Busy day

[Green Aura]

I'll start off with a quick moan. I've re-opened my Green Aura shop. I now sell anything I can make - knitted, crocheted, sewn etc. The moan part is that, given the layout of this building, I actually have to go to work and have no time in the house during the day so most of my Ish things aren't getting done. Moan over.

Today I decided that instead of sitting in the shop knitting I would catch up with a few bits. So I didn't open the shop and have stayed in my kitchen.

I turned a gallon of milk into a simple rennet cheese. Once it's finished draining and has air-dried for a day or two I'll split it into three and make three different cheeses with it - not sure what yet. I've got a splendid new cheesemaking book which I'll do a review of when I've seen how this turns out. I'm rather excited about it because the author doesn't use bought-in cultures, he uses kefir or yoghurt as bases but then turns them into all sorts of cheeses from paneer to cheddar! Very me.

In between waiting for the milk to warm/culture/curd etc I made 5 lbs of ploughman's pickle. Well you can't have cheese without pickle, can you. Unfortunately I can't eat ordinary chutneys because of the sugar content so I've devised a sugar free version, using xylitol instead. Obviously it needs to mature but we did sneak a slice of low carb bread, T$sco organic cheddar and some chutney straight out of the pan. Very promising.

So, moaning aside, I've had a very good day.

[Cassiepod]

That sounds like a good day! I'm the opposite days in the office are frustratingly unproductive... except for my tomatoes on the windowledge but when I'm at home I get paid work done and things around the house/garden too. I finished putting up 2 shelves up in the back porch and stacked them whilst waiting for various files to process yesterday soooo much happier!

[Odsox]

I'm just the opposite. It's my first day of freedom to do what I want in 2 months and I have decided to have a bit of a lazy day.
Having said that I do have to pick the ripe apricots, tomatoes for processing, plus strawberries and blackberries for freezing, which although sounds a lot, in reality should take less than an hour.

Good luck with the cheese, that's something I've always wanted to try. I missed my chance when our next door neighbour farmer gave up her dairy herd. Before that I could have any amount of raw milk, now I have to buy it in shops like everyone else.

[Green Aura]

when I'm at home I get paid work done and things around the house/garden too

I used to as well, Cassiepod. We live in a very long, single storey building with the shop at one end and the kitchen at the other. When GA mark 1 was open I often left it unattended and did stuff in the house. Folks would ring the bell or even just leave the money. That was OK when it was just a bar of soap or a lip balm - I'd often hear a shout and find a pile of coins on the counter.

It's a bit different now. My current shop is full of items that have taken me days, or weeks in some instances, to make so a lot of it is card transactions, not piles of silver.

On top of that we altered the internal layout of the house to give our daughter a sort of apartment, which is great but where I used to be able to see straight down the hallway to the shop, that's all now blocked off. It's easier just to stay down that end.
Still, we have a laugh because my OH comes and collects me from work every day! His office is just off the kitchen.

Before that I could have any amount of raw milk, now I have to buy it in shops like everyone else.

That's the great thing about this book, Tony. Although he recommends using raw milk, culturing the milk with kefir helps restore it somewhat, so I just used supermarket milk - organic but just ordinary whole milk.

I've salted it today and it tastes lovely (a little might have slipped into my mouth accidentally). So now it's draining again and then tomorrow will be taken out of the moulds to air-dry and then I'll finally decide what to do with each piece. And I've just boiled up the whey and made ricotta, which is now draining through cheesecloth. I'll save some of the whey to form a brine for washing one of the cheeses. The rest may well end up being tomato feed, because I can't think what else to do with about 2 litres of the stuff!

[MKG]

Glad to hear you're back in business, GA. I was wondering how you spent all 36 hours of the day without it.

[Green Aura]

Much more productively, apparently, MKG!

[Green Aura]

The cheeses are progressing nicely. One was salted on the outside and left to air-dry. That's developed an almost rubbery texture - sort of gouda-esque texture. A teeny taste promises well.
The other two were crumbled and salted then re-pressed. These are much softer. One has been "washed" with the whey from draining kefir and the other with villi yoghurt whey. We wait to see what, if any difference that will have.
I feel like a kid with a chemistry set.

[Flo]

I feel like a kid with a chemistry set.

You know a cheese maker with a chemistry set doesn't appeal to my taste buds Hope you don't mind me saying like.

[Green Aura]