Little Miss Muffet sat on her Tuffet, eating her curds and whey

Miss Muffet was a quitter. If she had got off her tuffet, she could have made some yummy cheese with those curds!

I made goat cheese for the first time the other day! I started with the recipe here, and had a experienced FB friend walk me through it via facebook. She was very patient to sit and answer all my stupid questions. 

Here's what I did, and what I should have done different:

My supplies: one quart of goat's milk, 1/3 cup of lemon juice, 1/8 tsp of non-iodized salt, and muslin for straining, as well as a good thermometer and stainless steel pot.

My strainer is ready over a bowl and lined with muslin. Did you know...that cheesecloth isn't the best thing to use in making cheesecloth? Muslin is. Don't look at me, I dunno either!

I slowly (as in slower than molasses, like watching paint dry kind of slow) heated the milk to 180 degrees, stirring frequently. Now here's where I messed up a little. See how looooong this thermometer is, and how much of it is NOT in the milk? That's what not to do, I later found out. The thermometer needs to be at least 3/4 covered by the milk to accurately read the temperature. So now you and I both know.

Once it gets to temperature the website said to turn off heat and add lemon juice. Wait, just turn it off. Do I remove the pot from the heat, or leave it there to stay kind of warm? Freaking out a little here since it didn't baby step it for me. Thankfully my expert on hand said, "Dummy, take it off the heat." No, she didn't call me a dummy, but she might have been thinking it. I wouldn't blame her. 

So I turned off the heat, took it off the burner, and added the lemon juice and gave it a stir. Now to let it sit for 10 minutes and start to curdle.

Doesn't look so appetizing here, but just wait...

After 10 minutes, I poured it all through the muslin-lined strainer, then pulled the corners of the muslin up around the spoon and secured it with a rubber band.  The whey (the liquid part) drains into the bowl below.

I let it drain for about an hour and a half. I squeezed some of the excess whey from the bag of curds too, and wish I hadn't. I think on my next batch I will drain it for about half that time, so it will be creamier, and not so crumbly.

 I had about 1.5 pints of whey left over, and can use it to make Grandmother Bread tonight.

Here come the curds!

 I think we can call these cheese now!

 I added in some chives...

 A sprinkle of coarse kosher salt...

 Mixed it all up...

And ate it for supper with some garlic Triscuits! 

I've made one more batch since then, and it went a lot easier, now that I know what I am doing, at least with this kind. I can't wait to make more cheeses!

Trick or Treat..smell my chicken

My ten year old is one of those kids who changes her mind daily about what to dress up for Halloween. She usually wants to make her own costume, which is fine with me. Homemade  = always cheaper. This year she started out wanting to be a cheetah. Then it was a cheetah princess. Then a cheetah princess gymnast. At least she stayed with the same basic theme this year. Until about 2 hours before we left.

I jokingly said she should dress up as a farmer and walk her goat around with her. She immediately jumped on that idea! I found her a pair of overalls and boots, grabbed her dad's hat, and she was ready.

We had to clean the SUV out to make room for a goat in the back. Limited on which goat to take, due to the space, we finally decided on Fred, since he was small. He also doesn't have horns, so he would be safe for little children to pet. See, I might be insane, but I do have some mature thoughts once in a while.

Isn't he cute? I love our little crooked face Fred. He was a triplet, so I guess his face had to find room wherever it could. 

We got Fred leashed up, and then he decided he wasn't having any part of this. Back in the pen he goes.

I told her she could take a leash and tell people she was looking for her goat. That idea went over like the proverbial lead balloon.

She was so disappointed that she couldn't take one of the goats, but settled for a chicken. We got the cage ready and caught one of our young Barred Rock pullets.

This is Dynamite. She was less than thrilled at first, but she actually seemed to like riding in the car! Really, she did.

All dressed and ready!!

First stop, as always, was Nonie's (her grandma) house. Does she know how to prepare goodies for trick or treaters or what?

Yummy pumpkin dump cake, still warm from the oven!

After a quick stop to meet up with her cousin, she was off to harass all the neighbors. She came home with a nice haul, and as she has learned over the years, immediately divided up the goodies with me and her dad.