Rain's Back

Rain's Back

Woke up to pouring rain this morning. Looks to be an ugly day - hopefully not the full-on calling card of November on the horizon. 1/4 inch of rain already at 10am and the weather report says heavier rain on the way. Yuck. Our garden was JUST really starting to yield its bounty...as were the local wild blackberries. Crossing my fingers that this is just a temporary respite of the September sun.

I've been trying my hand at Cheesemaking. Charissa and I made a big batch of Mozzarella and Ricotta while Susan was sitting for some friends who were attending the St. Elizabeth's Inquirer class. I REALLY enjoyed it, and it occurred to me how similar lab work is to cheesemaking (beer and wine making as well). I think I might have a knack for this sort of cooking - surely far more of a knack than "regular" cooking, for which I have little skill or natural inclination. It also occurred to me that I could really see myself doing this sort of thing for a living...early retirement on the horizon?

Anyway the cheese turned out great and I am devoted to trying more. Today I am going to make our first cheese press and in the long term I want to consider honing our skills and just see what happens. A great deal is involved in becoming a certified dairy/creamery and we are a long way from that...but for now we are happy to be providing all of our own cheeses (you should taste Susan's newest batch of feta!) since while our appetite for cheese has remained unchanged, the price of cheese has most certainly not!

More on cheesemaking later...including the SCIENCE of it!