Could the Problem Actually Not Be Me?

I made a colby on Saturday and this is the final cheese that came out of the press.  This is NOT a good-looking cheese.  Look at all those holes!  Every one is an opportunity for something to make a bad taste.  It just didn't knit together well.  There's nothing to do now but age it and see what happens.  If it's nasty we'll throw it away, but maybe it won't be that bad.

I was really careful this time, so I don't think it was the curd or cooking step.  It might be the pressing.

I got this press on eBay for not a lot of money.  It works but it's a big pain to use.  It occurs to me that maybe it actually doesn't work.  God only knows what pressure I'm getting, even when I follow the directions.  I've had the best luck with cheeses that I stack weights on top rather than using the screw mechanism.  Then I found out that the pressures in the recipes are for 4.5" diameter and since I'm using 6.0" diameter, they all have to be proportionally increased.  I didn't know that!  I have begun to look in earnest for a new press, or plans that my husband can build.  Cheese takes too long and I do it too often to have the press be the problem.  I can buy a decent press for $300 but I'm just too cheap.  I'll keep looking, but I'm determined that a new one is my future.

My daughters love ranch dressing.  I think it's nasty and I'm incapable of making nasty things, so I told them that they had to make it.  They added cream to some cultured buttermilk left over from making butter and kept it warm (75-80F) in a water-bath crock pot for a day.  It was probably about three cups altogether.  Then they added 1t salt, 1-1/2t parsley, and 1/4t garlic, celery seed, pepper, and dry mustard.  After an overnight chilling they declare it "good," although "watery," but it looks fine to me.

Advent has begun as we experience a 9 hour 13 minute day.  It will drop to just below 9 hours at the solstice, at Christmas time.  The readings about staying awake, being ready for the coming of Lord, have a irony during this time when the sun goes down at 5pm.  It's easy to stay awake at "night!"  But just staying awake isn't enough.  We much be watchful.  Is God asking me to open my eyes?