Cheesepalooza November Challenge: Mozzarella!

Ah, mozzarella.  The first cheese I learned to make.

A Traditional Mozzarella

Lots of Changes Lately...

... the biggest one being the move from Edmonton (#yeg) back to the country. That's right, this rural girl is back where she belongs!

And look what my sister found for me :)

September Challenge: Chevre

Cheesepalooza - August Challenge

Eat Alberta 2012: Session One, Cheesemaking

You may remember my post telling you all to register for Eat Alberta.  Well, those of you that listened joined a fun filled foodie day at NAIT!

My lovely sister, Kristy, joined me for the day, as well as Mira and Yvonne! Kristy and I took the same sessions while Mira and Yvonne went off on different culinary adventures. 

Our first session of the day, after a great morning keynote by Nature's Green Acres, was Cheesemaking!

Coldrooms and Curing Cellars

My cellar is now empty.

The chorizo didn't -quite- dry to the centre. It was just that little bit moist... but it was 95% perfect! not bad for a first try. Could've been better had I been able to fix my humidity issue.

Damn humidity.

The sausages I'm keeping whole, but freezing. Then I can take them out to use on pizza, in pasta, etc once thawed. They're quite tasty :)

Cheese and Charcuterie

Today I finally ordered my cheese making supplies and sausage making goodies :)

I used these two websites...

New England Cheesemaking

Butcher and Packer

Why order online? Because I hadn't the faintest idea where to purchase any of those supplies here in Edmonton. A little research on other blogs (buttonsoup and kevinkossowan) suggested that the place they were getting some of their supplies from either moved or went out of business.

I'm happy with what I picked up and excited to finally get my butt organized enough to do this!

When my packages come in I'll give a much better listing of what I purchased. Until then, wait in suspense! ;)

Now, to clean up the basement and get my cellar up... October is a busy month... but i think if we plan it right and start picking up supplies now, we should be in good form to build at the beginning of November.

Better late than never? I think so... :)

Now, to find a dairy farmer that can sell milk... pasturized is fine with me, i know they probably can't legally sell raw milk. (Trade, maybe :) )

berry-good!

one more thing on a list of things i need to start doing...

Homemade Blackcurrant Liqueur

also known as Creme-de-Cassis

U-Pick farms beware! I'm on the hunt for fruits and berries of all sorts :)

oh, and a gouda recipe i need to save. once it starts to cool off a bit, my mom's home wil become a cheese lab :)

Homemade Gouda

Cheesemaking and Lamb

I've been following Kevin Kossowan's blog for a short while now... He always has great articles and wonderful tales of his adventures! I've now put him as one of the HomePage Tabs on my browser so I don't forget to check it :)


His latest posting is about Tangle Ridge Ranch, a lamb ranch. It's definitely worth the read, and I'm seriously considering purchasing from them. I'll have to discuss it with my hubby first, of course. But he likes lamb, so that shouldn't be a problem :) And I'm sure I could get at least one of my sisters/aunts/etc in on it as well...

"Hello? Yes, I'd like to order 4 whole lamb please..."

:) Yes, they only sell whole lamb. Which is the way to go in my opinion. How will you ever know what you like if you only purchase/cook/eat "prime"/"choice" cuts??? That's one way to really miss out...


And now for CHEESE! :D
If I'm gonna make cheese this summer I better get on it... My basement is almost organized enough that I should have a good cool spot to keep it. Otherwise, it'll be stored in my mother's or my baba's cold room. Which I guess would be ok, but not ideal.


Again, thanks to Kevin's Blog, I'll be looking into Glengarry Cheesemaking. Their site so far is very straight forward, easy for a novice (like me!) to understand and be able to order the right ingredients and equipment with only the beginnings of research under my belt.


So, go check the sites and be adventurous with your cooking!! :D


- DJK

Cheese!

I love cheese!! And really, who doesn't? Even if you can't eat cheese (lactose and whatnot) you still love the idea of it. Admit it :)

Here are some artisanal cheese makers from right here in Alberta. Their websites will tell you where you can go to pick up their products...

Smokey Valley Goat Cheese, Smoky Lake Alberta (North of Edmonton)

The Cheesiry, Lloydminster Alberta (East of Edmonton)

Harvest Haven Health, Lethbridge Alberta (South of Calgary)

Now, while I know where I can go to get artisan cheeses with a MADE IN ALBERTA stamp on them, there's nothing quite like trying to make it yourself... which is one of my goals for this summer. My aunt is trying it as well. We'll see who has the best cheese!! :D

Here are some excellent resources if you're going to attempt cheesemaking yourself...

Danlac Canada, Airdrie Alberta (North of Calgary)

The Cheesemaker, Wisconsin

Cheesemaking Supply Company, New England

Making Cheese at Home, University of Guelph Ontario