Beginning Cheesemaking with Ricki Carroll

I was so happy to finally get to take a cheesemaking class with the Cheese Queen herself, Ricki Carroll! It was the perfect 40th birthday gift to myself. This class was one of the final field days of the year offered by PASA - Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture - of which I am a member. John attended with me, and I was pleased that he seemed to have a good time during the course of the day.

Ricki is a smart, funny, and warm woman who seems to genuinely enjoy teaching others the art of cheesemaking, and sharing stories of her experiences with other cheesemakers from around the world. We started the class with a farmhouse cheddar, then a queso blanco, a ricotta, then a mozzarella. During lunch, which was provided by PASA and Ricki, we ate many different cheeses along with other fresh local foods. Lunch was beautiful and delicious!

Here Ricki demonstrates the stretching of the curd in making mozzarella.

The following pictures are showing the steps to making the farmhouse cheddar. This is a hard cheese that requires a cheese press.

After the heating of the cow's milk (provided by Perrydell Farms of Leaders Heights, PA), you add a starter culture; then after a bit you add rennet; then allow the curd to form. Now cut the curd to allow further separation of the whey.

Ladle the curds into a cheesecloth-lined colander, tie the four corners and hang to drain. After about an hour you can break up the curds with your fingers, salt it, then pack the curds into the cheesecloth-lined cheese mold and put it in a cheese press.

This is how the cheese looked after it spent about 45 minutes in the press.

This is as far as we could get with the cheddar during the course of our 6-hour class. The first six lucky folks who bought a cheese press ($239) could take home the cheddar that we made in class to finish it off (press for 12 hours, let it air dry for 3-5 days, wax the cheese, then age it for at least two months) at home. If they are lucky - it will be good enough to eat!

Thanks, Ricki!

chicken cannibals

This is what happens to the not-so-perfect eggs! The chickens crack 'em right open and start eating the contents. When one is opened up, they all run for it to get their fair share. This seems like odd behavior, but maybe that's normal with chickens... I wonder why these eggs are so pale and weak. I'm sure there is a reason behind this; I just can't find it in any of my reference books or online. They leave the nice eggs alone. Either it's because they feel they have the right to eat a non-viable egg, or they they can't crack open the nice, strong, healthy egg. Hmmm.

Post Note:

Oooooops! After doing a bit of research, I have learned that I am doing the wrong thing by basically encouraging my chickens to eat the "bad" eggs. That all ends today! When I see one of those weak eggs, I'll just throw it out instead of presenting it to the hens so they can bust it open and dig in. Only one egg was ever eaten without any help by me; so hopefully we can end this problem. Supposedly you should cull any chickens caught eating the eggs to prevent it from becoming a standard reaction by all of them to just eat the eggs.

I still can't find any information on eggs that are pale and covered with cracks and fissures.

Bad Egg, Good Egg

Look at the difference in these two eggs. One disfigured - one beautiful. What makes the one on the left turn out the way it did? I've seen an egg like this before from our auction chickens. Pale, chalky, lopsided, and cracks and fissures all over it. What happened? Is this typical for an older chicken? The more brown egg is typical of our new group of layers. I'm guessing that the auction girls are quite a bit older than the latest hens. 

Leaf Eaters

Ginger, Clover and Tulip finally get their chance to nibble on my potted plants.

Juniper thinks the most delectable leaves are found on the porch.

Autumn brings the gift of an all-you-can-eat buffet of leaves for the Seven Valleys Dairy Goats! When we make the daily trek to the pasture each morning, we linger in our backyard so the goaties can feast on the bountiful harvest of leaves. We have sycamore, maple, ginkgo, and mulberry leaves littering the yard. As an extra special treat, they are now allowed to munch on any of my garden and potted plants that they want to.

Clover does this alot. She stretches her neck back and moves her head from side to side. She'll do this few a few seconds at a time for a minute or two. Then she's done. In these pictures, she's chained to the fence because it's feeding time; but she performs this strange behavior when she's not chained too. I don't know what this means. 

Millie the Barn Cat

Millie isn't doing much hanging out in the barn. She can be found most any time of the day on our porch. Usually chasing leaves or butterflies. Sometimes napping on a comfy cushion. Even though she's spent all of her life in barns, she doesn't understand why she can't follow our boys into the house when they go in. She is a super-snuggler love-kitten extraordinaire. She doesn't seem at all like the aloof and stoic barncat that comes to mind when I think of a typical barnyard mouser. I wouldn't be surprised if she became our indoor family pet. 

Ginger Girl

This is Ginger (technically known as: Wausau). She's my registered Saanen dairy goat. I am thinking that she may be in heat. Estrus. I need to get my husband to put together a pick-up truck pen to transport her to the breeder. She'll stay for 22 days, and then hopefully in the spring... we'll have Saanen kids and milk!! 

Clover Pics

My Toggenburg, Clover. Sweet. Gentle. Love her!