Homemade Mozzarella

Today I used the cheese kit to make mozzarella. It really did only take 30 minutes. Here were the things that suprised me:

• so much whey left over- not much cheese... this has nothing to do with the kit, but just the amount of solids vs liquids that make up the milk. I used the whey to make bread, and pizza crust for the pizza. The crust had a warm. sweet flavor. The bread didnt rise quite right, but also was sweet(er). Even with making a double batch of bread and two pizza crusts, I had about a half gallon of whey left over. Seems like a lot of whey-ste (sorry, bad pun).
• The milk and cheese have a very sweet smell while cooking- not really a smell I've associated with mozzarella before, more with hot cocoa.
• I think I need to add lipase powder- this is an optional powder that you can add to make your italian cheeses more flavorful. The mozzarella I made without it was fine, but kind of bland. I used a bit more salt than recommended, but it still needed something else. But it was great on the pizza.

For the pizza, I made the dough using the whey, shredded the cheese, and made a sauce from fresh tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, garlic and herbs from the garden (mint, basil). It worked out to be pretty tasty.

The kit

Heating the milk

The cheese

The pizza

How Does Your (Herb) Garden Grow

In other homesteading news my organic herbs arrived today from Mulberry Creek Farms. I love them because they have so many varieties of herbs, but I think next year I will try to buy from my local farmer's market instead. I've noticed some great options each time I go, but I've had to hold off on buying b/c I had already ordered with MCF. Next year, I'll go local and cut down on the fossil fuels and packaging (plus MCF does take a while to ship when they are busy in the spring- I ordered about a month ago and they just got here).

Anyway, because we joined the CSA for the summer, and the CSA has alot of tomatoes and cukes (what I usually grow), I've decided to focus most of my growing space (which is not much- our neighborhood has wonderful century-old trees that keep our yard in partial shade) on herbs.

I already had two kinds of rosemary that just keeps on growing and growing, as well as mexican oregano that grows like crazy. Added to that I locally bought peppermint and spearmint, and am trying chocolate mint from MCF as well (for brownies, ice cream, tea, coffee). The mint is the spread out because it grows anywhere, and can deal with the partial shade, and os I can try to harvest seeds that wont have hybridized mint flavors. In the sunny patch of garden, I have lots of pesto basil (mammoth and genovese), lime basil (for chicken, salads, fruits, etc), purple ruffles basil (more for looks), and cinnamon basil (again for fruits, salads, desserts?). There's cilantro (also makes coriander), and a compact dill. A small bit of chives that lasted the winter, and two stevia plants, which I plan to experiment with as a non-caloric sweetener. All in all 12 plants in the ground today- hoping that I can use these herbs in combo with the CSA stuff to make some good summer meals!

Suburban Homesteading: Yogurt

So last night I made some yogurt, keeping track of the cost of the ingredients going in to compare with store-bought. It took me about 20-30 minutes. basically: heat milk to 180 degrees to kill bacteria, cool to 118 degrees, mix in 4 tablespoons of organic plain yogurt, and let it sit in a thermos or other set-up that will keep the milk warm (I've heard of using the oven, a crock pot that you turn on and off, a heating pad, etc- I personally have a Yogotherm, which is basically a yogurt-making thermos that cost about $35. It's not a necessity keeps the temp consistent and holds a large quantity).

In doing the math for the raw ingredients, I ended up making organic, plain yogurt for less than 7 cents an ounce, even with the high price of organic milk. This cost is about 40 percent cheaper than storebought, even in large quantities. There were a few things I could have done to make it even more cost-effective- making larger batches (a gallon of milk is cheaper than a half-gallon, per ounce), and using my own homemade yogurt as a starter (instead of storebought). You can use your own yogurt as a starter, which cuts the production cost by about 205. I've seen it recommended that you freshen the starter with store-bought yogurt or freeze dried starter (much more expensive) about every month or so, to keep the organisms in balance.

For the kids, I don't like to let the yogurt sit too long because it gets more tart the longer it sits. On the other hand, it also gets firmer, so it's a delicate balance. It firms up fine for us (more so than the local dairy version, which we loved but vetoed because it had HFCS in it!) but I've heard you can add gelatin or powdered milk for a firmer consistency. I may try the powdered milk, as it's not too pricey and you can get it organic.

As the younger starts eating more solids, I see lots of yogurt in our future, and I think this is a great easy way to get healthy, inexpensive yogurt with a minimum of additives. I think I'll continue to make in bulk, but to use up the larger quantities I may dabble in frozen yogurt and dips and sauces. I envision a tzatziki using the yogurt, the dill from the garden, cucumbers from the CSA, and locally-grown garlic.

In addition to the yogurt, I have vinegar culturing away in the basement (away from little hands). My next project is going to be cheese- I'm going to try the 3o minute mozzarella kit from New England Cheesemaking supply.

So we hit the local farmer's market yesterday. It's still a little thin, being the beginning of the season still. Only a few stands- got some garlic scapes, lettuce, chives, and free range eggs. Some organic, all locally produced. Hard choices between organic and local (I'd like to get both whenever possible, but will take local over organic if it's a) a farm that uses IPM but doesn't have organic cert, or b) its not a heavy pesticide product. Still, a hard balance to strike.

This was my first time cooking with garlic scapes, but they are awesome. I love garlic, and they have a garlic flavor, but it's much more subtle. I mixed it with some walnuts and olive oil to make some pesto, then mixed it with ground beed and whole wheat pasta. Threw in some local greenhouse cherry tomatoes, and it was pretty yummy! Although the 85% local eating thing we want to do is still in it's infancy, and most of the other stuff was not local, I still like the challenge of starting with an ingredient and making a recipe, than starting with a recipe and collecting ingredients. I may hit up a larger local market tomorrow and see what they have...

Suburban Homesteading

So I've decided my new life mission is to localize, localize, localize. Not sure how this will all pan out with going back to work and having less time, but it's important to me so I'm going to make it work. Let me step back and say that I was accused of being elitist because I think people should buy local/sustainably grown foods, unless they are truly impoverished. Hey, that's just my point of view, given the intangible costs to us all that come from the global warming (fuel consumed for growing conventional foods, fuel consumed from shipping out-of-season foods to our shelves year-long, etc), the lack of crop diversification, the pesticides and other chemicals, etc etc etc. If people think they cant afford food now, wait a few years into climate change, crop failures (due to homoginization of crops that leads to failures, etc). I understand that folks make choices- and we're not talking about truly impoverished people who have to choose between food and shelter, but people who make reasonable middle-class choices- maybe to work less and spend more time with kids, or to take an enjoyable but lower paying job, or to have cable tv or internet or other "luxuries"- but these same people then complain that they cannot afford organic/local foods. I think this comes from the way we generally think of food in this country- it is a commodity, fungible with any other food of the same type, and thus looking for the cheapest bottom line seems to make sense. I just wish more people understood the health and environmental issues that factor into "cost."

Additionally there are ways to make local foods cheaper for you. For example, one family who is having a hard time making ends meet has made the choice to have one adult in the couple stay home to save on daycare costs, and not to take an evening or weekend part time job. Although this voluntarily reduces their income, it also opens opportunities to save money and still eat local/sustainably. For example, there is a CSA in our area that allows you to get a week's worth of fresh produce at no cost, save 4 hours of labor at the farm (not necessarily hard labor either- bookkeeping and other office jobs count). Or that partner could get a part-time job for a few hours a week at a local food coop or organic food store, getting discounts, extra cash for quality food, and adult time out of the house. Or the time could be spent gardening (granted, that only works if you have a place to grow food). Am I privileged because I make enough money to buy local/sustainable without sacrificing other things in my life? I suppose so, but I work crazy hard to be able to do that. Would I love to stay home and care for my kids? Sure! But I don't make that choice because other things - stability and security for my family, good healthy food on the table, access to the world outside our little city- are also important to my family. That's my choice. It's all about choices, so I'm not sure that most middle class or lower middle class folks who say they can't afford sustainable local produce actually mean they don't want to make the choices necessary to do so, whether that means working more (which I understand why many people are loathe to do this), or putting more elbow grease into their food (including preserving and putting away local food while in season), or buying what is local and seasonal rather than what fits your recipe, or other creative choices (like the CSA work share, giving up internet, etc). Healthy, sustainable food really should be that important!

That said, rather than continuing in this negative space, I want to use this blog to document my attempts at what I'll call "suburban homesteading." To me, this means putting my own efforts into saving and even producing foods and products that we use. Why?

• To allow us to consume a significant amount of local food, even when it is not in season. By buying more local food, to know better where our food comes from, how it is grown and treated, and who makes it.
  
• To allow us to reduce the amount of unnecessary preservatives and additives in our food. To allow my kids to learn that producing and obtaining food is a process that goes beyond driving to the store.
  
• To save energy by buying fewer products that require packaging, or that are shipped over long distances.
  
• To save money by buying locally in season when things are plentiful and cheap, and saving them for later
• To have healthier foods with fewer pesticides and preservatives, and that have more fresh nutrients
• To be gentler on the environment by limiting our own use of foods that are hard on the environment in so many ways
  
• To honor and resurrect (and teach the kids) about "old-fashioned," simpler methods of food creation and preservation- methods that require time, patience, and attention, rather than just a stroll down the aisle with a squeaky cart. And some that might even be fun or good family activities!

It's going to be a journey with many missteps, I'm sure. And I'm looking forward to it.