Cheese, Grommet, Look at all the Cheese!

We love Wallace and Grommet around here. Partly because of the animation but also because we love cheese. And it's a good thing that we love cheese and fortunate that all my friends love it too because I have a lot of goat's milk right now therefore I'm making a lot of cheese.

As I was looking at my cheese in all it's various stages around my kitchen this morning I thought it would be fun to blog about it.

The first thing you need for cheese is milk. I have five goats, they are all Saanens or Saanen crosses. Zia is 5, Caddy is 2 and Bobbin is 3. Bobbin has 2 doe kids, Lace and Tat, so I am not milking her right now. Zia and Caddy are giving me 2+ gallons of milk per day. I am milking only once a day. I would get more milk if I milked twice a day or pulled the kids off Bobbin but I'm getting plenty of milk and I'm not tied to the farm as much.

 Zia is closest, eyes closed, then Tat, Bobbin, Lace and furthest away is Caddy.

It has taken the goats and me 2 weeks to work out our milking routine. To milk the goats; they have to get on the milk stand where they get a pelleted feed. Zia eats faster than I can milk her so I mix leaves from alfalfa hay into her bowl of pellets. It slows her down and we finish at about the same time. If she finishes first she fidgets making it hard to get the last bit of milk without having the milk bucket kicked. After she is done eating I put her into a pen separate from the other goats otherwise she would be very happy to come out and be "milked" again which causes lots of confusion and trouble.

 Full udder!

Caddy is a different bowl of fish altogether. She does NOT like to be touched. Especially around her head and face. So I need to be able to open the gate and wait out of reach while she comes out and gets herself onto the milk stand. But Bobbin and her kids are in the same pen with her, they come out if the gate is left open causing Caddy to run around the barn. Did I say that I have to be smarter than my goats? So I put some pellets in a tray for Bobbin and her girls, let them out, then rearrange the gates to close them off so I can let Caddy out. Then I open the gate wide for Caddy and move away. She comes out and puts herself on the milk stand. I close the head stall and take away her pellets until I get the rest of the equipment and goats arranged.

I move the tray of pellets so Bobbin, Lace and Tat go back into their original pen so hey are out of the way. I get the hobbles made of baling twine for Caddy. Did I say that I need to be smarter than my goats? Turns out Caddy does more than fidget on the milk stand. She will hop forward violently and kick the bucket. After having several battles with her where I lost and left the barn dripping milk. So now I tie her feet to the milk stand and then give her back her pellets It works pretty well this way and when I'm done milking her I set it up so she has a clear runway to an open gate back out into the pasture. No handling needed, less bruising for me and no drama for her.

When I start milking the first few squirts of each teat goes into a small bowl for the kittens. This way if there is anything in or on the teats it doesn't go into my clean stainless steel milk bucket. Then I start milking for real. When my milking bucket is 2/3 full I empty it into a milk filter over a lidded stainless steel milk tote. I put pie tins over the top of the milk filter to protect everything from flies and dust in the barn. It takes about 10 minutes per goat to strip them dry. Zia milks a little under a gal and Caddy milks a little more than. Caddy is actually easier to milk than Zia, it takes less squeezing to get the milk.

 Pasteurizing 165 deg F for 30 minutes or take it up to 185 deg F

I haul everything back to the house and put the milk into my stock pot and pasteurize the milk by heating it to 185 deg F. I let the milk sit and cool to 86 deg F. I add my culture and let it set for 1-2 hours then add rennet. Next I take the curdled milk and spoon it into cheese cloth that I have put in a colander in the sink. I tie the corners of the cheese cloth and hang it from the posts in my cupboards. It takes 6-12 hours for the cheese to drain. At this point if I'm making chevre' I will take it out of the cheese cloth and mix it in a bowl with salt, herbs and spices. Then it goes in the frig. If I'm making feta I put it in my cheese mold, layering it with salt. I put the lid on the mold and start by putting one can of soup on top to add pressure. Over the next two days I increase the number of soup cans to increase the pressure until it's a dry as I can get it. Then it is is cut and put into a salt water brine or into jars with herbs and olive oil.

 Cheese hanging from cupboard draining into bowls. Our dogs get the whey that drains out.

 Fresh Feta in olive oil, two with basil one with rosemary.

No the cheese making isn't over at this point. It's time to clean up. I wash everything in soapy hot hot water, the milking buckets, the pie tins, the filter holder, the stock pots, the cheese cloths, strings, cheese thermometer and spoons. I'll do it again tomorrow, it's an on-going process to make cheese Grommet.

Peeking Out Of My Chrysalis

Eeeeeck too many changes, too fast. I now understand why caterpillars make a chrysalis and hide while they are changing. It's tough to be out and about as you change. Change makes you vulnerable, like a crustacean who's new shell is soft and unfinished.

I feel so different. I look different. I don't recognize myself in the mirror, I weigh less than I have in 30 or so years. I've been working on the weight for the past year but it feels like my body has changed drastically in the past month or so. I am very happy about it but I also feel awkward. I don't know what to wear anymore. Sometimes it takes 3 or 4 sets of clothes before I feel comfortably dressed to leave the house. Shopping for new clothes is a challenge too, I find myself wandering in the plus-size section and I'm no longer a plus size person. Styles I loved no longer look right on me. It weird and disconcerting.

I like most of the attention my weight loss gets me. I'm vain what can I say. But I'm only comfortable being in the spotlight for so long and haven't quite gotten the knack for turning this attention aside when I've basked enough.

What I can do is different now too, my new knees are bringing back into my life so many things that I loved to do but let go of. I can walk, dance, bike, canoe, reach my toes easily and cross my legs. I celebrate every time I do them, but since I am now physically capable I have more responsibilities than I did when my knees wouldn't take it. Like doing barn chores, working on the house, or catching up on projects that slid while I was getting my new parts installed. It's all good but it's a big change from sitting on my ass all the time and takes some adjustment. (I know, I know, get over myself and quit whining already!)

Now I'm looking at riding my horse again. I've had him since he was 6 weeks old, he is now 22. He is broke to ride and drive but hasn't done anything but eat grass for many years. Both of us will need a lot of work before I can climb up on him again. He is big baby and a bit spooky. I'm a big baby and easily scared too. I didn't ride him when I got so heavy because my knees were miserable and I didn't feel safe. I hope I learn to feel safe and strong now because I have no more excuses ( I'm even 20 lbs under the goal weight I had set myself for starting to ride again). I've got a date on Fri to go ride a friend's horse in an arena to work on my seat and legs. If all goes well I will start to ground work Boots.

Thank goodness I haven't moved or divorced or gotten a new job... well I kinda did, a new job I mean. I've been teaching felting in some new places and I wrote my first felting article for money. And I did get a new tattoo.

Even good changes require time, energy and I'm learning that it takes courage too.