheese lab” to make a different cheese every month, writing about it here on my blog and on the New England Cheesemaking blog. What an experience! I want to thank Ricki, the Cheese Queen, for letting me do it, and Jim Wallace, the NEC cheese expert, for answering so many dumb questions from me, and especially Jeri Case, the “NEC Newsletter Queen” for putting up with me (and also for the day she bought all those gallons of store-bought milk to help me test one of my crazy cheese ideas).

I’m not finished making cheese, but in the coming months, I’ve got a number of other projects pressing on me, so I won’t be writing about cheese as much. But! I have one more fantastic and generous giveaway for you from the people at New England Cheesemaking. If you missed any of my “Year of Cheese” posts, please check them out!

Monterey Jack: Get to know Jack!

Making Munster: STINKY CHEESE!!!! And a very different and interesting cheesemaking process.

Gouda: A “washed curd” cheese that has become one of my favorites.

Making Romano: The cheese of emperors. You have to wait a long time for this one, but it’s worth it.

Fresh Cheese, Please: Queso fresco! A “hard” cheese that isn’t aged. It’s a chance to try out your cheese press–and eat the cheese right away.

Stirred-Curd Cheddar: A short-cut cheddar that makes a perfect alternative for the new cheesemaker wanting to try their hand at cheddar with a little less fuss.

Make It Quick with Caerphilly: A cute little cheese that is aged in less than 3 weeks.

A Cheese of My Own: What am I doing? I have no idea. I’m in the mozzarella lab!

30-Minute Burrata: A tasty continuation of my “mozzarella lab” experimentation.

Coeur a la Creme: A celebration of the Cheese Queen’s wedding with a delicious treat.

The Biggest Cheese Challenge of All: My experience teaching other people how to make cheese!

The Joy of Lactic Cheese: Lactic cheese is one of the easiest, and most versatile, of the soft cheeses. It delivers an incredible yield on just one gallon of milk. (Check out the lactic cheese recipes in that post.)

Please join me in thanking the fabulous people at New England Cheesemaking for making this year of cheese possible!

Special thanks to Beulah Petunia for her participation in this year-long project.

And thanks to Glory Bee for her milk sacrifices!

Chevre and Lemon Goat Cheese Cake from Jules Food

2011-11-11T19:07:00.000-05:00

Jules and Ruby-What a Dynamic Duo!

We love Jules Food. The pictures are fabulous and Ruby does a fine job of writing, even without opposable thumbs.

This past September, we featured an article Jules and Ruby wrote about Skyr. Then, recently,Ruby contacted us to say she had found the most delicious dessert ever (Jules was still in the kitchen cleaning up!). Ruby pointed us to her Lemon Goat Cheese Cake recipe and we knew you would be interested.

Of course, you can buy the chevre for it, but it's much more fun to make it yourself. There are about a million variations of this recipe, but Jules couldn't resist using Martha Stewart's:

CHEVRE... Real Goat Cheese

By Jules Food

(Recipes for printing at the end of this article.)

CHEVRE... aka Goat Cheese

finally, i have mastered the real deal.

"this tastes just like the cheese we had in Paris"

my obsession with cheese and yogurts has not subsided...yet.

there is something sooooo satisfying about making your own dairy products. i'm asked all the time,

"why don't you just buy it?"...

i love the whole science of it and the smell of cheese and yogurt hanging in the fridge, but most of all it's the anticipation...

"is it ready yet?...when do i get to eat it !?"

goat cheese is one of my favorites of the cheese family...it's such a versatile product that can be eaten as is or as a star ingredient.

recently i came across what i am now calling my favorite dessert of the season...the year...probably in my all-time top ten.

it's a Lemon Goat Cheese Cake found at Foodbabbles.com i was able to use some of my homemade goat cheese and, of course, it sent it to the top of the list.

i'll be posting about it soon...it is a MUST TRY !!! please visit Kate's blog and see for yourself this wonder-treat. she has great photos and step by step instructions for a no-fail winner.

there are a few ways to make your own goat cheese and i have tried these easy methods (as seen in this post) using lemon or vinegar...this is before i knew any better..

but this method and recipe is FAR SUPERIOR !

one very important ingredient you will need is the right culture. i found mine at a home brewing company out in Mission Viejo, CA. there are also places to get this over the Internet...buy your rennet at a big health food store.

i've just ran out of my little packets of Mesophilic culture so i might want to try the packets available HERE at cheesemaking.com. their packets contain the culture and the rennet all in one so there is no mixing and no room for error. the beginner kit looks good, but not really necessary to get all the extras. i was wondering how different culture will effect the out come...i'll have to get back to you on this.

there are many many many blogs and sites on how to make homemade goat cheese and some of the instructions get too involved...this is a really easy process...even i got it right the first time.

i thought who better to go-to than a woman who owns her own goats...Martha Stewart!...and she probably has some prize winning goats at that.

honestly...does she really make her own goat cheese?...or does she have someone do it for her...

HOMEMADE CHEVRE...GOAT CHEESE

found at Martha Stewart.com

this is for 1/2 the original recipe found at link above

1/2 gallon (2qts) pasteurized goat milk...NOT ultra pasteurized

1/8 tsp powdered Mesophilic DVI culture..1 used 1 packet C101

1-2 drops liquid rennet

1 tsp kosher salt (or to your taste)

1. add goat milk to a large non reactive sauce pan or stock pot. use low-medium heat until the milk reaches exactly 75 F degrees on an instant read thermometer.

2. add the powdered culture and the liquid rennet to a small bowl. add 2 Tbsp of the warm milk and stir until well combined (no lumps of culture). add this small mixture to the large pot of warm goat milk. cover and leave at room temperature overnight. i have left it for 15-20 hours.

3. cut the set curds across the pot and again the other way. same as seen here in my Skyr post for Icelandic Yogurt.

set a large colander over a large pot/bowl and line with double layer cheese cloth or i prefer a nice clean square of reusable muslin. the bowl underneath the colander must be big enough to catch quite a bit of whey that will drain. carefully transfer the mixture into the colander. Martha says to cover this with cheesecloth, i just covered it with a lid that fit on top of the colander.

let this set at room temperature overnight...mine sat about 15 hours.

remove from cheesecloth, discard liquid and transfer cheese to bowl and mix in salt (and, or other flavors)...don't forget to taste test. it's a lot easier to flavor the cheese before it is chilled and you want it to incorporate if using fresh herbs.
store in refrigerator in airtight container, ramekin or shape into log wrapping in plastic wrap.

i took 1/2 the cheese and shaped it into a log for a more spreadable cheese and the other 1/2 i kept in the muslin and let hang in the fridge for another 8 hours. this created a more crumbly cheese.

served on crisp seeded baguette with fresh fruit and your favorite preserves
makes a tasty snack or a fabulous brunch side.

Lemon Goat Cheese Cake - Incredibly Delicious!

LEMON GOAT CHEESE CAKE

this cake is unbelievably delicious !

absolutely my favorite dessert this year...and now one of my all time favorites.

light, fresh, moist and lemony with just a hint of tang from the goat cheese. not like a regular cheesecake because it's not so dense...not like a cake because it has no crumble...it's just that perfect balance that doesn't fill you up, but doesn't leave you hanging. a fabulous dessert for a late Summer Sunday brunch or after a heavy BBQ extravaganza.

i've been making Homemade Goat Cheese lately and was searching around for any and all things "goatie", i came across this recipe from a fellow blogger named Kate at Food Babbles. she has a fabulous blog and she is one of those much needed foodies that gives incredibly easy instructions with photos as you go...no room for error. i diligently followed along and the result was this fabulous cheese cakie treat...

AND, i must add, being able to use some of my homemade goat cheese sent it over the top in my book.

by the way...goat cheese is one of the easiest cheeses to make...you just need the right stuff.

GOAT CHEESE CAKE

normally i would to say "adapted from", but in this case i did not change a thing. i have printed out the ingredients and instructions so you can get a quick overview, BUT i really think you should visit Kate at Food Babbles to get the full photo low-down. follow her step by step and you will have complete success as i did. many many thanks to Kate

11 oz. goat cheese (see Homemade Goat Cheese if you want to go the extra mile)
3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus more for dusting pan
finely minced lemon zest from 1 lemon
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 egg yolks at room temp.
6 egg whites at room temp.
3 Tbsp flour.

preheat the oven to 350 F degrees. butter a 9" spring form pan and dust the inside with granulated sugar...don't skip this.
mix together cheese, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla...beat until smooth.
mix in egg yolks, one at a time at low speed.
next, add the flour.
in another CLEAN bowl beat the egg whites until peaks form.
gently fold whites into goat cheese mixture...make sure you don't over mix.
spread the batter into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
cool on a wire rack
once cake is completely cooled, refrigerate until chilled

this cake is fabulous as-is with a few fresh berries...for some i added a little dollop of blueberry preserves and fresh thyme. Kate dressed hers up with a yummy raspberry sauce.

More at Jules Food

Recipes for Printing

HOMEMADE CHEVRE...GOAT CHEESE
found at Martha Stewart.com

this is for 1/2 the original recipe found at link above
1/2 gallon (2qts) pasteurized goat milk...NOT ultra pasteurized
1/8 tsp powdered Mesophilic DVI culture..1 used 1 packet Mesophilic MW3 from Mad Millie
1-2 drops liquid rennet
1 tsp kosher salt (or to your taste)

1. add goat milk to a large non reactive sauce pan or stock pot. use low-medium heat until the milk reaches exactly 75 F degrees on an instant read thermometer.

2. add the powdered culture and the liquid rennet to a small bowl. add 2 Tbsp of the warm milk and stir until well combined (no lumps of culture). add this small mixture to the large pot of warm goat milk. cover and leave at room temperature overnight. i have left it for 15-20 hours.

3. cut the set curds across the pot and again the other way. same as seen here in my Skyr post for Icelandic Yogurt.

set a large colander over a large pot/bowl and line with double layer cheese cloth or i prefer a nice clean square of reusable muslin. the bowl underneath the colander must be big enough to catch quite a bit of whey that will drain. carefully transfer the mixture into the colander. Martha says to cover this with cheesecloth, i just covered it with a lid that fit on top of the colander.

let this set at room temperature overnight...mine sat about 15 hours.

remove from cheesecloth, discard liquid and transfer cheese to bowl and mix in salt (and, or other flavors)...don't forget to taste test. it's a lot easier to flavor the cheese before it is chilled and you want it to incorporate if using fresh herbs.

store in refrigerator in airtight container, ramekin or shape into log wrapping in plastic wrap.

i took 1/2 the cheese and shaped it into a log for a more spreadable cheese and the other 1/2 i kept in the muslin and let hang in the fridge for another 8 hours. this created a more crumbly cheese.

any way you serve this i guarantee you and your guests will be pleasantly sated

GOAT CHEESE CAKE

normally i would to say "adapted from", but in this case i did not change a thing. i have printed out the ingredients and instructions so you can get a quick overview, BUT i really think you should visit Kate at Food Babbles to get the full photo low-down. follow her step by step and you will have complete success as i did. many many thanks to Kate

11 oz. goat cheese (see Homemade Goat Cheese if you want to go the extra mile)
3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus more for dusting pan
finely minced lemon zest from 1 lemon
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 egg yolks at room temp.
6 egg whites at room temp.
3 Tbsp flour.

preheat the oven to 350 F degrees. butter a 9" spring form pan and dust the inside with granulated sugar...don't skip this.
mix together cheese, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla...beat until smooth.
mix in egg yolks, one at a time at low speed.
next, add the flour.
in another CLEAN bowl beat the egg whites until peaks form.
gently fold whites into goat cheese mixture...make sure you don't over mix.
spread the batter into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
cool on a wire rack
once cake is completely cooled, refrigerate until chilled

Pictures From Farm Food Freedom Rally

2011-11-08T07:32:00.001-05:00

They drank raw milk at the FDA headquarters!

If you saw our post about this rally (which took place November 1st), you know how important we thought it was. Mothers, dubbed "Freedom Riders" crossed the state line, bought raw milk, transported it to FDA headquarters in Silver Spring, MD and then drank it and fed it to their children.

Liz Reitzig and Karine Bouis-Towe, two of the 4 founders of the Farm Food Freedom Coalition organized this event. Speakers came from all around the US and Canada. It takes courage to fight for your beliefs and the folks at this rally were fighting on the front line. Our message to them is THANK YOU!

The best description of this demonstration can be found at David Gumpert's blog, "The Complete Patient." Apparently, there was an important gain made as a result of it - The FDA announced that it will no longer enforce the Interstate Commerce Act against individuals carrying raw milk across state lines. That is a real breakthrough and although it doesn't help the buying clubs, it's a major step in the right direction. (Applause here for everyone involved.)

Angie Seckinger, a photographer from Potomac, MD took pictures of the event and shared them with us. The ones below are just a selection - you can see more at her website - angieseckinger.com.

Jean Nordin-Evans from Massachusetts

Liz Reitzig of the Farm Food Freedom Coalition.

Liz Reitzig and Mark McAfee of Organic Pastures

Mark McAfee with microphone.

Liz Reitzig and Karine Bouis-Towe, organizers of the event

David Gumpert, author of Raw Milk Revolution and Sally Fallon Morell, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation

Tara Holste

Mark McAfee holding Liz's daughter, Emily. Max Kane, at right, is a film maker and raw milk activist who will soon be releasing his new documentary, "Milk Men."

At left, John Stolztfus, farmer and raw milk activist with Mark McAfee and Max Kane

Denise Dixon of Morningland Dairy in Missouri which has been shut down by the FDA since August, 2010.


Sally Fallon Morell with Maureen Diaz (center) and Bernadette Barber

Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm just released his new book, "Folks, This Ain't Normal."

Max Kane, David Hirsh and Pete Kennedy of the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund

Pete Kennedy

Mark McAfee and John Moody

Michael Schmidt, the well known Canadian farmer and activist was on day 31 of his hunger strike (which he later ended after 37 days when his request for an audience with the Prime Minister was granted).

Avishek Saha

David Hirsh and John Stoltzfus

Charlotte Barber from Virginia

David Hirsh

To see live video of the Freedom Ride - http://www.justin.tv/farmfoodfreedom/b/298905943

To see more photos by Angie Seckinger - http://www.angieseckinger.com

To see photos by Ellie Kaufman - http://www.flickr.com/photos/69371978@N04/

Farm Food Freedom Coalition

Upinngil Farm in Gill, Massachusetts

2011-11-03T07:41:00.000-04:00

Sorrel Hatch and her father, Cliff serving samples at a cheese tasting last winter

Raw milk, cheese, grass fed beef, strawberries, jams, whole grains (flour and wheat berries), beebalm and maple syrup are just a few of the main crops at this farm.

Cliff Hatch and his daughter, Sorrel keep their farm store open from 8am until 7pm, every day of the week year round. They carry a wide variety of local food products including their own (partially listed above). Of course, some items are seasonal, but that adds to the excitement of never knowing what you'll find.

Upinngil is located "up in Gill," a small town with one retail establishment, the Gill Tavern, just up the road. It seems amazing that one of the best restaurants in Franklin County is only a few miles from one of the best farm stores. The result is a scenic road trip worth taking any time of the year (and bring your big appetite). Directions at their website: http://www.upinngil.com/.

Cliff installed a model train in the store. It goes around the ceiling on a continuous timer, much to the delight of young shoppers (and everyone else).

The Hatch's are currently milking 12 Ayrshires, a Scottish breed well suited to the New England climate (pronounced Ash-ir). The cows are milked year round. In the summer they graze in the organic pastures and in the winter they are fed local alfalfa, hay, haylage and corn silage.

Cliff chose Ayrshires because he was planning to make cheese and he knew their milk is well suited for that. At the Upinngil website, they list some of the benefits of Ayrshire milk:

    Small, easily-digested fat molecules
    High in protein
    High in conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs)
    High in other omega 3s
    High in vitamins A, D, and E
    Makes excellent cheeses, yogurt, kefir, and butter

Their raw milk is packaged in returnable half gallon bottles and in gallon, half gallon and quart plastic containers.

The bar prevents this cow from kicking.

Cliff makes a variety of cheeses:
Upingillar (a Fontina type), Ayrshire Cheddar (one of his signature cheeses), Havarti, Feta and Bleu. At holiday time, he sometimes sells a limited amount of his special Dorset Bleu with a mild, smooth flavor (to die for!).

He gives popular cheese making workshops from time to time. So, if you see one listed, sign up quickly because they always fill up fast. Note: The next one will be Saturday, November 19th from 8am-5pm on "Making Dipped Curds and Italian Cheeses" (which will include Parmesan and Swiss, as well as others).

He has also written 4 pamphlets to help the home cheese maker and these are available (free) in the farm store: Making Yoghurt, Making Butter, Making Ice Cream and Basic Cheese Making.

Cliff has been making cheese for 25 years - licensed to sell it for 5. He credits Kathy Biss (from Scotland), the author of Practical Cheesemaking with teaching him to make cheese at a series of workshops she did in the US. Cliff was making Feta the day I visited:

Cliff's milk tank holds 200 gallons but he never processes more than 60 gallons at a time,
(the amount his cheese kettle holds).

The press is just a handy surface where the curds can drain.
When he's pressing, he can put (2) 25 gallon molds in it at a time.

The Hatch's support many local food businesses through an organization they call Upinngil Community Growers. They sell SideHill yogurt, for example, and Snow's Ice Cream.

Upinngil has a blog with lots of good information about the farm and farming in general - The Upinngil Farm Journal. There is a section of it called Little Red Hen's Recipes with Whole Wheat Chocolate Almond Biscotti, Upinngil Real Pumpkin Pie, etc. (It's always amazing when hard working farmers find the time to share!)

Upinngil Farm

411 Main Rd.

Gill, MA

http://www.upinngil.com

Cliff Hatch

clifford@upinngil.com

413-863-2297

Sorrel Hatch

sorrel@upinngil.com

413-863-4431

Robiola with Simona Carini

2011-10-31T14:00:00.000-04:00

Simona Carini

Her cheese just gets better and better!

We first featured Simona as one of our guest bloggers last June (English Style Coulommiers). Then, later that summer, she attended one of our advanced classes in French Cheese Making (Notes From One of Jim Wallace's Workshops). Note: Jim will be teaching this same workshop again November 19-20th.

Simona teaches how to make cheese and how to speak Italian at her beautiful website, Briciole - An idiosyncratic and opinionated dictionary of Italian words related to food, with audio accompaniment - and recipes. You can hear her pronounce the words that appear in italics in her posts by pressing a button at the end of the article. (It's very cool!)

I asked her how her cheese making had changed since she took the workshop:

A very good question: I am using the pH meter (not always, to be honest, but I understand now how important it is) and in general I am more confident.

You see, I started making cheese on my own and before taking Jim's workshop, I sometimes wondered whether I was missing something important or making some systematic mistake.

At the workshop, I realized I am doing ok, and since I got some burning questions answered, I now feel more confident in my experiments.

formaggio fatto in casa: robiola

HOMEMADE ROBIOLA
By Simona Carini at Briciole

on the cutting board, with salt-and-pepper cookies

Remember the photo I published recently for Black and White Wednesday where I held in my hand a nice piece of fresh cheese? I wrote then that I would talk a bit more about the cheese portrayed and that is what I will do in this post. I will actually talk very little, since everything you need to know about making the cheese is on the robiola recipe page of the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company website.

The page is authored by Jim Wallace. Having attended a workshop led by him earlier this year means that now, when I read the articles he writes, I can hear his voice providing instructions and guidance. As Jim explains in the introductory notes, there are various types of robiola. If you do a google image search after specifying robiola in the search field, you can get some idea of what those cheeses look like.

Since everything you need to know to make the cheese is on the relevant page, here I am sharing a few photos from my experience making it. I made it three times. The first time, I misjudged my mold needs, so I ended up with good-tasting cheese of weird shapes. I then got a ricotta basket and used that and the one I already had to mold the curds. Basically, I followed Jim's instructions (which, of course, I should have done to begin with).

The photo above shows one of the baskets with the curds, resting on a grate that rests on a raised metal support, all placed inside a plastic container: this is so that the whey (siero di latte) can drain freely. I set aside the first two cups or so of whey and used it to make bread. I used the rest to water one of my rhododendrons. As mentioned previously, I have recently started to use cheese netting instead of cloth. There are some drawbacks, but the advantage is easy cleaning and handling.

The time from addition of rennet (caglio) to cutting the curd (cagliata) was 5.5 hours. The amount of calcium chloride I used is 1/8 teaspoon.

Up close and personal with robiola draining in a ricotta mold

robiola spending some time in brine...

then drying well before being put in the cheese fridge for a brief aging

The top photo shows what was left of one robiola after I cut some for dinner with my friend Christine of Christine Cooks and her husband and packed some for them to bring home. We enjoyed the lovely, fresh-tasting cheese, which I served with slices of pears.

A variation on the theme of formaggio con le pere (cheese with pears) is shown above, where the fruit is an Asian pear. There is a bit more to this, so I will leave you kind of hanging until I have time to reveal more.

The robiola we have eaten so far has been aged for a short period of time, in the order of 4-7 days. However, the very last small wheel has just spent two weeks in the fridge, due to our travels. Though slowly, due to the low temperature, the cheese has matured further and we are enjoying it on bread or pears.

I recommend this recipe to both the beginner and the experienced cheese-maker: it is pretty straightforward, the result can be tasted within a few days of making it, and the resulting cheese is very nice.

Supporting Local Cheese Competitions

2011-10-27T22:01:00.000-04:00

Winners in the Big E Gold Cheese Competition on display.

The judges are your best teachers!

There are many ways to learn about making great cheese and one of them is by entering competitions. The feedback you get from the judges may be the best you have ever received.

There is usually a requirement that you are licensed to sell cheese.

If you make cheese, but you are not licensed to sell it, competitions are a good place to sample and analyze the winners. Almost all competitions provide some way for you to taste the award-winning entrys.

Festival at the American Cheese Society Convention in Seattle, 2010

The biggest competition in this country is the one held at the Annual American Cheese Society Convention every year-always in a different location. (2012 will be in Raleigh, NC, August 1-4.)

As a home cheese maker, looking to taste the best cheeses in every category, you can attend the Festival of Cheeses at the end of every conference.

All the cheeses are brought out, labelled and ready to sample. It's always a fabulous celebration and well worth the cost of admission.

Place to sample and buy the competition cheeses at The Big E

Other competitions are smaller, but nevertheless worth supporting. Our state fair (the Eastern States Exposition, known as The Big E) had their fifth annual cheese competition this year. The entry fee was $25.

Cheese makers from all around New England participated. Some were well known companies like Cabot Creamery and Vermont Butter & Cheese. Others were small farms, licensed to sell but not yet well-known.

The winners of the competition were posted in the "Cheese Shoppe" and any of the participants were invited to sell their cheeses there. A few samples were available at all times. It was a good opportunity for the new and smaller cheese makers to get exposure to the public.

The dairy pavillion at our state fair- The Big E

If you have a cheese competition in your area, let us know so we can list it in the Upcoming Events section of our Moosletter.

Raw Milk Freedom Riders Caravan & Rally

2011-10-24T20:34:00.000-04:00

Photo from http://www.rawmilkfreedomriders.com/

Making a Difference Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

We are big supporters of the Farm Food Freedom Coalition (FFFC). We believe in our right to choose what we eat. (We also choose to drink raw milk which we can legally buy at our local farms and to make our own cheese with it.)

Unfortunately, there are still 11 states where raw milk is illegal and Maryland is one of them. This has resulted in many mothers driving to nearby Pennsylvania and illegally transporting their raw milk back to Maryland. - thus committing a crime to feed their children healthy milk.

Liz Reitzig (lizreitzig@gmail.com)

As a way of calling attention to this injustice, Liz Reitzig, co-founder of the FFFC has organized a two part event at the FDA headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland (10903 New Hampshire Ave.):

Part 1 - The Freedom Ride

A group of mothers calling themselves the Raw Milk Freedom Riders will be meeting at a farm in Pennsylvania, buying raw milk and taking it in a caravan to the FDA headquarters in Silver Spring, MD. Once there, they will be drinking it and serving it to their children.

The caravan will start on US Rt 1 in Rising Sun, Maryland at 10:30am. (Travel route at the end of this article.) If you go, be sure to put something in your car windows identifying yourself as a raw milk freedom rider. If you need a place to stay or have questions contact: farmfoodfreedom@yahoo.com

Part 2 - The Rally at the FDA

When they arrive at the FDA at noon, there will be speakers from across the country- some of the most important and famous proponents of raw milk. The list of speakers is like a Who's Who in the raw milk movement:
(Note: We weren't able to take pictures for this article and there wasn't time to get permission to use others, so the only option was to use YouTube videos. They were chosen to give you a sense of who these speakers are.)

Joel Salatin is the author of You Can Farm and Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal. He just released a new book - Folks, This Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World. You may have seen him in the documentary Food Inc. He and his family run the Polyface Farm in Riverheads, Virginia.

Mark McAfee is founder and CEO of Organic Pastures Dairy in California. He has travelled to 15 states and 3 countries, advocating for raw milk. In 2000, Organic Pastures, located near Fresno, became California's first raw milk dairy with certified organic pasture land.

David Gumphert wrote The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America's Emerging Battle Over Food Rights, which includes a preface by Joel Salatin. At his blog (http://www.davidgumpert.com/) he documents up-to-date developments in the movement and at his website, The Complete Patient he covers a wide range of health freedom issues.

Max Kane is a filmmaker and he just released the trailer for his new movie, Milk Men about his experiences defending food freedom on a cross country bike ride (below).

Michael Schmidt is a Canadian farmer whose farm near Toronto (Glencolton) was raided by officials from the health department several times. He fought back and finally triumphed but the story is frightening. Sally Fallon tells it at her real milk website.

If you can't attend this event, Natural News Radio will have live coverage at http://www.NaturalNewsRadio.com. There will also be live streaming at http://www.justin.tv/farmfoodfreedom.

For more info contact Liz Reitzig at Lizreitzig@gmail.com

By the way, if you have a high tolerance for frustration, check out the video below of Max Kane trying to report this upcoming illegal demonstration to the FDA. It is apparently virtually impossible to report a violation to the FDA.

Travel Route:

Begin (A): US-1 S/Conowingo Rd.

    Head southwest on US-1 S/Conowingo Rd toward N Greenmont Rd (3.0 mi)
    Turn left onto MD-276/Jacob Tome Hwy Continue to follow MD-276 (0.5 mi)
    At the traffic circle, continue straight onto MD-276/Rising Sun Rd Continue to follow MD-276 (5.1 mi)
    Turn left onto MD-275 S/Perrylawn Dr Continue to follow Perrylawn Dr (2.5 mi)
    Turn left to merge onto I-95 S Partial toll road( 66.2 mi)
    Take exit 27 for I-495 W toward Silver Spring (0.9 mi)
    Merge onto I-495 (0.7 mi)
    Take exit 28A to merge onto MD-650 N/New Hampshire Ave toward White Oak N (1.4 mi)

End (B): 10903 New Hampshire Ave.

A Tour of SideHill Farm in Ashfield, MA

2011-10-21T07:49:00.000-04:00

Yogurt anyone?

Paul Lacinski and Amy Klippenstein have managed to build a successful yogurt business with 15 cows, 23 acres of leased grazing land and their own ingenuity. They make and sell over 800 gallons of yogurt per week! (http://www.sidehillfarm.net)

SideHill was one of the farms I toured as part of Raw Milk Dairy Days, sponsored by NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association). It's tucked away in the woods of Ashfield, and you're only really sure you're there when you see the cute little white milk bottle sign:

This farm is very well known in our area because they sell their yogurt at all the local grocers and it's gooood!!! There are 4 flavors- whole milk plain, lowfat plain, lowfat vanilla and whole milk maple (to die for). At the farm stand, (open from March-December) they sell raw milk and cream, raw milk butter (sometimes), paneer, yogurt, and grass-fed beef.

On the day of the tour, there were quite a few folks gathered to learn about the dairy and how it's run.

Amy greeted us and answered questions while we waited for the "stragglers." She told us Paul was at the farmer's market, but he would join us later.

Some of the tour participants were thinking about starting their own farms. Others brought their children to show them where dairy products come from. Others were just curious to see how a dairy farm works. It's always a treat when farmers open their dairies for tours.

Before we started, we couldn't help but notice their incredibly cool straw-bale house which they built themselves 10 years ago. (Paul was in the straw bale construction business before he and Amy became farmers.) To me, it looks like a fairy tale house (where the fairies are dairy farmers who work very hard!).

We walked down the road to a field where the calves were being kept. This is just one of many fields they lease. (All their land is leased.) They are currently looking to buy a farm in the area where they can own their own land and have room to grow.

Then, we walked even further down the road to their unique make room. That 18 wheeler trailer is a fully equipped, certified dairy! When Paul floated the idea past the dairy inspector, she thought he had totally lost his mind. But, now, if they move to a new location, they're all set.

The little trailer holds the bulk tank. The milk is piped from the barn where the cows are milked. Amy prepared the foot wash so we could go in and look around.

While we were filing in, Paul arrived and joined the tour.

The large trailer where the yogurt is made was closed and there was no way we could all safely tromp through it. However, I asked Paul if I could take a few pictures so you could see the layout. I took my shoes off and quickly snapped a few pictures:

The farm itself used to be a dairy farm. Now, Paul and Amy rent space there for their trailers and their cows. There was already a milking room in the barn when they first arrived. Grain was poured into the large bins through the ceiling. These days, that would not meet the regulations, so Paul and Amy patched up the ceiling and painted the walls.

From there, we trekked out to the field where the cows were grazing. Most are Normandes with a few Jersey mixes. They were very friendly and seemingly happy with their way of life. (I'm sure they appreciate their gorgeous view of the hills around them.)

That was the end, so we hiked back to the dairy and enjoyed some samples of their raw milk and fabulous yogurt.

I was struck by Paul and Amy's pioneering spirit - the way they started all this with nothing and have built a thriving business with 5 employees. It's hard work, but they've persevered and now they're ready to buy a farm. I think that's called "The American Whey."

SideHill Farm

137 Beldingville Rd.

Ashfield, MA 01330

413-625-0011

http://www.sidehillfarm.net

info@sidehillfarm.net

Singing with the Cheese Queen

2011-10-18T08:41:00.000-04:00

Ricki and Jamie are Raising Their Voices in Song!

Everybody knows that the King and Queen of Cheese LOVE to sing-in fact, they have mandated that everyone in their kingdom must sing while they are making their cheese and thus all their cheeses will be blessed with joy and harmony.

When the royal couple are not making cheese, they are frequently hosting in-house singing concerts with workshops. Of course, you are all invited to attend. (The next one will be November 19th - info at the end of this post.)

This summer, right before the wedding, Ricki and Jamie hosted a week-long Village Harmony singing camp at their home in Ashfield, MA. There were 3 leaders; Kathy Bullock taught Gospel music, Larry Gordon (the founder of Village Harmony) taught Shape Note and South African music, and Eva Primack taught music from the Balkans. The following pictures were taken by Christina Gabriel:

Singing at a Nearby Church

The camp itself was centered at Ricki and Jamie's house, but the singing was done in a nearby church because of the lovely space and the excellent acoustics.

Playing at Ricki and Jamie's House

Although there was a LOT of singing during camp week, there was also plenty of time for play.

The Final Concert

The culmination of camp week is always a concert. This year, (and every year) the church was filled.

The Next Workshop and Concert

Arthur Davis, Wheaton Squire, Kenny Shimizu, Luke Hoffman

Oh my, we are in for a real treat!

November 19th at Ricki & Jamie's Place
292 Main Street, Ashfield MA 01330
RSVP to 413-628-4568 or info@cheesemaking.com
Workshop 3-5 $25.00 (pot luck at 5:30)
Concert 7pm $10.00

Organized while on tour in Europe with Northern Harmony, Kenny, Wheaton, Arthur & Luke have formed a gospel quartet, "The Washed Up Blues Band"
They will give a 2 hour class from 3-5 followed by a Pot Luck Dinner and House Concert at 7.

Men, here is your chance to croon and swoon with the best. With a huge repertoire, straight up one person to each part team teaching and demonstrating, they will teach & perform American Gospel/Jubilee quartet music, made popular between the late 20's & 40's. Songs based on recordings of The Soul Stirrers, The Golden Gate Quartet, The Stars of Harmony, The Dixie Hummingbirds, The Kansas City Gospel Singers, with arrangements that are new and give them their own sound. Soon there will be videos online.

Lactic Cheese With Suzanne McMinn

2011-10-15T06:49:00.001-04:00

Glory Bee wearing her stylish "calf weaner"

An Easy, All-Purpose Soft Cheese

This month, Suzanne is back in the cheese making saddle again. She's getting serious about her cheese and Glory Bee is getting seriously weaned. (She's over 1 year old, for crying out load! It's hard on her mother's udder.) More about this at the chickens in the road website in the Barn section.

As usual, Suzanne is having a giveaway and this month it is one of our Deluxe Basic Cheesemaking Sets (which includes our Basic Hard Cheese Kit, a pound of red wax and a wax brush) so, click here for details.

The Joy of Lactic Cheese
By Suzanne McMinn
http://chickensintheroad.com/cooking/the-joy-of-lactic-cheese/

My top 10 ways to use lactic cheese:

1.   In place of ricotta in lasagna.
2.   Spread on pizza in place of mozzarella.
3. On bagels or toast.
4. In place of cream cheese in cheesecake.
5.   In dressings and dips of all kinds.
6.   In burritos or enchiladas (in place of or in addition to other cheeses).
7.   In veggie roll-ups.
8.   Dolloped on top of green salads.
9.   Mixed into potato salads or egg salads.
10. Slathered on top of burgers.

In fact, it’s hard to think of a way you can’t use lactic cheese. It’s the cheese of cheeses! I also use lactic cheese as the base for homemade Velveeta. Lactic cheese is even delicious simply served on a plate drizzled with olive oil and an herb garnish. Dig in with some good crackers!

Lactic cheese is one of the easiest, and most versatile, of the soft cheeses, and it delivers an incredible yield on just one gallon of milk. “Lactic” means milk, and that’s what it is, an ingeniously simple milk cheese. It looks and acts like cream cheese, but without any cream, leaving the cream for butter, whipped cream, coffee cream, and other delectable purposes. It’s also one of the most forgiving recipes I’ve ever used, which has made it a big favorite here. I can neglect it mercilessly while it’s in the making, which suits my schedule just fine. For my cheese challenge for New England Cheesemaking this month, I’m bringing you lactic cheese and a few of my favorite lactic cheese-inspired recipes and ideas. This is a perfect cheese for beginning cheesemakers. If you haven’t given it a try yet, you must!

Lactic cheese can be stored in the fridge for a couple of weeks, but for long-term storage I freeze it. I press the cheese into 8-ounce Ziploc containers.

After it freezes, I remove the cheese from the container and slip it into a sandwich baggie. I can then store about eight 8-ounce lactic cheese blocks in one 1-gallon freezer baggie. When I need some cheese, I remove one (or more) blocks of lactic cheese, defrost, and use. It freezes wonderfully.

This recipe comes from Ricki Carroll at New England Cheesemaking.

*A note about the diluted rennet: It sometimes feels wasteful to use but 1 teaspoon of the diluted rennet. Often when I am on a lactic cheese binge, making it several times in a row to store for later use, I will save over the diluted rennet to re-use multiple times. I’ve found I can store it in the fridge (in a 1-ounce container with a lid) for one to two weeks and it is fine. The diluted rennet will lose its strength after a while, so just beware if you do that. It’s okay to save it over to continue to use, but you can’t save it over forever.
(Note: This only applies for this cheese. You can't expect it to work for any others, so we don't want you to be disappointed! We recommend using rennet within 15 minutes of diluting it.)

How to make Lactic Cheese:

1 gallon whole or skimmed milk
1 packet direct-set mesophilic starter
3 drops liquid rennet diluted in 1/3 cup cool unchlorinated water
cheese salt (optional)

1. Heat the milk to 86 degrees (F). Add the starter and mix thoroughly.

2. Add 1 teaspoon of the diluted rennet and stir gently with an up-and-down motion. Cover and let set, undisturbed, for 12 hours, or until a solid curd forms.

Sometimes I let it sit in the pot for 18 hours. Or 24 hours. Because I’m busy. Or I don’t feel like it. Or I’m just plain lazy. Lactic cheese WAITS. Lactic cheese is patient, lactic cheese is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Lactic cheese does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres!

And when you are ready, it is ready! Patient lactic cheese curd pulling away from the sides of the pot:

The curd will look like yogurt.

3. Gently ladle the curd into a colander lined with butter muslin. I also use disposable cheesecloth for lactic cheese with no problem.

Tie the corners of the muslin into a knot and hang the bag to drain for 6-12 hours, or until the cheese reaches the desired consistency. A room temperature of at least 72 degrees will encourage proper drainage. If you hang it on the low side, 4-6 hours, the consistency is lighter and creamier, and the yield is higher.

When I’m preparing soft cheeses to hang, I set up the bowl with the cheese to one side of my sink. I set the colander in the sink in the middle and to the right, I set my hanging bucket. I have a small (3-gallon) bucket now that I use just for hanging soft cheeses. It’s a handy size, and if my kitchen isn’t busy, I just leave it sitting in the sink while the cheese is draining.

Usually, I’m about to have something else going on in my sink, so I move it off to the counter, or sometimes I even set it on the floor out of the way.

A bucket with a handle is very handy. It also has a pour spout so I can easily pour whey off as needed.

4. Place the curds in a bowl and add the salt to taste, if desired.

I usually don’t add salt at this point because I’ll go on to use the cheese in other recipes. Lactic cheese is creamy yet light, almost “fluffy” in consistency.

5. Store in a covered bowl in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. (As I described above, if I don’t use it right away, I freeze it in 8-ounce blocks.)

Yield: About 2 pounds (or slightly more).

And here are some of my recipes using lactic cheese–I can make all of these recipes from just one setting of lactic cheese.

Fresh Cheese & Chervil Dressing or Dip:

1 cup milk
1 cup lactic cheese
1 tablespoon fresh or 1 teaspoon dried chervil
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients; mix well. Makes approximately 2 cups dressing. Serve over salads or use as a dip for fresh vegetables. Keep refrigerated. Parsley can be substituted for the chervil.

This is a simple but addictive dressing!

Grandmother Bread with Fresh Cheese:

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 teaspoon yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup lactic cheese
3 1/2 cups flour

In a large bowl, combine water, yeast, sugar, and salt. Let sit five minutes. Mix in the lactic cheese. Stir in the first cup of flour with a heavy spoon. Add more flour, a little at a time as needed, stirring until dough becomes too stiff to continue stirring easily. Add a little more flour and begin kneading. The amount of flour is approximate–-your mileage may vary! Continue adding flour and kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic. Let dough rise in a greased, covered bowl until doubled. (Usually, about an hour.) Uncover bowl; sprinkle in a little more flour and knead again. With floured hands, shape dough and place in a greased loaf pan. Cover, and let rise for 30-60 minutes. Bake for 25 minutes in a preheated 350-degree oven. Can also be made as dinner rolls–divide into 12-15 rolls, place on greased pan, let rise and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until browned.

This makes a rich but light bread.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie:

2 cups lactic cheese
2 cups pumpkin (or butternut or cushaw) puree
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
2 tablespoons bourbon (optional)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
pastry for single-crust pie
crushed graham crackers

Pumpkin (and other winter squash) puree, especially homemade, has a lot of water in it. I measure and press until I have 2 cups pressed puree. Too much water in your puree will interfere with setting your cheesecake.

Combine first 8 ingredients in a medium-size bowl; beat with electric mixer. Spoon into prepared pie crust. Sprinkle crushed graham crackers over the top. (It just takes a couple of graham crackers to crush enough.) Bake on lower rack of oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 350 and bake another 30-35 minutes until filling is firm and knife or toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Chill before serving.

A deliciously different pumpkin recipe for the holidays, or any time!

Making Cultured Butter with Raw Milk

2011-10-11T07:30:00.000-04:00

A little culture never hurts!

Sweet cream butter is yummy, but cultured butter has the addition of good bacteria. So, why not add it in?

It's very easy to culture your cream before making it into butter. One way is to add a small amount of yogurt, buttermilk, or sour cream to your cream, leave it at room temperature for 12-24 hours, then chill it. (Use 1 or 2 tablespoons per pint of cream.)

Or, you can add a little of any of our mesophilic or direct set cultures, including kefir and flora danica. (Creme Fraiche and sour cream are the most popular for this.) The small amount of rennet in some of the cultures doesn't interfere with the butter making process. (Use 1/8 teaspoon culture for any amount of cream, up to 4 gallons.)

Or, you can simply make creme fraiche or sour cream, chill it and proceed from there. (Directions are on the front of the culture packs.)

There's an excellent YouTube video about making cultured butter- http://youtu.be/TFKljYGiIt0, by Rachel Harris at The Promiseland Farm (we did an article about her last year).

In this post, our guest butter maker, Patrick Crouch uses cream from raw cow's milk with buttermilk for his culture:

Patrick has a blog called "Little House on the Urban Prairie." He is an urban farmer and an activist in Detroit, Michigan. He doesn't live the bucolic life most of us dream about, but he has the satisfaction of knowing his work is appreciated by a LOT of people.

He works as the program manager of the oldest organic farm in Detroit- the Capuchin Soup Kitchen's Earthworks Urban Farm. Their mission is to demonstrate organic, sustainable farming methods, while teaching and feeding the community. They have many active outreach programs.

When he isn't working, he and (his wife), "ma" keep bees, garden, can, ferment, cook, make art and travel. He shares a lot about his life in his blog and his pictures are amazing. He says it's a fine life and it certainly appears to be. He doesn't think of himself as living the "lifestyle" of an urban farmer- he's just living...

making cultured butter
By Patrick Crouch at little house on the urban prairie
http://littlehouseontheurbanprairie.wordpress.com/2010/08/22/making-cultured-butter/#comment-1021

for the last few months ma and i have been adding to what seems like a massive amount of dairy in our lives with a cow share from hampshire farms. while it might seem ridiculous for us to buy milk when we can get so much milk from the goat’s at cfa (Catherine Ferguson Academy, a public school for pregnant and parenting teens), we have been dreaming for years of making our own butter. goat milk is naturally homogenized which means trying to get cream from goat milk requires a cream separator, something which would set us back a few hundred dollars. it’s quite a bit cheaper to just buy some raw cow’s milk.

separating the cream from cow’s milk is a pretty simple task as the cream settles to the top quite quickly. most of the time we just suck the cream off with a turkey baster, add some buttermilk and culture it. once it’s sat out at room temperature for 24 hours the cultured cream is quite solid, it can easily be spooned off. you can also let it culture on its own, but you have less control over flavor and it tends to be pretty funky. if you don’t bother with culturing then you have sweet cream butter.

sucking cream off the top

after weeks of culturing, skimming and scooping cream we are left with a good amount of cream.

cash rules everything around me

once all the cream is accumulated it’s time to make butter. we could use some old-fashioned churn, but we were given a kitchen aid when we got married and ma looks for every opportunity to use it, plus sticking a bunch of cream in the kitchen aid and just letting it go is so much easier than a churn. make sure that the cream is cold as is the bowl on the kitchen aid, as it seems to help.

whip it good

the thing i find most challenging in butter making is the wait. it seems to take forever for the cream to turn into butter – so stop fretting, and do something else while you wait, it can take as long as 45 minutes. wash those dishes you have been putting off.

butter forming

once the butter has formed nicely, it’s time to remove the butter milk – the liquid that separates from the solids. we use some cheese cloth or actually i think in this case we are using butter muslin – how appropriate, to drain off the butter milk.

draining the buttermilk

buttermilk drained off the butter

save that buttermilk, it can be used for all kinds of cooking and baking uses. even though the butter looks like it is free of buttermilk there is still some left inside, and if allowed to remain it would mean the butter could turn rancid from too much moisture. so you must wash out the buttermilk with cold water.

wash the butter

the butter is soft and the heat of your hands makes it even softer so throw a few ice cubes in the water to help it stiffen up. massage it in a couple of changes of water and it should be in good shape.

wrapped and finished butter

once it’s done you can put it into molds, should you have any, or just wrap it in wax paper and form into logs. put it in the fridge and it should harden up into nice yellow lovely butter, so good you will want to use it on everything. cultured butter has a more sour flavor, almost cheesy from the culturing. it can be a little shocking if you are not ready for it, but once you are used to it, it’s hard to go back to sweet cream butter.