The City Mouse in the Country

     So I got back from the doctor's the other day.  He was happy with my progress as my weight was down, my blood pressure was down and that affected every thing else that we were worried about, like my blood sugar.    I'm still not exercising the way that he wants me to do...but honestly I have a lot of life changes going on as it is, and I don't need another source of stress in my world right now.  I am also lazy.     I am however fascinated in the change that I've experienced since trying to eat healthier or a Plant Based diet.   I still eat meat, and most likely always will, but I find myself craving something like a full rich salad more than a steak.   Or something with a meat substitute like paneer or tofu or seitan .  I've not tried anything made with tempeh yet but I'm looking forward to that day.       I actually find myself craving something plant based, so much so that I've gone out of my way to buy it.   My energy level seems a little better

    This entire past weekend had been dreary.  We are in the midst of a cold front that has brought a steady soaking, cold and misting rain that soaks into you very bones.  It is a good weekend for making a good and hearty soup and other foods to warm your soul.     While it is not cold, our high was barely above 60 F (16 C), it was cold enough at night for us to start the pellet stove to warm the house and to start thinking about soup.   It particular there was one soup that I came across that got me interested in making it.         Even the name of it, Brie and Cheddar Apple Beer Soup , got my mouth watering.        I had also came across an interesting recipe for Eggnog Cheese , and while not quite ready to tackle that (I don't have a proper press), I certainly thought that I could make my own Eggnog !       Eggnog is one of those things that I would drink all year round, either "leaded" or "unleaded."  Although there are a lot of different ways to make eggno

      I recently read something that both surprised me and shocked me.   I was not looking for a research project, I wasn't even looking for anything but a distraction.   The problem is this particular distraction combined a few things that I love.   Food, being one of them, and History being the other.   It also contained a mystery; which at first seemed like a shock.  However it really something I had never really thought about before...but after a day of research all the puzzle pieces fell into place and it made sense.     So what was the mystery?    Exactly.     Japanese, and to a lesser extent Chinese culture had never really developed a Cheese or Dairy Culture.    I knew for example that in Tibet and other areas Yak's were used for the production of dairy.  Yak's milk is around 6 to 11% butterfat, meaning that it is perfect for things like yogurt, butter and cheese.  Water buffalo and even cattle were also known to both cultures.     However "dairy culture"

     I don't know what attracts me to "Amish Cheese's."  I came across a few recipes while putting about on the interwebs and was taken by them.  They do seem rather simple to make and they require little in actual work but they do require time.  While not exactly a "set it and forget it" cheese, these cheeses often used milk that has spoiled naturally over time or "Clabbered."       Which, considering the Amish lifestyle, makes perfect sense.  The Amish are not a wasteful people.        One cheese that caught my eye is called Amish Cup Cheese.   It is a soft spread where you heated the milk to room temperature first (about 72 F) then let it cool, letting the curds seperate from the whey.    Then you add a bit ingredients and again...you "rested" the cheese for 12 hours before moving on to the next step.  Then, again add some more ingredients then rest for 5 hours before moving on.  It's not hard, just time consuming.        It's

      I'm slowly but surely moving ahead with my cheese hobby. Recently I found some Facebook groups and other resources that are helpful in how to make cheese and what equipment I need,  including how to build a cheese press and make a cheese "cave."   Although I swear they are all hiring professional photographers to take pictures of their cheese!     I'm still trying to keep it simple, however after the success of the Insta Pot Paneer cheese , I could not help but wonder what other cheeses I could make in an Insta Pot.   I found three different types of cheeses actually.   Cottage Cheese, which frankly I never really liked the taste of and wasn't interested in making.  Mozzarella and Ricotta were the other two.  I picked the recipes that I did simply because they didn't require any rennet or starters like many of the other recipes I found.     I was unsure if I was ready for Mozzarella yet.       Out of all the cheese's this is probably the one that

       Hey everyone!  Did you know that this page now has a companion Facebook page?    It will have articles, memes and such that interest me that relate to this page but don't really apply.  Be sure to check it o ut!        I have to be honest, at no time did I ever think I would want to make cheese.   My first effort , done more as an experiment than anything else, turned out very well.  So well in fact, that I wondered what else I could make.   I wanted to keep it simple. My first Cheese, misshapen and all      Keeping it simple means different things to different people of course.   I was hooked when I started to look up exactly what rennet was.  Which brings up the whole question of what the hell primitive man was thinking when they decided to put the milk back into the intestines of a dead animal or what lead to that discovery...and moving on.     The earliest cheeses are probably similar to the Farmer's cheese that I made earlier (see link above) and that got me looki

      It started with a simple question.   What does Goat's milk taste like?     Several years ago when Sue and I first started to seriously consider moving home (Okay...two years ago) and moving into the country we laughed about getting goats.       There were a few reasons for this really: Sue finds Goats really cute, and the baby goats are adorable They produce milk I personally love goat cheese   We both have had goat meat in the past and enjoyed it.      However we only have two plus a bit more acres here, and goats - while any animal to be honest - have to be worth our time and expense.   Remember we're talking feed, cleaning up after them and basically never taking another vacation again because we have to look after the animals.  While we have never specifically ruled out any farm animals, it's not going to happen anytime soon.     So any animals other than our two cats were pretty much out of the picture for now, although we inherited two additional outdoor cats by