Earth Mother

I really didn't set out to be Suzy Homemaker, honestly.  In fact, when I was in my twenties, I was what I called an "Earth Mother" type.  I baked my own bread, used honey and not sugar when baking, canned and froze food, and had a big vegetable garden.  Shoot, I even tried making my own ketchup!  Then I decided I was working way too hard!  I should add that I was also working a full-time job at the time.

And so life went on.  I never lost my love for playing around in the kitchen but did so on a smaller scale most of the time.  However, now that I am "retired,"  I have more time and have found myself going back to my Earth Mother self.  I'm making a lot more things from scratch than I ever did when I was young.   I am baking bread again, both sourdough and whole wheat.  I make raspberry vinegar and homemade vanilla extract (delicious!).  I even make bagels.  I still put a lot of food in the freezer but don't can anymore.  

One thing I tried a couple years ago was making cheese.   The first cheese I tried was ricotta.  It's very simple and tastes creamy and smooth, unlike the sort of gritty feel of the store bought kind.  Then I tried making mozzarella.  It turned out that mozzarella cheese was really difficult.  After a couple of failed attempts, I gave up but, in the process,  I accidentally made cream cheese.  It was really yummy.  

It is more rustic than the smoothed out blocks one buys.  It tends to keep draining whey in the container but that is easily drained off.  It is quite spreadable but not too soft.  And it freezes really well.  It's incredibly easy, too, although it does take a couple of days.  Most of that time it's just sitting and doing it's cheesy thing.  This is a finished batch fresh from hanging overnight in the refrigerator.  It is the perfect topping on one of those homemade bagels!

PS  If you're interested in the recipe for the cream cheese or the ricotta, leave a comment or email me.  I'd be glad to share but it's a little long to post here.