Making Cheese...

I have been making simple, soft cheeses for a few years now... They are good for dips and I even make a good substitute for ricotta in a lasagna, but  I have never made a hard cheese.  I needed a press and didn't have one so  this year for Christmas my awesome husband made me one for a gift!
So I decided to try my hand at making a "farmer style" cheddar cheese.
This is my attempt with pictures.... Enjoy!

First I needed to warm the 2 gallons of milk and keep it at the correct temp.

Next was to separate the curds and whey..
I used Rennet and got a decent separation... then I had to continue to keep the heat steady to let it set for 45 mins.  That was done in the sink where I kept adding hot water to keep the temperature steady.

 This is just after separating... and the next pictures are after it set in the sink for the 45 mins, with the constant warmth helping the curds to firm up and the whey to continue to separate.

So, now I had to drain the curds out of the whey and put it in the cheese cloth for around 10 mins to drain it... This is what the cheese colander looked like getting ready to pour the curds in for a quick press..

 This is the set up in my sink for the whole process... see the pot in the warm water and the colander ready to receive that yummy goodness known as curds!

 This is the curds hanging over my sink to drain and dry out... I had to do this for around 10 to 15 mins to ready it for the press... and yes I do have a hook over my sink to hang cheese cloth when I am making cheese!  It is so handy!

 First Press of the curds with 10lbs of weight... this was for 10 mins! then you flip the curds and press it again for 10 mins with 20lbs of weight...

 Does this look yummy?  LOL... probably not to you but I love it!  all that squeaky cheese curds! YUM!  This is tricky to flip over and re-wrap in your cheese cloth... but I did manage!

 This is what I had to do to get the 20 lbs of pressure...  I didn't take a picture of the next one... it was 50lbs for 12 hours... I used a huge cinder-block and all the stuff you see here.. it was kinda funny... My husband was like" hey boys...get your mom a cinder-block from outside so she can cook."  Hmmm, Cinder-block cheese!?..

 this is what it looked like after 12 hours of 50lbs of pressure... it is now getting a crust and will be waxed to set for a few months... Should be interesting... I will let you all know how it turns out, but this is not for the impatient it will be a long while before I get to taste it!

Hope you enjoyed my first ever hard cheese experience ... I want to do this again!  It was so much FUN!  Let me know what you think and I will let you know if I try to do this again... and how it tastes!  Have a great day!

Valentines Day....

I have mixed thoughts about Valentines Day.  I know it comes from a very racy background in the Pagan religion and I know it was messed in with the Catholic church to help assimilate pagans converts.  That being said, it is in a great time of the year in my reasoning... It is getting dull and everyday in the winter after the big holiday season.  Then comes Valentine's day... some young/(maybe older too... but young ones share SO MUCH on facebook that I see their posts about being lonely on Valentine's day) lament about being lonely on Valentine's day.  In my reasoning, this holiday is just an excuse to remember to tell those around you that you LOVE them...

For that reason I like the holiday.... life gets busy and we often forget to say I LOVE YOU!  I am blessed that my dad died 3 days after Valentines day.  Blessed, yep, you see I got to give him some yellow roses on that day set aside to remember love.  I didn't often stop in unexpectedly to see my dad, but that day I picked up roses and stopped by to see him.  It was a quick stop, but it did mean a lot to him.  Turns out it meant more to me... when you lose someone, I think there is always a little bit of guilt or wishes for a "do over" to say you love them (my dad died unexpectedly, this may not be the case of someone who knows they are passing on)  So when I got the call, the days after I was able to remember I stopped by, with those yellow roses and he knew that I loved him.  I know he knew that I loved him, but it eased my broken heart that it was just a couple days earlier that I was able to show him that I loved him.  It was a gift for me, much more then a gift for him.
So for that reason, I love Valentine's day and hope to remember to let those closest to me that I love them, I take a bit of time out of my schedule, set it aside and say... I love you!  This year I am making goodies for my mom, my boys and my husband.  I am working on little homemade treats to make just to say I love you!  A card works just as well,  or a note or a poem... It is not the cost it is truly the thought, the heart... those flowers for my dad were from a corner vendor... cheap, drooped in a day or two... it made his day!  Take a moment to say I love you to those whom you care about this Valentines day.. No one is too busy to make a call or send a card!
You never know it could be the best gift you ever gave yourself!

On the practical side, I am making chocolate covered pretzels, sugared fruit rind candies, peanut butter spread and Victorian cards for my family... I am making pink and chocolate chip waffles for breakfast and some Amish friendship bread (chocolate with some peanut butter spread) for some friends.  Nothing much... but sure to let them know I thought of them!