(no subject)
Still hiding under a rock, but at least the manic workload pressure is off. Now there is only regular work, car shopping, house re-org, and holiday prep stuff. I expect to start enjoying a life again Dec. 25th. ;P Which will be awesome, because I have those 10 days off and free to goof off...
Last night I made homemade Ricotta cheese from scratch (Ok, so I didn't milk the cow...). I didn't have a proper slotted spoon, so I drained it longer than called for, to get out the excess whey the spoon left in, and in the end it was a drier than normal ricotta, more like a goat cheese consistency. But really delicate in flavor and WOW.
I then made lasagna with the cheese. Overall some tweaks can be made, but -- success! Next project: Mozzarella. I already have the milk for one batch.
Sherman's Market recently opened, and carries very local, not-Ultra-Pasteurized milk. Still, it makes for pricey cheese -- appx. $7-8 a gallon (!!) makes 12oz. of mozzarella or 15oz. of Ricotta. (Not including the cost of the cheese-making kit, which will be nominal after a dozen batches.) They do have great prices on local eggs: $2.50 vs. $7 at the Union Sq. farmer's market a few months back. Bread & specialty meat prices seemed reasonable.
I may stick to store-bought milk for Ricotta since it is usually mixed into another dish anyway. I might try a batch of local milk and one with store bought for Mozzarella, to check for taste difference. If I prefer local, I may shop around for cheaper local milk elsewhere, but it is nice to have it available nearby now.
I also started my first batch of white wine vinegar. The directions say it takes 3-6 months, which is no fun, so I'm planning to make some sped-up infusions with store-bought red wine vinegar in the meantime.
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Basically, after my brains imploded trying to make car decisions this weekend, I went back to small projects I could handle, to cap off the weekend. It helped. :) I feel like something useful was accomplished, even if the bigger projects are still ongoing.
Last night I made homemade Ricotta cheese from scratch (Ok, so I didn't milk the cow...). I didn't have a proper slotted spoon, so I drained it longer than called for, to get out the excess whey the spoon left in, and in the end it was a drier than normal ricotta, more like a goat cheese consistency. But really delicate in flavor and WOW.
I then made lasagna with the cheese. Overall some tweaks can be made, but -- success! Next project: Mozzarella. I already have the milk for one batch.
Sherman's Market recently opened, and carries very local, not-Ultra-Pasteurized milk. Still, it makes for pricey cheese -- appx. $7-8 a gallon (!!) makes 12oz. of mozzarella or 15oz. of Ricotta. (Not including the cost of the cheese-making kit, which will be nominal after a dozen batches.) They do have great prices on local eggs: $2.50 vs. $7 at the Union Sq. farmer's market a few months back. Bread & specialty meat prices seemed reasonable.
I may stick to store-bought milk for Ricotta since it is usually mixed into another dish anyway. I might try a batch of local milk and one with store bought for Mozzarella, to check for taste difference. If I prefer local, I may shop around for cheaper local milk elsewhere, but it is nice to have it available nearby now.
I also started my first batch of white wine vinegar. The directions say it takes 3-6 months, which is no fun, so I'm planning to make some sped-up infusions with store-bought red wine vinegar in the meantime.
~~~~~~~~
Basically, after my brains imploded trying to make car decisions this weekend, I went back to small projects I could handle, to cap off the weekend. It helped. :) I feel like something useful was accomplished, even if the bigger projects are still ongoing.