And it went from this:
Also known as: Two big pots of nothing useful if I cock it up, which I may well do… Geez why am I such a masochist, why didn’t I just do the laundry that needs doing instead. What does the baby have in it’s mouth now, where is my son…steam but not bubble for two hours are you freakin serious…
To this:
Also known as: Three days of juicing, slicing, melting, stirring, steeping and waiting for the curd to form with my breath sucked in….and finally a HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF, we’re done.
Now the marmalade needs to sit for a couple of weeks to set properly and the cheese needs to be salted, air dried and turned until I wax it and let it sit in my cheese cave (laundry room) for a few months. (Of course I saved some curds for instant gratification).
And now I get to clean up.
That looks good, hope it was worth the effort!
My dad does marmalade too, but he uses a mix.
Worth every second of home pectin-extracting and child neglect whilst timer watching.
That looks AMAZING.
Two questions:
How do you make your own pectin? The commercial stuff scares me.
And where do you get rennet to make your cheese?
wow, i am impressed! and inspired!
Impy -
Pectin: from the seeds of the citrus fruit, just like how they do it commercially. Only I don’t use chemicals. All you’re doing is soaking the seeds and pith in water until they become jelly like and then steeping them in the ‘jam’ until the seeds are no longer slimey. If you ever want to try it, I’ll write it in a bit more detail, though there is not much more detail than that!
Rennet: http://hoeggergoatsupply.com Hoegger is totally awesome – amazing customer service, great selection, good prices. Love these folks.
I still want cheese
The cheese looks great! When my parents were still on the 7th, they had dairy sheep. My dad had the freezer and a couple of Mennonite families brought their milk there. He’d drive it to the city every couple of months to get cheese made.
Love, love, love sheep milk! My kids would drink it the way it comes when they were at their Oma and Opa’s house, but I couldn’t afford to have it at home as it has more fat content than – say Half and Half from the store! It’s almost like drinking cream…. but sooo good.
I am extremely impressed with your cheese! Personally I have never ventured beyond soft cheeses. Congratulations on a job very well done.
mmmm, cheese…
wow! great work, that’s awesome. my mom used to home-make stuff all the time, i didn’t appreciate it as a kid, but i do now. you’re making great memories for your littles.
I spent many a summer canning with my grandmother when I was a kid. We canned a half acre of tomatoes one year. She died a few years later. It was strange to keep eating those canned tomatoes for almost 10 years.
I’m incredibly jealous of your cheese cave (ha ha ha). That is on my short list of things to do when law school is over and we eventually move out to CO. I’m eager to hear how it turns out…
Hope your throat is mending. I swear by gargling (alternate) cayenne pepper in water and apple cider vinegar. It works much better than salt water and doesn’t run the risk of drying out your throat too much like salt water does.
You make it look so easy. that is truly inspiring.
Well done cheese maker, let us know how it tastes. I currently live on a cheese farm so the incentive to make my own is zilch! It’s something on my list to try eventually though.
As for jam, my favorite jam/marmalade is made by St. Dalfour, they somehow make the best tasting preserves without sugar. I want to know HOW this is possible, whenever I’ve made jam I seem to use a small plantation worth of sugar!
Looks great and inspiring!