Rathbone - Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder - NOT!
My three day weekend was thoroughly wonderful. We didn't go anywhere; We didn't have anyone over; in fact nothing terribly out of the ordinary happened. But I got to be with my family. And it left me feeling so satisfied and at peace.
We live in a river town. People from bigger cities hook up their boats and come here to "Chillax". So on any given holiday you will not find me at the river or out on the town. We stay at home where things are nice and quiet. (if ever I could describe life at home with my sons as quiet)
One of the things on my goal list was to learn to make cheese. However, also on my goal list is not to make unneccessary purchases or be wasteful. Serendipitously, as I was leaving work on Friday I checked the student refridgerator and found two full gallons of whole milk that would go bad before the weekend was over. And you know what I saw when I looked at them...
free cheese.
So this weekend I learned to make cheese. I didn't attempt any of the complicated recipes I had found, nor did I try anything that called for rennet (not available here - I will have to order it online). I looked over some online recipes and decided on three things: Fromage Blanc which required buttermilk and lemon juice, Labneh which required yoghurt and lemon juice and also Queso Fresco which required only vinegar. One thing you will notice about the three recipes is that they require basically the same ingredients and they all have fancy foreign names. My reasoning was that I would make up the cheese, put it into pretty little squat canning jars and give it as a gift to different friends. If the cheeses weren't too terribly good - why they would look at the label and say "oh my,
fromage blanc, lovely french cheese - it must be good".
The truth is, the cheese was delicious. So delicious that my husband and sons ate far more than I had thought possible. Still I was able to give away three jars to friends who all said it was lovely although I am sure they were swayed by the fancy schmancy names.
Making the cheese was fun. I think the most interesting part is that all the cheeses turned out remarkably alike. I shouldn't have been surprised since the methods and ingredients were so similar.
I really want to learn how to do this.
