Homemade Goat Cheese?! No Whey!

My "This is never gonna work" face

It's the day after Friday, and all through the place, not a roommate is present, it's all my own space.

What shall I do with my afternoon quiet? Why, make a new creation to fit in my diet!

Goat cheese has a pretty nice taste, but where do I start? I don't want to waste! So quick as a jiff I pull up YouTube, and for video after video, I am glued. But finally I think I have gathered my thoughts, to the store next I run to have my supplies be boughts.

Supplies Needed:
2 Liters Goat Milk
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Cheese cloth
Big pot and spoon for boiling
Strainer and bowl for separating
Salt to taste

Home in an hour with goat milk in tow, I toss on my apron at the neck with a bow. Out comes a pot as big as my head, the instructions say low heat, but I turn it up instead. Into the pot goes 2 liters of milk, stirring without ceasing is no joke.

Bring it just to a boil, then turn off as you add the vinegar

Vinegar is next to make the milk curdle, curdling the cheese fat was no easy hurdle. I poured it in slowly, I stirred then I waited, but no curdling happened, the foam just deflated.

This is a selfie of my sad face when the milk wouldn't curdle

I set it aside, and decided to wait, as I talked on the phone and our Christmas tree did un-decorate. An hour went by before I chose to move on, but the cheese once started had to be done.

Into the cheese cloth I poured the big mess, and swished it around until I could make a safe guess, that now maybe it could begin to drip dry, and wrapped it all up and the corners did tie. Then I hung the whole bundle from a spoon and a pot, letting the whey from the curds dribble and drop.

An hour and a half the bundle did sit, before I checked the contents and if it was fit, to be salted and eaten, fit for a king! The bundle was ready, with chips and a fling, I tossed some on top and tried the whole thing.

So for better or worse, the attempt was quite good - I dare you to try it, I think that you could.

This Just In, Kids.... Matches Are Not For Grown Ups

Deck the tree with gasoline
Fa-la-la-la la-la la-la la-la
Light a match and throw it in
Fa-la-la-la la-la la-la la-la
Watch the branches
Burn to ashes
Fa-la-la-la la-la la-la la-la
Aren't you glad
We played with matches
Fa-la-la-la la-la la-la la-la!

Wow wee! I had no idea such Christmas bliss could be so completely terrifying...

Did anybody else know there are literally about a million webpages and PSAs giving "safety guidelines" on having a live Christmas tree in your home without burning the whole thing down??

Apparently this is a bigger issue than anyone ever realized.

Ah yes - something new learned every day.

So tonight after work, all I could think about as I drove home in the 22 degree weather was a hot bowl of soup, a glass of red wine, and a fire in my fireplace. I knew I had the means to achieve at least two of these Friday night desires (Don't judge me for just wanting to chill by the fire on my one Friday night of the week - I was out with friends last night. I have a life. I promise!!!) and I was EXCITED!

An hour later (yes, it really does take me an hour to get home from work) I find myself in my living room with an arm full of branches from the backyard that I had collected before Christmas and set aside to dry out enough to burn.

Yes. I am cheap. Get over it. (Only with things like this)

I set everything up in the fire place, and that's when it hits me. A wonderful, beautiful, brilliant, idea. I can use branches from the Christmas tree sitting right next to my face as kindling! I have to throw it out tomorrow anyways. (Amazing I'm half-way done with my Masters Degree, no?)

Don't worry - I didn't burn down the house. Spoiler alert; but let's be real - had I done that there is a 0% chance I'd be sitting on the ashes of my charred possessions typing a blog post about it.

(I'm still trying to wrap my mind about the whole blogging thing to begin with. How much of a loser do I have to be to actually write a blog for no good reason??)

But I did light a beautiful fire in my fireplace. That lasted the length of time it took me to take this picture...



Before turning into a complete flaming inferno...

Let's keep in mind where my Christmas tree is in relation to my fireplace...



No comment.

At about the time my fireplace was engulfed in huge flames, my tendency to fear the worst kicked in, and I ran to the kitchen and grabbed the first thing I could think of (In this case, a huge pot) and filled it with water.

About 35 seconds later I'm hauling a pot into the living room, swishing water all over myself, in time to see the fireplace attempting even more to embody the very gates of hell, and a flame or two may have even lapped outside the glass doors.

It took me less than a second's thought to decide my next move - and I threw the entire contents of the pot (with gusto) onto the fire, which quickly fizzled out.

Yay for water! What a wonderful creation.

http://www.rosieonthehouse.com/faq_detail.aspx?id=469 --> if you ever wonder "Hmm, should I use my Christmas tree as kindling!?!?"

So there you have it boys and girls. Don't play with matches.


*** An hour later - The fire just came back to life. I was sitting here minding my own business when I hear a noise, and lo and behold - the fire is alive and hearty in the fireplace. ***

It's 2014 and Starting a Blog Seems Like The Thing To Do In The Moment...

Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and be honest. This blog is probably only going to last as long as this post takes to write... But then again, there's a slight possibility I will actually be amused with myself enough to continue writing more than once.

So a quick disclaimer for anyone who happens to accidentally stumble upon this, and then find themselves bored enough to continue reading...

*THIS BLOG WILL BE ADD* (As in all over the place with no real rhyme or reason)

So as I sat on my little black sofa this morning with my coffee and journal reflecting over 2013, I realized what a truly eventful year it had been. I started a new job, bought my first new car, had my first relationship post my broken engagement, traveled overseas, lost three people I loved, wrecked my first car, had surgery, completed 2 more classes for my MA, started Crossfit, and about a million other things I haven't even thought of yet. It was an intense year.

I can't help but wonder what 2014 will hold?

New Years Resolutions - who really ever does these things???
1. Travel overseas again
2. Don't drop out of school
3. Don't wreck my car again
That's literally as far as I have gotten...

Oh well - I've never been good at that anyway.

In other news - I bought kale today at the grocery store to see what all the hype is about. It pretty much reeks. I tried a little raw first, and was underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, I'm basically the world's least picky eater (within the realm of my ability to eat it without dying), but this stuff was a little bit like eating fresh spinach that has been sitting in the fridge too long and the few pieces at the bottom of the bag have started to turn slimy. You know that taste. Where you lie to yourself saying "no big deal, I'll just eat the spinach off the top and throw out the rest, and it'll be fine" but all the while you can taste that it came out of the bag with Mr. Slimy and friends? Yeah - that's what the kale tasted like.

Round 2: Putting it in a smoothy. Wrong.

Round 3: Boiled it in water with a little salt and Tony's Original Cajon Seasonings.... Not bad. Considering it was round three and bearable, I ate it.

Benefits of kale that I found out from some reading online (meaning; believe these if you should so choose to do so):

1. High in iron and fiber - which mean it'll keep you from being anemic and help you poop
2. High in vitamin K and antioxidants - Supposedly helps prevent cancer, but who really knows anything about cancer? We clearly don't know anything yet.
3. High in vitamin A, Omega 3 fatty acids, and helps lower cholesterol - Helps with heart health and brain function (which is good for me, considering I literally forgot what I was doing in the MIDDLE of doing my laundry earlier today)
4. High in vitamin C and calcium - Bones and immune system. WHOO!
5. Great detox food - Eh, toxins from the liver and stuff. Still not overly convinced this really happens. Typically whenever I do a "detox diet" I just end up with a bad case of the runs - so I guess we will see if kale has that same effect in about an hour...

I'll keep eating it. For now...

Alright my friend who has actually read this post to the end - This is the end of my first post :)