Cheeeeeese, Gromit

I first got interested in cheese-making when I read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver back when we were still in Portland, so atleast two years ago. It's such a lovely book and was my first real eye-opening glimpse into the world of industrialized food and what it takes to escape the system. A whole new world opened up to me as I read through those chapters. Asparagus is a perennial, modern breeds of turkeys can't have sex, and, wonder of wonders, you can make cheese in your own home. When I read the chapter on cheese-making, I practically drooled onto the book, I was so excited. I am a sucker for do-it-yourself projects and how absolutely cool would it be to make your own cheese!!

I promptly stirred up a batch of ricotta cheese, pronounced it absolutely delicious and visited the website of the cheese-making supply shop she notes in the book. (www.cheesemaking.com) I ordered the culture and the rennet to make mozzarella cheese and waited with bated breath for it to arrive. Unfortunately, when it arrived, it was the wrong culture. There are mesophilic and thermophilic cultures and mozzarella needs the thermophilic culture. I got mesophilic, for some unknown reason. I guess I mis-read the recipe. Whatever the reason, mesophilic is mostly used for aged cheeses - cheddars, goudas, etc. and me being without a handy-dandy cheese cave, those cheeses weren't really going to be easy for me to make as a beginner. You can also make cream cheese and cottage cheese with mesophilic culture and for the life of me, I can't figure out why I didn't try one of these cheese. But I didn't. And the cultures and rennet sat in my fridge until we left Portland, when I carted them down here to S.F. and promptly stuffed them in the back of the fridge down here and forgot about it again. Like I've said before, I am excellent at starting new projects; not so good at finishing them. I moved on to other things, and no cheese beyond ricotta was ever made.

Fast forward to last week, when I picked up a book called "Hayfever" at the library. It's about a literary agent from New York City who purchased a farm in Vermont with her husband and started making award-winning goat cheese. I am an absolute sucker for these back-to-the-farm, make your own cheese, grow your own food type books and this one has not disappointed me so far. It's interesting to read about caring for the goats, and the milking process and the making and selling of the cheese. But most of all, it's really got me thinking about making my own cheese again. And, hey - I already have culture and rennet, right? Nope. Apparently in our move from first apartment to second I either decided that I was never going to make my own cheese and tossed them both out, or I have stored them so well in this apartment that I just can't find them.  So I got back onto that cheesemaking site tonight and placed my order for all the goods to make cream cheese and mozzarella. I figure if those two go okay and I like making cheese (which I fully expect to after my ricotta experiences), I might invest in a little mini-fridge as a cheese cave and start in on some cheddars and provolones. Mmmmm. I love cheese.

It should take a week or so for the supplies to arrive but then it's cheese - here I come. I'll keep you updated on the cheesey status! Here's hoping I don't lose focus this time.