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Making Cheese

As I write this I am making cheese. Well, multi-tasking has always been a woman’s thing. As planned, I am following the recipe in ‘Farmhouse Fare’, a collection of recipes by The Farmer’s Weekly, as sent in by Mrs K Churchill of Dorestshire.

I have set up a temporary ‘Dairy’ in the kitchen of the old farmhouse and I must say it all looks very professional.

I began the heating process by placing containers of hot water in the ‘bath’ of milk and waiting until the temperature reached 80 degrees Fahrenheit, it seems to be a slow old process but as my ‘bath’ is actually a plastic storage box (perfect size and shape) I can’t really think of a better method.

We were given the milk, straight from the cow, by a generous local farmer who was very keen to taste the result, so I hope it works!

OK, the temperature seems to be right so I have added the Rennet, half a teaspoonful plus 2 drops per gallon, (I am using 3 gallons of milk). Now I have to wait until it thickens.

While I wait I will give you a chicken update. We were very pleased to be offered the loan of a broody hen by some friends this week, so our breeding programme can begin in earnest. She hasn’t arrived yet but I have a lovely little house and run ready for her and I have saved some fertilized eggs for her to sit on.

As the newest chickens have begun laying regularly we want to encourage them by making them comfortable so CG has taken the opportunity to get creative and is making a very elaborate series of nesting boxes. I was hoping to include a photo of them with this blog, but I seriously wonder if they will be ready even for next week’s blog! He has been hard at work for almost three days now and I still can’t quite work out how the whole thing will look when it is eventually finished.

Must go and check on the cheese………..

Nope, not ready yet.

I chose today for the cheese making as I have a bit more time than usual. The Boy King has gone on a school trip to Oceanario in Lisbon. It’s a fantastic aquarium built as part of the Expo 1998 centre. We took the children there last year when my nephew and niece were staying with us and they all loved it. It is very well designed with a huge central tank that you can view from many different angles and as well as a wide variety of fish they also have penguins and otters. I really recommend a visit if you happen to be in Lisbon with a few hours to spare.

Back to the cheese……I have just had another look and the milk has thickened up. I have cut the curd into squares using a large carving knife and now I have put the container in the sun to heat up a little more. This should help separate the curd from the whey.

Let’s see if it works.

I’m a bit worried about CG. He was supposed to be finishing the chicken’s nesting boxes today but first thing this morning he started looking for a tool and ever since has spent the whole day rummaging around in the barn which has been the dumping ground for everything since we moved here.

The nesting boxes remain untouched, but every time I go outside I have to climb over piles of boxes and bags that haven’t seen the light of day since we left London 4 years ago. We brought everything with us and I expect most of it is destined for the bin. I know it needs sorting out, but why today?

There is so much stuff now out in the courtyard that at one stage I lost both dogs, I laughed out loud when I finally managed to spot Jake, he was hidden under some bags of rather dated clothes and when he saw me he lifted his head with his usual long suffering expression and had a role of masking tape stuck to his cheek. Poor thing, I know how he feels.

It’s nearly midnight now and time for bed, but I just wanted to say that the day went very well in the end, apart from a courtyard full of rubbish. The cheese is now in my make shift press, dripping into the plastic box and looks great. I have to change the muslin cloth and turn the cheese everyday for a while and then we have to wait about 3 months before we can try it. So until then, I will just have to keep my fingers crossed and hope that it has all been worthwhile.

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