My first batch of mozzarella was fail. Well, partial fail. Well, total fail in making mozzarella but not fail in making something edible that tasted good. It was a texture fail. First batch I got crumbly non-stretchy curds with no meltability. Boooo. But they were still delicious. I munched on them kind of like popcorn, and top dressed my nacho cheese with them.
Then yesterday on take two I got actual real, honest to goodness, melty, stretchy, "peely aparty like string cheese" mozzarella!!!
It's awesome. I'm so delighted.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Oh, also... I started working as a ChaCha guide.
This has been eating up a little of my time, and earning me a little money as well.
ChaCha is one of those "text a question and get an answer" places. They pay real live people to answer these questions. I get a whopping $.02 per question answered. Yes, you read that right, 2 cents an answer. So this isn't something you can make a living at, but heck, if you are just sitting around on your computer with nothing to do for a few minutes and you can make 20 cents.... why not? I've made like $10 so far, and I have fun doing it. I haven't spent a lot of time doing it, too busy doing goat cheese and stuff, but if anyone is interested in looking in to it you can check it out here:
http://becomeaguide.chacha.com/
If you sign up, list my email address (I used the email warpwny@hotmail.com to sign up, so that would be the one to use if you decide to look in to it) as referring you and I get a tiny little bonus (I think it is like 10% bonus of what you earn. I'm earning money for my horsie-goatie friend, Epona, when I work my ChaCha, lol).
Here is the thing, though, if you are easily offended or shocked, you might want to pass on this. My VERY first question was "How many penises have you seen in your life?" *cough* You need to be able to handle those kinds of questions gracefully and with humour. If you can do that, this can be a really fun way to spend some time and make a bit of change.
ChaCha is one of those "text a question and get an answer" places. They pay real live people to answer these questions. I get a whopping $.02 per question answered. Yes, you read that right, 2 cents an answer. So this isn't something you can make a living at, but heck, if you are just sitting around on your computer with nothing to do for a few minutes and you can make 20 cents.... why not? I've made like $10 so far, and I have fun doing it. I haven't spent a lot of time doing it, too busy doing goat cheese and stuff, but if anyone is interested in looking in to it you can check it out here:
http://becomeaguide.chacha.com/
If you sign up, list my email address (I used the email warpwny@hotmail.com to sign up, so that would be the one to use if you decide to look in to it) as referring you and I get a tiny little bonus (I think it is like 10% bonus of what you earn. I'm earning money for my horsie-goatie friend, Epona, when I work my ChaCha, lol).
Here is the thing, though, if you are easily offended or shocked, you might want to pass on this. My VERY first question was "How many penises have you seen in your life?" *cough* You need to be able to handle those kinds of questions gracefully and with humour. If you can do that, this can be a really fun way to spend some time and make a bit of change.
Cheeeeese.
I've been busy and/or lazy the last week or so. I have the does on a daily milking schedule. I started out taking them out of the nursery stall for two or three hours, then increased it by an hour or so each day.. I already posted our first day's milk. Yesterday they reached 10 hours (that is as long as i plan to keep them apart before I milk them) and I got enough milk to fill a 2 liter bottle. Wheee!!!!!!
So, this past weekend I made a batch of chevre cheese. I used a kit I got from New England Cheesemaking Supply. Super easy. Get milk to temp, mix in culture, let sit overnight, dump into cheese cloth and hang over night to drip out whey, done. And DELICIOUS. Like a rich tangy cream cheese. I spiced some up with a salt free garlic and herb mix and Tsu went totally nuts over it. YAY!
I have also been saving our store bought milk each time we have leer in a jug when it hits the sell by date I bag it, tag it and stuff it in the freezer. I bought a gallon of whole milk on sale, mixed it in with the frozen stuff and used this recipe to make some Farmer's cheese. I added a tad bit of salt, froze some to make chip dip with later, mixed some garlic and chives in some to use on potatoes or sandwiches and left some plain.
*drool*
SOOO delicious. For a cheese lover like me this is pure bliss!
Anyway, after tonight's milking I will have enough milk to make my first batch of mozzarella. I can't wait. I'm so excited. And if I screw it up, I will have enough milk to try again in two days!!!
So, this past weekend I made a batch of chevre cheese. I used a kit I got from New England Cheesemaking Supply. Super easy. Get milk to temp, mix in culture, let sit overnight, dump into cheese cloth and hang over night to drip out whey, done. And DELICIOUS. Like a rich tangy cream cheese. I spiced some up with a salt free garlic and herb mix and Tsu went totally nuts over it. YAY!
I have also been saving our store bought milk each time we have leer in a jug when it hits the sell by date I bag it, tag it and stuff it in the freezer. I bought a gallon of whole milk on sale, mixed it in with the frozen stuff and used this recipe to make some Farmer's cheese. I added a tad bit of salt, froze some to make chip dip with later, mixed some garlic and chives in some to use on potatoes or sandwiches and left some plain.
*drool*
SOOO delicious. For a cheese lover like me this is pure bliss!
Anyway, after tonight's milking I will have enough milk to make my first batch of mozzarella. I can't wait. I'm so excited. And if I screw it up, I will have enough milk to try again in two days!!!
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