A New Schedule

Today is a good day to make cheese, but we don't have quite enough milk.  Jerky's old enough that we decided to milk all four quarters this morning for the extra.   It filled more than a single bucket, measuring out at 3-1/4 gallons.  Carrying two buckets into the house was a new challenge.  I was a little worried how the cows would handle the schedule change, but Christina took it in stride.  Jerky wasn't quite so accepting, but did fine.

I'm out of sterlized milk and it's time to culture a starter. I started by canning quarts of milk.  30 minutes in a boiling water bath and they are sterilized.  Today I'll culture mesopholic for cheese.

We out grew out little cheese frig and got another.  These are wine frigs so we can set the temperature at 55ºF and the racks allow good air movement.  The red cheeses are the waxed ones — cheddar, colby, and jack.  The yellow ones are italians that dry to a form a rind — parmesan and romano.  My husband pointed out that if I want to make more cheese, he could build a rack and stack these frigs right up the wall.

Those cheeses without wax get mold easily.  I'll wipe any mold I find with vinegar.

Today we'll also churn butter, bake bread, make something for snack like zucca bars or brownies, and then we need to figure something out for dinner.   And our newly three year old son starts formal homeschooling.  It's just read an assigned story, listen to a nursery rhyme, and play with blocks, but he likes having a "schedule" like his big sisters.