Posts Tagged ‘Tomatoes’

On the cheese-making front: Success!!!

The curd didn’t quite look like the pictures in the instructions, but it definitely worked. It’s yummy, too! I’ll have to work out why my curd looks more like cottage cheese instead of a custard. I wasn’t able to make the ricotta with the whey and I imagine that will explain the problem. Going to visit some cheese-making sites today and ask the experts.

BTW, I got the rennet from a friend. She owns a beer- and wine-making supply business in Norfolk, Virginia called HomeBrewUSA. (think I mentioned this a post or 2 ago). She had Ricki’s 30 Minute Mozzarella & Ricotta Kit
from the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company and she gave me the whole kit as she’s too busy to make cheese since she’s opening a second location.

As a side note: I’m looking forward to taking beer-making classes soon. I had the BEST beer ever while in Cleveland and I want to learn how to make it. I had 3 different varieties from Great Lakes Brewing and it was really just incredible. Can’t find it locally. And really too expensive for everyday drinking (not that I drink beer every day).

The milk was $2.39 for a gallon and made just over a pound. The big bag of shredded mozzarella at Sams cost $1.67 a pound. I like to keep an eye on those numbers. I’ll have to check prices on the solid cheese. Sometimes shredded is perfect, and other times it’s just not what the recipe calls for. Like today, for instance: garden fresh tomatoes and basil with sliced mozzarella. Yum! You just can’t do that with shredded.

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I finally did some shopping today! Spent $14.35, mostly on perishables like bread, milk, eggs and meat (steak again, into the freezer). And ice cream. Generic. And two 2-liter bottles of generic diet cola.  There were other items, but they were freebies with coupons.

The french bread was free with a survey code. About every 4th or 5th trip to Farm Fresh I get a survey form. Call the 800#, take the survey over the phone and they give you a code for a free loaf of bread.

The reason for the french bread was to go with our dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. We also had a nice tossed salad. All from stuff we had on hand. I even nabbed a tomato from the garden. They’re FINALLY starting to get ripe. Looks like I’ll get mostly zebra tomatoes.

I also exchanged my expired Fuel Express tickets for a new one, since I needed gas. I’d been told by someone at the store that they would do that and decided to give it a try. Pleasantly surprised. However a good friend of mine tried it also and two different people told her it couldn’t be done. Go figure.

Even better… there was a nice older man overseeing the gas station and he cleaned my windshield for me. Too cool.

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For dinner tonight we had BBQ pork sandwiches on my very own recipe for Super Sandwich Rolls. Since I’d heard several times lately that coleslaw was great on BBQ sandwiches, I used up the last of my cabbage and whipped some up to go with the dinner.

No shopping today. Lots of “grazing” on our existing stockpiles.

I’m anxiously awaiting more tomatoes from my garden and my tomatillos (never grew those before!). I’ve had ONE tomato so far. These plants went into the ground in April, so I don’t know what’s going on.

Quick & Simple Coleslaw

1/2 head of cabbage, shredded
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 T cider vinegar
1 T sugar (or splenda)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Mix everything together except the cabbage with a whisk. Toss dressing with cabbage. Done!

If you’re not going to serve the coleslaw immediately, you should really bleed the cabbage by sprinkling the shredded cabbage generously with salt in a large bowl, then cover it with a plate to weight it down and let it sit for an hour or 2 in the fridge. That will draw the extra water out of it. Drain it and RINSE WELL. Use a salad spinner to get the water out, if need be. Then mix with your dressing and you won’t have watery coleslaw.

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