Curds & Whey

Well, Belmont is out of town taking part in Youth Leadership Training.  He went with a group of people from our church, which included my friend Sarah's husband.  SO Sarah and I decided to stay together and be roommates!  It has made the week much easier.  Yesterday (when our teaching seminar was canceled due to inclement weather), we decided to be crafty.  We made black bean brownies (yum!) and... HOMEMADE MOZZARELLA CHEESE!!!  I still can't believe we made cheese!

I used the most natural milk I could find at the grocery,

but next time I will probably use raw goat's milk.

First we put the milk in a pot and got it up to 90 degrees.
(Like my handy dandy thermometer?  I just got it!)

We had to add 1 tsp. of citric acid to the milk

to start the curdling process.

You can see the curds beginning to form!

We added 1/4 tsp. of liquid rennet and then let it sit

for 8 minutes.  It turned into a slightly gelatin texture.

Next, we sliced the gelatin-like cheese and stirred it around.

Separating the curds and the whey.

(Little Miss Muffet is weird.  That's what I decided.)

We put the curds in a microwave-safe bowl,

and then had to continue draining the whey.

Curds only!  Microwave it for 40 seconds, drain.

Repeat.  Eventually we kneaded the curds to form a mass.

Stretch and knead, repeat.

Sarah was best at this step.  I couldn't do it.

Put the cheese in an ice water bath for 5 minutes.

Homemade mozzarella!!  My dad's response was,
"Looks creepy  :)"  Haha!  Thanks, Dad!

We used part of the homemade cheese to make

DELICIOUS homemade flatbread pizzas!  Yum!

Here are our black bean brownies.  Love these!!

We are having lots of fun and trying not to think too much about our hubbies being gone.  A tornado touched down last night a few miles from where they are staying-- yikes!  They are enjoying their classes though, and seem to be learning a lot about ministry.

In the plans for the rest of the week?  Homemade laundry detergent (which Belmont and I use, but Sarah wanted to try) and the rest of the Tiramisu that we got from Trader Joe's.  Maybe make some Valentine's?  Who knows!

I hope you are all doing well!  Please pray for us and for our husbands as they are out of town (in crazy weather)!