Save The Mater's & Cheese Results

Saturday morning our glorious IL weather netted our storm door (Oz style) clear out in the cornfield. After purchasing another and installing it in pouring down rain...all was some what well again. This morning as I read the forecast for the next couple days.....it sends me into yet ANOTHER anxiety ridden zone. Calling for more rain, lows in the 30's!!! (are you kiddin me?) with 20-30 mph winds. I had JUST put 24 tomato plants (that were barely hardened) and 20 some pepper plants out in the garden last week (as I do every year around Mothers Day). I worried THEN they would survive the transplanting, as it was an UN seasonable 90 some degrees for two/three days. They were NOT happy campers...but seemed to pull out of it. So after milking the goats at the butt-crack of dawn, with one cup of coffee under our belt, we set out to SAVE THE MATERS!!

Our tomato cages are homemade out of 6 foot metal fencing, staked a foot into the ground with fence posts, as full grown Fulkerson tomato plants would flatten commercial tomato cages totally into pancakes ;-) We always wrap plastic wrap a couple times around the bottoms of the cages (about a foot high) to get them off to a good strong start, especially with the spring winds, in the middle of a corn field, surrounded by industrial sized whirly gigs. So just HOW do you protect/cover a 12" or so tall tomato plant housed in THAT kind of contraption from upcoming cold and mini hurricane winds?? It ain't pretty... BUT you buy some more plastic wrap and start your husband completely wrapping cages on one end of the garden, while you wrap the few extra junk sheets/pillow cases you can find around the other ends cages. You pull out every extra 5 gallon bucket you can find (that doesn't have feed in it) and try to thread it through the top (of the taller than you) cage, without dropping it and smashing the plant lifeless. Did I mention already its blowing rain, colder than a rats ass, and mud is REALLY REALLY heavy when it accumulates in mass quantities on your boots?? A few hours later we come in to thaw out and cross our muddy fingers. SAVE THE MATERS!!!

The first attempt at the Chive & Garlic Chevre went O-K. Nothin to write home about in my book, as it was slightly runny and tasted sort of blazay after all the build up. It was edible tho and I got through my first batch without a scratch and nobody ate me. Determined not to be intimidated by CHEESE (of all things) I decide to make another batch and improve upon it. I find ANOTHER Chevre recipe with a little variation from the other and decide to try it. Well... it sets up in half the time other other batch did. hmmmmmm
I decide instead of garlic POWDER this time, I'll use garlic FLAKES in effort to give it a little more punch. I get back online and find how you convert the measurements from powder to flakes. UNFORTUNATELY math (especially fractions) has never been one of my strong points and the second batch of Chevre has been dubbed Garlic Breath Anyone? Edible by only the strong of heart.





This afternoon as I make the numerous trips to the barn (in the cold rain with a different set of boots) to check on Herd Queen Hope, the last one to kid this season....who I might add... ALSO refuses to kid on MY schedule....I decide to try my hand at Mozzarella cheese in between trips.

I choose the "quick/easy" recipe version. It WAS pretty easy (first clue Debbie) and it looked really good. After it set up in the fridge for about an hour we anxiously tried it. It has been dubbed:
Kyra's New White Rubber Ball

I LOVE my life...I do, I really do ;-)

Say Cheese!

Happy to blog that after two years we've finally hit one of our goals here on the Fulkerson farm. We're producing (actually the goats are...thank you GURLS!) more milk than we can drink or use in our coffee in a week. It is absolutely delicious and I refuse to waste a sweet drop, so its onto the next venture.....

Cheese Please!!

Taste testing different varieties of wine, cheese and tomato's over the years, has become one of my most favorite quirky things to do. Every trip to WI I've ever made has always included several off the beat and path trips to cheese suppliers in an attempt to taste all the 2000 different kinds. I think I've sampled probably around 327 of them, and of COURSE can't remember the name of a single one. (same with the wine and tomato's)

I've had NO clue most of my life what went into making cheese. I just knew that I LOVED it and its expensive. There ARE reasons for that I'm finding out. OMG. As I researched when time allowed what went into it, at one point I almost yielded ~Uncle~ and threw in my cheese cloth before I even got started. Maybe I should try goat soap instead?? There were cheese classes, workshops, seminars, books, and kits, cheese equipment, cheese terms, cheese cultures, cheese caves and on and on it went. I think cheese making is truly a craft and reading about it was a bit intimidating to THIS transplant from the city. The equipment/ingredient list alone was overwhelming at points. A good stainless steel pot, a couple high tech thermometers, a cheese press, cheese cloth, different molds, slotted ladles, strainers, waxes, wraps, measuring spoons, knives, 4 or 5 different cheese cultures from France, Rennet, citric acid, Lipase powder, and so on and so forth. Some of the terms they use in the recipes was like a foreign language to me....coagulation, Mesophillic, Thermophilic, Direct Vat Incoculants, pasteurize, whey, curds, curd breaks clean, flecks, follower, pressing, drying, and waxing. What the hell?? Sounded like a experiment gone bad in biology or science class to me.

So I take the intimidating plunge (and the hit in the pocketbook) and buy the good stainless steel pot. Then slowly start adding some of the rest of the goodies that I read that I need. Was pleasantly surprised and tickled with an early Mother's Day present of a cheese press from my Kentucky (cheese loving) kids a few days ago!

My favorite cheese has always been an aged sharp cheddar (probably because I can remember THAT name no sweat) and I decided to start my venture there. That was UNTIL I kept coming across these subtle warnings that if you're NEW to cheese making, MAYBE you should start with a soft cheese as they are easier. Always one to listen to whatever I'm told by those in the know (har-de-har-har) I am going to attempt a soft cheese known as Chevre (reminded me of cream cheese) for my first go around. To make it oh-so-special, I'm going to use a recipe that calls for Chives and Garlic that I currently have plenty of on hand.

So tonight I dip my toes into the cheese crafting vat and started my first batch. Hopefully we will have some yummy cheesy results in a few days, spread on a cracker, with a cheap wine back ;-) And should I get that down pat without too much brain strain... I may work my way up to that Cheddar before ~I'm~ totally AGED!
We'll see....