home made food

The daily cheese making has been tremendous. I have sour things fermenting and bubbling all over the counter. The sourdough starter to the right of the window. The Kombucha starters to the left. A small batch of yoghurt ripening on the window sill. A batch or fresh goat cheese dripping whet into a bowl by the stove. This is the life. Dairy products bought this past week $0. value of home made goodness $ untold millions. All thanks to these ladies below. Mostly Iris as we milk her but by next year brie will be old enough to contribute. 

The two kinds of cheese we have been making: 

Soft and crumble

We make the soft by 1st strain the milk through a filter ( double layer cheese cloth) THe is remover the hair and stuff from the milking process. 

next (2nd step) pour milk into a shallow pot. Heat on low for a few minutes until it is hot to the touch but not bubbling. 3rd add an acid about 3 T per 1/2 gallon works for me but depends on the acidity of the acid you use. We use white wine vinegar or kombucha. Any vinegar should work, we used red wine vinegar but the flavor was not as delightful. This will separate the curd from the whey as you stir it in. Lastly (4th), strain the contents of the pan through a cheese cloth ( clean section). We bought all cotton white mesh from the fabric store. This option is less expensive and offers a tighter weave fabric. 

the crumble cheese is done exactly the same way except raise the temperature to almost a simmer (stir to avid burning) The high temperature creates a harder cheese that crumbles after being strained and drained. 

In both cases salt to taste. We usually add herbs, garlic and or salt and fold/cut them in ( cooking term for mix them in) The whey can be used for baking in place of water. 

stove install: tiny timber house

The Gas stove is working. After numerous failed attempts to get the stove working and a small explosion that removed all the hair from my hand a quick trip to Dade Gas has the stove working. Turns out in addition to the regulator that came with the stove we also needed another regulator.
With the stove cranking out BTUs we woke early this weekend and headed straight to the farm to cook breakfast. The day proved much more relaxing and productive with food in the garden, herbs on the hill, and a stove to cook it all on. Breakfast rolled into lunch and the stove made good progress not only in feeding us but also in warming the tiny timber house. Here are some pictures of the cooking and the food.