Bucket's Away!

     Everyone seems to have a bucket list nowadays.  They are the latest thing, maybe because of the movies or just because people are talking about them more.  I've never had a bucket list, per se.  There are only a very few things that I want to do in my life before I die.  So, I guess I had a bucket list, I just didn't call it that before.  My list is pretty short and simple.  In fact it is so short I'm looking to add to it just because it doesn't seem like it is enough compared to what others have on their lists.  This is a list of worldly things, I have a different one that has more personal/spiritual ones on it.

Lisa's Bucket List:

1. Fly first class
2. Go on a two week vacation at a resort villa with my family (like the ones on television with the private infinity pool, view, etc.)
3. Make my own cheese
4. Buy a brand new car once (did that about four years ago)
5. Own my own business
6. Write a book before I'm thirty (did that at age 28)

That's it!  I told you it is pretty short, and perhaps a little boring.  However I have one more thing to cross off my list.  Can you guess?  Kansas has afforded me the opportunity to make my own cheese. 
     A cheese making kit has been on my Christmas and Birthday list for the past few years.  I always thought it would be such a cool thing to do.  Those of you who know me well, understand that I love to learn the old ways (baking from scratch, canning, sewing, growing vegetables -- despite my black thumb, knitting, crocheting, etc.).  These are skills that are becoming lost in our modern society and that makes me a little sad but just makes me enjoy learning them more.  Which brings me to the cheese making. 
     I love cheese.  It just makes so many things taste better.  My favorite?  Vermont Extra Sharp Cheddar (white not orange/yellow).  Yummy!!!  I think back to the story of Heidi and how they lived on cheese and bread.  I am all for that!  Is it any wonder I love cheese fondue?  I didn't think so either.   Have you ever wondered how to make cheese?  I never really thought about it much as I had no cows or goats to milk and make it from.  That is until I found out that we could make our own cheese from a kit.  I was sold.  Apparently my family not so much as I never received the kit as a gift.  When our friends from Texas arrived we did what we always do, talk about, cook and eat food.  One of the things I mentioned was that I had always wanted to make cheese.  Google was not able to help us find the necessary ingredient but the conversation, excitement and thought had been reinforced by their visit.  All it took was a conversation with my beloved husband, and the fact that the kit was very inexpensive for my dream to become a reality. 
     A child on Christmas morning had nothing on me the day that my cheese making kit arrived.  I was so beyond delighted.  Only one small, tiny issue.  That was the day my daughter and I needed to be in Topeka for a meeting so my husband opened the package.  The issue was that by the time we arrive home it was late, extremely late and so I could not read the book, instructions or make the fresh mozzarella immediately.  The next morning I was up before dawn, literally (although this is not unusual).  I promise you I had read the book, the instructions and watched the DVD before lunchtime.  Then began the wait.  My husband had the vehicle so there was no running to the store to get the gallon of whole milk until he was home from work.  This was NOT a good day for him to work late, yet I survived and he came home with the milk.
     Now I'm going to pause here and tell you a little something about making cheese.  There are basically three major factors in making cheese (lots of minor ones but three major ones).  They are the milk, the additives (rennet, cultures, etc.) and the process.  Mozzarella is the easiest cheese to make and the best for beginners to perfect before moving on to other cheeses.  Mozzarella can be made from a gallon of store bought milk IF the milk isn't Ultra-Pasteurized or heated to a high temperature for too long.  Milk can be pasteurized by heating it to a lower temperature for a longer time or a really high temperature for a very short time.  The pasteurization kills the bad bacteria (and some of the good stuff too) and makes it safe for us to drink.  Unfortunately not all milks are suitable for making cheese because many of them are heated too high.
     We were all excited to make our first batch of mozzarella.  The recipe told us that it should only take about thirty minutes.  Woo hoo!  We followed the directions but the first batch did NOT come out well at all.  More like a ricotta in consistency.  Strike one for Brand A.  Worry overtook me, what if my husband said that was it, he was done making cheese?  Fortunately, he is more like me.  We looked at what could have gone wrong.  We decided to try again the next day.  This time we used a powered milk and heavy cream combination instead of the store bought milk.  We followed each step MUCH more precisely and were rewarded with this:

It was heavenly!  This puts even the store bought "fresh mozarella" to shame.  Needless to shame it was gone in minutes, especially when pizza is on the menu.  We attempted to make another batch with a different kind of store bought milk but that made a perfect ricotta (a to die for ricotta) because the milk had been pasteurized at too high of a temperature.    Our next adventure in cheese making will be with fresh, unpasteurized milk from a local farm.  Can hardly wait for that one.  Until then we will stick for the recipe that worked the best for now. 
     That makes number three on my bucket list ... done!  I'm thinking that the only way to check off number one and two on my bucket list is to do well with number five.  Meanwhile, we will be enjoying some incredible fresh, homemade cheese.