Easy Cheesy!

I made my first pound of Mozzarella this weekend. As I mentioned in my last post about Animal Vegetable Miracle there are great recipes at the end of each chapter. One such recipe is for 30 Minute Mozzarella. Barbara shares a trip with us in her book to a class at the New England Cheese Supply Company where a group of up and coming home cheese makers learned the fun and flavor of making homemade cheddar, queso blanco, and other such yummies.

As with many of Barbara's chapters I was drawn and inspired. So I went onto the New England Cheese Supply Company website and ordered myself some supplies for making my own cheese. Jody and I have already been making our own pizza from scratch- Wheat crust, fresh basil, tomato, and brocolli. The only thing needed was fresh mozzarella. Making the mozzarella was amazingly easy and went exactly according to recipe. It's really cool to see the curds pulling together and to have it scoop out nicely from the whey. I can't say I was able to fold and pull the cheese without burning my hands a little bit but all the same pretty entertaining to pretend like you're pulling fresh mozzarella in an Italian bistro (see pic).

In the end the flavor was pleasantly familiar, the only difference we found was when we baked the pizza the cheese actually began to brown a little on top and didn't melt down to that stretchy-gooey pizza cheese we see on TV. I'm guessing that is because of the speedy method of making this cheese compared to normal cheese making methods. All the same, great flavor, quick to make, and a lot of fun.

Our next cheesy adventure...ha, that's funny... is going to be an herbed goat cheese. This one will age for at least 4 weeks and I'm guessing will have some tremendous flavor. My only problem is finding goat's milk that isn't "ultra-pasteurized".

Animal Vegetable Miracle

I've been reading an incredible book- "Animal Vegetable Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. Barbara is a captivating author who has successfully drawn me into her little family experiment of living off of food grown and raised on their farm and those surrounding them for an entire year. The idea doesn't sound all that far fetched at first, until you think about how much we take for granted that isn't naturally available in our area. This "sacrifice", however, is not what is so enthralling about this book. It is more the brutal reality of our nation's food choices both in what we consume and how it gets to our table. One startling fact is how we export nearly the same amount of potatoes as we import...how does that work? Well in business it does, but for the quality of nutrition and the number of calories burned in fossil fuel for what is finally put in our bodies the ratios are outragious!

"Healthy", "Organic", and "Natural" have become increasingly mainstream. However financial implications have continued to steer the quality and sincerity of what this type of labeling truly stands for. I have found myself frequently looking for better deals and negotiating compromises in order to continue to appease my desire to eat a "Natural" diet. This in itself has become part of the problem as the large corporate food suppliers/manufacturers work to sustain their bottom line by adapting to market demand. Already, however, trend watchdogs have warned that "Organic" food supply is not sustainable to the mass market. This is true in the sense that the proper planting and harvesting of food crops and raising of livestock cannot be done successfully by large scale farming and distribution operations. At least not for the general population for a sustainable amount of time. What is however possible will be to return our country back to its agricultural roots by supporting local farms and businesses so that our food doesn't need the petroleum, chemical, CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operations), and hormoneal assistance to reach our gullet plump, perfect, and tasteless.

I have to say this book is endlessly entertaining in addition to all of the facinating information about our food sources. Barbara takes you through the year month by month in each chapter, highlighting the anticipation each new calendar month brings in the way of changing seasons and harvests. I am nearing the end of this book and have been inspired to pick up many new hobbies as I have made my way through it's chapters. Here's a short list. Baking pizza from scratch (crust, fresh toppings, and all), cheese making, bread baking (no bread machine here), fresh buns, Jody and I just got our heirloom tomato transplants in the mail from the seed saver's network, also some great varieties of seeds from the same source for things like purple basil and rooster's spur peppers all of which will be going in our greenhouse which we intend to build soon. I'm really excited about the cheese. Buena Vista has a new goat farm that should be in operation soon. I intend on getting fresh milk from them to make my own Chevre and Herbed Soft Goat Cheese, MMMMmmm!

So here is a link to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I encourage EVERYONE to pick up a copy at the bookstore or better yet, the Library (another new hobby of ours). Even if you don't intend on going as "crazy" as we have this is a very informative and entertaining book that won't dissapoint, but I expect will have even a slight impact on how you make your food choices. And please come back here from time to time and see how we're doing growing and making our own REAL FOOD!

P.S. This book also has some really great recipes after each chapter, recipes that correlate to the month previously discussed. These alone are a great reason to check this out.
Like Friday Night Pizza w/ 30 minute mozzarella!

Here's a link you might find interesting about the newly named Locavores "movement" from the New York Times.

Why I LOVE commuting by bike!!

I suppose some of the deeper meaning you feel comes from having to plan better. Which I feel makes what you are doing more efficient and less impulsive. For instance, last Monday Jody and I rode our bikes into town to run some errands, including grocery shopping. Before we began our adventure (how often can you call it that when you’re driving a car?) we made a plan to minimize running around, put together a shopping list, borrowed a bike trailer from The Trailhead and dressed appropriately for a 16 mile round trip. We knew what we had to do and we set to it. Everything we set out to do went according to plan, including the all important quality time relaxing together. Small occurrences made things more interesting than an all consumptive drive into town, such as the massive herd of elk out by our house and a minor mechanical issue that nearly sent Jody over the handlebars (fortunately a bike mechanic was close by). By the time we made it back up the hill and back home we had filled most of our day touring up and down the north end of the valley feeling very self sufficient with our trailer full of a weeks worth of groceries and not a cent spent on carbon rich fuel! And that's all a great feeling!!

Life on two wheels

I began riding my bike to work, regularly, about a month ago. It’s a good feeling to say the least. The obvious reasons being the primary motivation, such as gas heading toward $4 gallon, our influence on climate change, and getting myself back in shape. But some of the other perks of self-propelled transportation have manifested themselves in my daily life. It may sound like a familiar corny cliché but our automotive lifestyles have inhibited us from slowing down, quieting down, and enjoying so many things that go by in a blur outside the protection of our windshield. Even on the few occasions this month that I’ve fallen helpless to the need to take the car into town I find a feeling of angst that I am missing something outside. One such thing I enjoy is the direct connection I get when my mind decides it’s time to move forward and my legs respond by pushing the pedals which as an immediate response I am moved toward my destination. Sure you can accomplish the same thing with a combustion engine, but you lose touch in a car. You rarely appreciate the topography of the space around you when you’ve got 100+ hp pushing you up a hill or past another person, or even cruising downhill. You also appreciate what is happening around you, like what is really going on with the weather that day, or having a chance rendezvous with a friend, or seeing a part of your neighborhood you had never noticed. But on a bike there’s a deeper connection and meaning. It's hard not to feel good leaving your car in the driveway and setting out on your bike to experience more from your daily routine. Cycling has embedded itself in my life over the last year and a half, and without sounding too extremist I hope I might influence more to join me in a childhood pasttime as a part of our daily lives.