This is our journal of what we pray is our sojourn of life (Hebrews 11:8-10) along the narrow way (Matthew 7:14), even the old paths (Jeremiah 6:16), submitting to the Bible as a light unto both (Psalms 119:105). It is our prayer that these documented moments in our earthly time benefit whom God might choose to edify, but ultimately that God glorifies Himself through them.

Month: February 2010

The Blog Days of Winter

This Winter has gone on a bit longer than usual, at least from what we’ve experienced in our time here so far; and it’s also been wetter and colder than normal. With that continuing, yesterday, the Lord brought a decent amount of the “white stuff” to the land.

This was how things were first thing in the morning:


And this is how it was in the early afternoon:


We once again thank God for His mercies in the weather, the provisions of warmth and shelter He has allowed us, and for the provisions of the moisture for the ground.

— David

 

Nessa Makes a Mess-a

We still haven’t been able to figure out what she’s trying to get at here; but Nessa, one of our Border Collies, loves mud puddles:


We’ve been trying to think of ways to harness this to our advantage here in agrarian-land. Maybe she’s a new kind of post hole digger. Or maybe we could put her over a bucket of dirty clothes that are soaking; and she could be a fancy, automated laundry agitator.

Anyone out there have any other suggestions? 🙂

— David

 

Farmer’s (Goat) Cheese aka Neufchatel

I just finished eating a few crackers topped with my first (successful) attempt at Farmer’s Cheese, a soft “cream” type cheese.

A neighbor said she had made some Farmer’s cheese with the inexpensive Junket rennet tablets found in the local grocery store, so I thought I would try that first. An online cheese making blog said not to use Junket rennet because it is not the same as cheese rennet. But it was here and within my budget, so it was cheese rennet to me! 🙂

Goat Milk Cheese Rennet

My “first” first attempt was a bust, using the original recipe from the Junket instructions. Not to say it doesn’t work, but that my attempt didn’t work. The recipe calls for buttermilk, which I didn’t have; so I looked online and found you can substitute with milk and lemon juice. So I did that, along with adding 1/4 tablet of rennet dissolved in a little water. In hindsight, I don’t think the combination of those was enough to coagulate the milk. I heated the milk to 65 degrees F according to the recipe, added the “buttermilk” and rennet, and left the covered pot out overnight per the instructions. It was supposed to solidify overnight; but it just never did, even after I left it another 12+ hours. So that went to the chickens.

My next attempt was a conglomeration of a couple of recipes. This time I heated two quarts of our raw goat milk to just below boiling, and added two generous tablespoons of white vinegar (one per quart) and 1/2 tablet of the Junket rennet dissolved in a little water. Since this was previously frozen milk, it was a bit watery; so I decided to err on the side of caution and add too much vinegar and rennet rather than too little. The last thing I wanted was to ruin another batch:

Goat Milk Cheese Milk Heating

I whisked it all together, covered the pot, and hoped for the best. Well, this time it started to coagulate much more quickly, which gave me hope. By the next day, it was not as solid as I imagine a really good cheese probably would be; but it was close enough!

Goat Milk Cheese Milk Whisking

According to the recipe, the cheese is ready when you can poke your finger in and lift the top, gelled layer cleanly from the lower, liquid layer:

Goat Milk Cheese Curds

Then, you are supposed to cut it into 1/2 to 1 inch cubes in order to assist with the “draining of the whey” (sounds like a ceremony). The instructions call for the first cut starting down the middle, holding the knife at a 90 degree angle, and then each subsequent cut tilting the knife a little until you get to 45 degrees by the time you reach the side of the pot. You turn the pot 1/4 turn, and repeat the process, which eventually makes a grid of curd cubes. I forgot to tilt the knife as I cut — oh, well. But, it came out okay anyway:

Goat Milk Cheese Cutting Curds in Pot

Then, I spooned out the cubes of curds into a handkerchief-lined strainer with a bowl underneath to catch the whey drippings. They say to use cheesecloth, but it just seemed too loose of a mesh, and the handkerchief worked very well for this type of cheese:

Goat Milk Cheese Spooning to Handkerchief

Here it is all spooned into the strainer. You can’t tell here, but it’s draining like crazy underneath:

Goat Milk Cheese Whey Draining

Quite a bit of whey drained quickly, but it takes 2-3 hours to fully drain:

Goat Milk Cheese Whey

Here are the curds with the majority of the whey drained. Pretty cool, huh?!

Goat Milk Cheese Curds with Whey Drained

After the main draining, I hung up the handkerchief to draw out the rest of the whey with the help of a bit longer exposure to gravity:

Goat Milk Cheese Curds Drip Draining

Well, this looked like it might resemble Farmer’s, or some kind of cheese, and not too much like a train wreck:

Goat Milk Cheese

So I seasoned it with a little salt, garlic and onion powder, spooned it into a container and put it in the refrigerator overnight. Using two quarts of milk is supposed to make approximately 3/4 lbs. of cheese, and this looked about right:

Goat Milk Cheese Storage

I’m very pleased with the mild, seasoned taste. It has been too easy to eat a lot of crackers topped with the cheese at one sitting! But I’d rather have to combat will power than have to hold my nose closed and gag it down 🙂

Goat Milk Cheese on Crackers

All of our does have dried up in preparation to deliver more kids in the Spring, if the Lord wills; so this was my last opportunity to attempt making goat cheese until then; and I’m very thankful it turned out. I’m excited (and not as scared) at the future possibilities! What a great way to preserve milk; and we are, as always, very thankful for God’s direct provisions. Believe me, I know I probably could have done this much better and more “properly;” but, hey, it worked for me; and it’s food! I hope to continue to improve with more practice and maybe somebody out there can learn from my mistakes. Bon appetit!

Susan