Cheese! Gromit! Cheese!

Cheese! Gromit! Cheese!

So, do you recall the cheese press I made a couple of weeks ago? The picture there shows our first batch of hard cheese being pressed and yesterday we busted it open after its obligatory 2 week aging period and I was really impressed. I’m not sure I can say it is akin to any particular cheese, but I suppose it is somewhat close to a cheddar or a jack with a very slight hint of a cream cheese taste plus the subtle addition of flavors unique to cheese made with goat’s milk.

We basically followed professor Fankhauser’s recipe for “Basic Hard Cheese” and we allowed it to form its own rind – which I think adds a nice touch to the cheese as I enjoy eating that as well. This was our first test of the method and I count it a rousing success. Thankfully this success buffers the less successful garden that seems to just about be finished.

We’ve been getting a fair amount of rain and cool temperatures in the last week. And on Saturday we had our first official windstorm – though pretty mild compared to what we’ve experienced before, it did knock out power in some places. Our tomato tent did just fine (had a little plastic come loose), but the corn outside didn’t fair very well. However, I think the corn had run out of time anyway and so I don’t think we ever would have seen a harvest from it anyway...sadly. The coming winter will be spent in evaluating this year and planning for next. There will be no long day of canning and freezing this fall….alas. We must consider what will produce better results next year - an earlier start for sure – but if weather doesn’t cooperate what can one do? I think our wet August really stunted everything; even our wild blackberries seemed to go from ripe to molding slush in a period of a couple days (so no wine this year). Fall seems to be utterly upon us as the little windstorm announced on Saturday…expect to see me in the woodshed quite a bit this month – chopping and stacking.

But, on the bright side, we do have our cheese now. We must make more. I’d like to see a continuous line of cheeses aging in our fridge, including at least one brick that is chock-full of jalepenos!