Mozzarella and a Cheesepress

Here is my Mozzarella!!!! It grated beautifully, and had a nice melt to it.

This even after I tried to mess it up, you see I thought I was making fresh, soft mozzarella. So I tried to do the whole stretching thing and for some reason it just wasn't working... I finally had the DUH! moment.

Then as I was cleaning up and moving the VERY WARM whey from one side of the sink over to the other sides drain board, the bottom of my container hit the divider thingie and I poured VERY WARM whey out over my hand.

I hurried and put it in cool water, but this was right before I had to go milk. I had to take a few breaks while milking so that I could stick my hand into the dogs water bucket.... don't worry i sanitized my hands before continuing to milk.
Not the funnest night.

Was it worth all the trouble? YEP! it's nice and dry and grates really nicely.
I found this recipe on the Junket page. I didn't have any citric acid so I used just a tab over 1/3C lemon juice.

We'll be making a BIG batch tomorrow night as a family activity. Then we'll be taking it in to Oma and Opa's in a couple of days.

I'm going to try out the cheese press Elm just got finished building for me. I've got the bestest Hubby ever!!!!

Isn't she a beauty?

I also have a bigger mold that I got from my brother. It'll be using it for some bigger batches of cheese.

I've been reading up on cheeses. And I will be making some Havarti.... it only takes between 5-14 weeks to age, where as the cheddar is 6 months and the Parmesan is 9 months. I'll be making those too. but I can't wait that long before eating some of my cheese.

Kefir Blueberry Cream Cheese

I have been making Kefir lately, just learning how to do it. I have tried it with goats milk -smooth yogurty texture. Low pasteurized Holstein milk -smooth yogurty texture. Raw skimmed Jersey milk -grainy, cultured buttermilk like texture.
So what to do with my Kefir now that we have our Matilde? I took out the grains and then hung the Kefir in a cheese cloth.
I then added honey, a bit of sea salt and some blueberries (all I had was some fruit naturals, which I drained and used). Mixed it up and put it on a toasted bagel.
Can you say Yum?!!?
So very easy and so very good.
If you tried it, let me know what you think.
Rhiannon LOVED her piece of bagel.... she only left one bite.