Have you made cheese?

The package said mozzarella in 30 minutes. Reality was, mozzarella in 75 minutes with another 15minutes of working with the whey to get a small tub of ricotta. But it was fun. And we will be doing it again. Soon.

We started by cleaning our glass jars and heading over to the dairy to gather fresh milk. The smell brought me back to childhood. My parents had friends who family owned a dairy. Besides the typical cow smell, walking into the actual dairy was a blast from 1981. There is no real way for me to describe that smell, but I'm pretty sure there is no other smell like it on earth. The kids thought it was one of the most offensive they had ever smelled. I was hoping the farmer wouldn't walk in while they were holding their noses and nearly gagging, while over and over telling each other how much the building stunk.

The dairy is a small operation, I didn't count, but my guess is less than 50 cows. I was surprised at how small the tank was. We were scooping, yes scooping, out of the tank.

The room had the obligatory money box for the milk. The box was labeled 'milk for dogs and pigs $2 per gallon'. Which provided a great opportunity for the Miss I and me to have an honest conversation about rules and laws. Why the farmer couldn't legally sell unpasteurized milk for human consumption. Why we have so many mindless laws. Why people don't think for themselves. And why we must.

So back to cheese...the mozzarella turned out great (my husband needed the camera for work, so we have no pictures of the process), very tasty and a great consistency. We made pizza dough that afternoon and ate pizza for dinner. I think we will do a lasagna this weekend and use the ricotta in that. The next time we will get a couple of gallons and do a bigger batch since the kitchen is consumed in milk and whey.

Both the kids had soccer practice and games this week. Miss I's game was Wednesday with the win going to her team. And, Little A had his first game tonight. He was so excited to have a real soccer uniform. He got up early this morning and put it on, he wore it all day. I think he would have worn it to bed if I hadn't objected. Watching the mass of little bodies chase after the green soccer ball was pretty comical. They were a clump of five and six year old's, going every which way, not knowing any better. Miss I has another game tomorrow evening after choir practice.
The joys of fall.