Say Cheese!

I spent my weekend learning to make cheese. Or at least making a big mess in my kitchen and pretending to make cheese. Since I had never done this before, I really had no clue what I was doing and I didn't find the instructions real helpful. My first batch I turned into cottage cheese, except it is tasteless and not at all creamy. So my second batch I did more experimenting and finally got some curds to press.

I turned the curds into cheesecloth in this little basket.

Then I put a wooden disk on top and then a little Tupperware bowl upside down on top of that.

Then I added a board and on top of that two bricks in a yellow plastic bag and then a set of ankle weights on top of that. Strictly low tech all the way.

I bought a cheesemaking kit and decided I wasn't going to spend anymore money until I knew I could make something that tasted like cheese. I really wanted to make cheddar which is our favorite, so that's what I did. Only now it has to age for 6 months. So I won;t really know if this was worthwhile until then. Hmmmm! What's wrong with this picture? Besides a misshapen piece of cheese.

Since Wisconsin is cheeseland, I have to wonder what I was thinking when I started this little project. I think I better stick to quilting.