Let There Be Cheese

We stretched forth our hands, and the curd parted from the whey.

And we beheld the cheese and saw that it was good.

And after three hours, we rested.

Cheese is the next frontier.

Fresh bread? Yup.

Canned fruits and weggies? No problem.

Garden? Problem.

Homemade pies? Easy as . . . .

Dried fruit? Piece of cake.

Two year supply of food storage? Not really.

But CHEESE? Yea! We have made CHEESE! We have made mozzarella!

And mozzarella is only the beginning. Ricotta is next. Marscapone, fromage blanc, Neufchatel, queso fresco and cottage cheese will not escape our kitchen.

And those are just the easy-to-make soft cheeses. Hopefully we'll be brave enough to make the hard cheeses someday.

*******

Of course, you say, three hours doesn't sound "easy-to-make." Granted, it took a bit longer than we expected. This was primarily due to the pasteurization process which took two of the three hours.

Wanting to make the best cheese possible, we went straight for the raw cow's milk (not a cooked cow's milk, mind you), purchased from the Real Food Market in Orem. $6 a gallon. Significantly more expensive than gas. But straight from the udder. Non-pasteurized and non-homogenized.

As far as good cheese goes, only the latter is very important. Well, some purists would argue that pasteurization isn't necessary, but we aren't too fond of unnecessary pathogens.

Consequently, we pasteurized it ourselves at 145 degrees for 30 minutes. It only took an hour to slowly get it to 145 degrees, but I digress.

But then the no-longer-raw milk needed to be immediately cooled to 40 degrees in a sink full of ice water.

Mr. Pasteur would be proud.

Once cooled it was ready to reheat. (This is where in the future we will use traditional milk, though it won't yield nearly as much cheese, being homogenized.)

Add some citric acid and rennet (the enzymes derived from any mammalian stomach) in order to start the coagulation and thereby creating curds and whey.

Aside: Not to be questioning Miss Muffet's food choices, but at least from our experience, we would never purposefully choose to sit - even on a tuffet - and eat curds and whey. Then again, we do like cottage cheese - with peaches.

After 5 minutes from adding the rennet, the curds can be pulled away from the side of the pot. Time to cut the cheese and cook some more.

Stir a bit more and viola! Curd turds. We're almost there.

What? Don't recognize it yet?

Drain the whey.

Heat yet some more, then stretch.

And stretch.

Lastly, form into three balls of various shapes (our own change to the recipe) and dip in more ice water to cool.

There. You now know everything there is to know about making mozzarella.

Of course, if you would like some further instruction, feel free to watch the following Sesame Street video, circa 1975.

Boy, does that guy need a hairnet.

*******

As a reward consequence of your making it all the way to the end of this post, we would like to invite you to a future shindig.

True to our elitist ways, and because we love cheese so much, we're going to have a cheese party. Two weeks from tomorrow, in fact. That would be Saturday November 8th at 11 o'clock. Mark your calendar and bring the kids.

If you are traveling from out of town (our Google tracking software tells us there are readers all over the country, not to mention a few foreigners), you will need to RSVP the guest bedroom.

Better yet, let us know if you are coming at all.

BYOC and we'll provide the crackers and some snacks. Maybe we'll make some cheese.

Bring an exciting cheese and try some others as well.

Book Review: Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford

Remember a few weeks ago when El Presidente was on the boob tube - helping it live up to its name - asking us to turn out our pockets on behalf of Wall Street?

Quoth George W. Antony:

"Friends, Amercans [sic], Countrymen: Lend me 700 billion dollars."

Straightaway, and in a fit of anger, did I write a 700 word novella on all things financial/greedy/corrupt/political, etc.

However, I did not fully give way to my Mr. Hyde.

Years of working in an office setting (not to mention being married) have taught me that when writing writing in anger, it is always wisest to NOT press SEND, but to come back the next day and thank yourself for not sending the angry message.

Coming back three weeks later, I have edited the lengthy post to the following summary:

I should have studied something else in college.

In conclusion, I will also include the video finale from the doomed therapy session / blog post. It's a clip about a fantastic new book I heard about:

Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford

 

I should have been an editor.

25 Across: Country "Brain" Music

I love Jared's phone; it is an iPhone. Apple really is a brilliant company - such user-friendly technology.

One of my favorite features of Jared's phone are the crossword puzzles he can download. We have actually always loved crossword puzzles and it has long since been a vacation staple, along with Coke bottle candies and beef jerky.

But the iPhone has taken crossword puzzles to a whole new level. Not only is it a tactile experience to tap on the row or column and enter the letters, but it is also self-checking. No more leafing to the back of the book to get the answer to the one question you are stuck on (and then "accidentally" seeing five other answers), or worse, trying to solve the rest of the puzzle from an erroneously answered 5 Across. This is technically cheating, we know.

So, tonight, as we often do, we were doing a crossword puzzle together on the iPhone. Jared and I have never laid claim to the same bodies of knowledge, and in crossword puzzles this disparity in our know-how often is painfully evident.

For example, when I see a clue like, "Hull stabilizers," I am ready to throw up my hands and move on, but he immediately types in "keels." To which I reply, "Oh, that must be the root of the expression, 'keeled over,' as when the keel on the ship turns over that likely means the ship has 'died.'"

He had never thought of that.

Besides nautical terms, Jared is much more proficient at proper nouns, you know, people and places. For example he knew that Ray Bradbury was the author of "The Martian Chronicles." I have never heard of the book or the man.

While his knowledge likely comes from courses in literature, from his job, from his love of things that fly and float, and from his Internet addiction, my knowledge base comes from Garth, George, and Dierks.

In fact, I have recently solved three crossword puzzle questions by consulting my large country music library. See if you can do the same:

Clue: "Sign of Summer"

Answer: Heat

Who I consulted: Clint Black and his song "Summer's Comin'.'"

Clue: "Automobile roof with removable panels"

Answer: TTop

Who I consulted: Not sure (another of my trademarks, I don't memorize artists' names), but the song is "Rock My World, Little Country Girl."

Clue: "Alaskan gold mining port"

Answer: Nome

Who I consulted: Johnny Horton, "North to Alaska."

The truth is, that at almost every opportunity my brain is searching for a song to go along with the context of whatever else is going on in my life. When my brain hears "gold mining in Alaska" it says (excitedly), "BINGO! I know a song about that, let me play it for you!" Then, there it goes, usually unconsciously in the background until it is usurped by another song.

This little feature of Diahan's brain is amusing at best, sometimes annoying, often entertaining, and now, finally, useful.

Fare Thee Well, Frosted Circus Animal Cookie

Let's review this last week:

1. The stock market has lost about 20% of its value over the past seven days. (A "crash" is defined as losing 20% or more in a single day or over a few days.)

2. The bail out bill has been signed.

3. The government is actually contemplating investing in banks (which is frankly better than buying their bad assets).

10/3/08 - 10/9/08

With all the doom and gloom, the man on the street still isn't sure how this will affect him. Don't worry. It will. Give it some time. (Please excuse my un-gender neutral pronouns.)

Wait a second. After further developments, perhaps the hurting starts now:

4. Mother's Cookies, the makers of the Frosted Circus Animal Crackers (just to name one flavor), is bankrupt.

The reason? I'm sure poor money management had a bit to do with it. But a large part of it was the increased cost of raw materials combined with the "credit freeze" / collapse of the "Commercial Paper Market."

Many, many LARGE companies rely on the Commercial Paper Market to fund their day to day operations.

As a typical company doesn't have the same amount of money coming IN to it everyday, it will not have enough to cover its expenses. So Company XYZ takes out, say, a 3 day loan for $1,000,000 (because it knows in 3 days it will have a big check coming in), which it will pay back for $1,010,000.

Who is lending this money? The big banks.

Problem is, however, that the big banks aren't lending because

a . They are scared silly. Many banks have already lost money lending in the paper market, making everyone else run for cover.

b. They are busy shoring up their capital - so as not to fail. (A common malady these days.)

c. It doesn't help that there are silent bank runs going on right now (depositors taking their money out). That makes it even harder for the bank to save money.

How unusual is this? Very - it's really never happened before. The Commercial Paper Market used to be considered the most liquid market ever. That's why the government has started to lend directly to businesses as a de facto Commercial Paper Market.

The current problem is that nobody is lending to nobody (yes, double negatives aren't no good).

If this continues, business - like Mother's Cookies - will start dying from the inability to borrow. Expenses grow higher and higher. Next stop: Bankruptcy.

This is how it affects the man on the street.

And now we have no more Frosted Circus Animal Crackers.

Or Taffy Sandwich Cookies

Or Iced Oatmeal Cookies

Or Archway Iced Molasses Cookies (also made by Mother's)

Or Archway Fruit Filled Apple Oatmeal Cookies

Have I missed any other important flavors?

Picture Tag

As per Karin's instructions, I went to My Pictures, chose the fourth folder, and the fourth picture in that folder.

Here it is:

This is me in December of 2002, pregnant with Jack. This is actually the ONLY picture I have of me pregnant with Jack. I was about five months along. We were at Jared's dad's house in Cedar Hills, UT, in the front room, which used to be Jared's bedroom.

I got that sweater from my best friend Krista, along with some socks either that Christmas or the Christmas before that.

So, now I am apparently supposed to tag for people who are supposed to do the same thing (go to folder four, choose picture four, post it and tell its story). The lucky four are (fanfare please):

Jessilyn P.

Annjeanette M.

Veena M.

Becky S.

This was fun, thanks, Karin.

Movie Review: Young @ Heart

 

We could review Iron Man, but you've already seen it.

We could review Made of Honor, but we haven't enough invective. (Diahan says that I should link to the meaning of invective. Please look up, then come back.)

       

We could also likely guarantee that you haven't seen the movie we will review.

Which is a shame, really, because it is one of the most delightful movies we've seen in many moons.

It's a feel good movie that actually makes you feel good. (Most don't work well on us. Some say we are too critical. We think they're wrong and let me tell you why . . . )

********

It's a shame how self-consciousness robs so many of us of prime living time. As evidenced by our kids' love of life, we certainly aren't born with a worry of what others may think.

Only much later in life do we figure out that no one really cares. Even if we say now that we know no one really cares, we still live like they do.

In fact, they would have cared if only we were a bit more expressive and outgoing.

These pearls of wisdom aren't merely taken from recent fortune cookies, or as a reflection from an inspiring movie,  but from my job.

I work with senior citizens every day, from helping with finances to listening to stories about bombing runs over Germany. It is the most satisfying job I've ever had - precisely because of those I work with (or with whom I work, if you prefer).

With every afternoon I spend in a dusty living room, I walk away marveling at life lessons learned (not by me, of course). Invariably, one of those lessons is to live without fear.

Life's too short, they say.

********

Young @ Heart follows the seven weeks of life and rehearsing before The Big Concert.

Young @ Heart is also the name of the Massachusetts chorus started in 1982 and performing at the upcoming concert.

The average age of chorus members is 80. The average age of songs sung by the chorus: much, much younger.

In other words, they're rocking!

Coldplay, The Clash, Sting, Bee Gees, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, James Brown, Pink Floyd. All of them never sounded so good.

You might think it akin to one of those condescending "lighter side" segments on Good Morning America, but it is much deeper than that.

The music is really only the vehicle for us to get to know these individuals and really care for them. And then we wish that we would be as brave someday.

To be sure, it is a documentary. And as a good documentary shows, real life is much more exciting anyway.

It is not forced or cliched. To the contrary, its honesty is arresting and endearing.

Do yourself a favor and rent this one ASAP. You may just get the urge to take yourself a little less seriously. Just like our 3 year old and just like great grandma.

And being like them is always a good thing.

(And please don't rent Made of Honor.)

Today's Conversations

Today Henry was doing his job- which is to unload the clean silverware into its proper place in the silverware drawer. He does an excellent job- everything always in the right place. He takes his job very seriously. Often, when he goes to get a fork or a spoon he exclaims, "Ohah!! Only one left!!" and is very alarmed. A boy after my own heart, it gives him great satisfaction to see a full silverware drawer.

Today when he was holding up the "big spoons" to show Jack how many there were, he caught his reflection in the back of the spoon. Following is the conversation he had with the spoon:

"Hello Henry!" (Lots of silly faces)

"Wow, me look big and tall!" (Moves the spoon up and down, nods his head up and down and says Whoa whoa whoa)

Very cute. Very funny.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Jack came home from school today and while we were eating lunch we had the following conversation:

Me, Jack

So, mom, a girl kissed me at school today.

(nonchalantly) Oh, really?

Yea, while we were waiting to go home.

(still nonchalantly) Why did she do that, do you suppose?

Well, I accidentally reminded her that she kissed me the other day, and so I guess she decided she should do it again.

(Now not hiding my interest well) Oh, so she kissed you before huh? Did she kiss you on the cheek?

On the cheek the first day, then today ON THE LIPS (said slowly for emphasis), and then right here (he pointed to a spot right by his eye).

Did you like it?

Not on the lips, that's gross, but on the cheek is OK.

Well, that's nice I guess.

(Incredulous) NICE?!! Why?

Well, I guess that means she thinks you are nice and cute.

(Exasperated/almost depressed sounding) Ugh, yes, I am cute.

The pictures are courtesy of a trip to Lagoon we took in July.