I like to make things with my own hands, from scratch, in all 4 food groups.
I have my sourdough starter alive for 4+ years and have made hundreds of loaves of awesome bread from it as well as a ton over regular yeast breads.
All summer long my garden provides copious amounts of fruits and vegetables for the family. I can and pickle.
In the fall I hunt and put venison in the freezer to last us the year.
I built my own chicken coop and I am now getting daily eggs that taste amazing.
So today I added something to the repertoire. Today, for the first time, I made cheese. Mozzarella Cheese.
I am very happy with the results.
I tried to make some last night but the milk wouldn’t set. Even though it said pasteurized, clearly it had been ultra-pasteurized which makes the milk unsuitable for cheese. So first thing this morning, I tried another batch with another brand of milk and success!!
I think it is important to know how to do the things that our culture has forgotten. We should all, to the degree we are able, should know how to provide for ourselves.
October 18, 2013 at 7:20 pm
the green-eyed monster here….our back yard is only a teeny bit larger than your chicken coop….
October 18, 2013 at 8:06 pm
Aren't you the guy who was just complaining about lazy chickens?
October 18, 2013 at 9:11 pm
Have you tried chevre cheese? Its supposed to be an amazingly simple goat cheese to make. And it is the most delicious thing I have ever eaten in my freakin LIFE.
October 18, 2013 at 9:32 pm
Cool! I make paneer occasionally – easy peasy with milk and buttermilk. You don't play with it, though. Mozzarella sounds like more fun.
October 18, 2013 at 11:30 pm
I read at the Weston A Price foundation that ultra-pasteurized milk doesn't even need to be refrigerated before it's opened but since people would think that weird it goes in the refrigerators anyways (just for marketing purposes).
October 19, 2013 at 5:35 am
Keeping rocking it, Patrick. Next time someone complains about your ideas/principles, please have an extra long slice of homemade mozzarella and remember who is really getting the most out of life.
October 19, 2013 at 11:21 pm
Oh, now you're talkin. 🙂
Prep prep prep tastes better with cheese. :)?
October 19, 2013 at 11:51 pm
Patrick, you are totally on target with your back to basics approach. The younger generations are becoming more and more dependent on technology. When it fails .. and it will in storms or power outages .. they need to know how to survive.
Cecelia, you are right. Ultra-pasteurized milk requires no refrigeration. The first time I saw milk cartons sitting on a shop floor, unrefrigerated, was about 40 years ago in Italy. The Italian company Parmalat first introduced this to the US about 20 years ago. They packaged it in a 3 pack and placed it on the shelves alongside the juice packs. It did not sell. Placing ultra pasteurized milk in the refrigerator cases of the Dairy aisle, worked.
October 20, 2013 at 10:02 pm
Fresh eggs need no refrigeration either. The bloom on the outside keeps them good on the shelf for months. Just had a rainy weekend and eggs are muddy but will wait to wash them till I use them. Received a long email from the head of egg supplier for Gordon Foods in GR. She agreed that the Europeans don't refrigerate eggs and don't mind buying them a little dirty. If you wash them they will need to be chilled.
October 21, 2013 at 8:49 pm
As people outside the United States can attest, the best cheeses are made from unpasteurized milk. Here at home, where we almost never reconsider legislation, once passed, there is a knee-jerk response to unpasteurized as being unsafe. Silly. We have refrigerators now, after all.