I made cheese!

It's true and so can you!  Last year for Christmas, my in-laws gave me a cheese making kit and I finally got the motivation to use it.  Thanks for the encouragement, Susan!  The process was easy and the results were fantastic.  I made a 3/4 lbs. ball of mozzarella that was better than anything I've tasted.

With crust and sauce from Standard Pizza, Susan and I made the best home-made pizza I've ever had.  I used Boar's Head prosciutto, basil, and my mozzarella shown in the first photo.  (Why yes, that is a Chambers stove in the background!)  I drizzled a cookie sheet and the crust with olive oil and pre-baked it for 6 minutes at 500 degrees.  This makes for a crisper crust that doesn't necessarily need to be thin to be crunchy.  Our wonderful neighbors, Hadley and Margot, helped with consumption of the pizza (and a bottle or three of wine).

Milk selection is the most important component of cheese making.  I used Mills River Creamery Cream Line milk that is low temperature pasteurized and not homogenized.  Their website reports "that this leaves our milk with a better more natural flavor and protects some of the healthy enzymes that are needed for a healthier product" and I couldn't agree more.  My attempts to make the mozzarella with an inferior product failed miserably.  The bottom photo shows this.

It's not budget cheese at *gasp* $8 per gallon yielding 12 ounces of cheese, but you won't find anything fresher.  Let me know if you want to come over and we can make some cheese!