Moo

Question
When does Fractured Amy find herself in possession of three gallons of raw milk, rennet tablets, citric acid, lipase, and calcium chloride?

Answer
Why, the Friday before a thrilling weekend of mozzarella-making, of course!

You heard me right. Emboldened by my snowy-day ricotta success, I have decided to take the next logical step and hurl myself at a new challenge. I have long been thinking about such a project - ever since I first came across a recipe and procedure in Cooking for Geeks back in November, in fact. A couple of clicks online and all the required ingredients were brought to my laboratory door courtesy of my friendly (and by now quite curious) UPS man.

The milk I obtained yesterday, kindly provided by the Jersey cows at my gem of a local dairy. It must be admitted, there are one or two advantages to living in the hinterlands and access to natural dairy products has got to be near the top of the list. The men in my life will no longer drink anything else: the Squid admires the pleasing aftertaste of the unhomogenized product and Sir ... well, raw milk with cream floating on top takes Sir straight back to his childhood, which is something on which you cannot place a price tag. Not even when it says $6 a gallon.

Straight from the coo!

I anticipate at least two batches of formaggio over the next two days. One will be made according to Jeff Potter's instructions, which are coolly high-tech and involve the microwave. The second will be produced using a more traditional method, as outlined by the purveyor of my cheese-making paraphernalia, Ricki Carroll of the meretorious New England Cheesemaking Supply Company. Interestingly, the two schemes call for different ingredients (the lipase and calcium chloride are notable for their absence in Ricki's outline) so we shall see what we shall see.

And you know there's nothing I love more than a weekend of experimentation in the kitchen.