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Sorry, No More Holiday Orders- Back in a Few Days!

Posted on December 17, 2012 by in CHEESY ADVENTURES

Hi! Just a  quick note to let you know that I have had to pause all sales in order to  fill orders and ship to all of you wonderful customers promptly. I am not able to accept any more orders for the holidays. The shop will go live again on Dec. 23rd but I will start shipping those orders on January 9, 2013. Use that gift cash :) ! I will begin to respond to messages on January 2, 2013.

HUGE thanks for your support all year, I hope you have some cheesy good times very soon, Claudia

cheesemaking party

SALE PAUSE- December 16- December 22

SHOP KEEPER’S BREAK- December 22-JANUARY 2

MUST HAVE A KIT BEFORE JANUARY? TRY YOUR LOCAL WILLIAMS-SONOMA STORE FOR KITS I CREATED FOR THEM:

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/search/results.html?N=4294964793&words=cheese+kit

DIY Cheese Kits on Daily Grommet- inventions, innovative products, good gifts…

Posted on April 13, 2011 by in CHEESY ADVENTURES, Press, Uncategorized

Update- the VIDEO reviewing my kits is out. Watch me be nervous and blink way too much! This is what happens when you make things after work, late at night! Ha. They did a good job and even made cheese though!

I’m excited to share some great news: Friday 4/15, beginning at noon (EST), 9am for us west coast folks, and running throughout the weekend, Daily Grommet (http://www.dailygrommet.com) will feature our DIY Cheese Kits!  Daily Grommet is a new company with a mission to find unique products and share their stories through video, blog, and an active community discussion.

I hope you’ll take a moment to stop by DailyGrommet.com when our kits are being featured.  It would be wonderful to hear your thoughts, reflections, and feedback and to add them to the conversation – it’s really easy to leave a comment in the “Talk about this Grommet” section.  And if you want to make sure you don’t miss our feature, just sign up for the daily email from Daily Grommet.

After our time on the Daily Grommet homepage, you can still find our DIY Cheese Kits under “Recent Grommets” or within the shopping categories.  Feel free to comment there – Daily Grommet customers often search through this area of past Grommets looking for great gift ideas and special treats for themselves!

Thanks so much for your support and we hope to see you at Daily Grommet! (I’ll be there commenting as well.) Claudia

Two free Queso Blanco demonstrations coming your way!

Posted on September 21, 2009 by in CHEESY ADVENTURES, Uncategorized

Hello. I love the Montavilla Farmers Market! It’s in my neighborhood, I used to shop there and now I have little stall there most Sundays. Even though I can be a little shy (read- antisocial) normally, I have been enjoying talking to would-be and experienced cheesemakers tremendously. At this point people who bought a kit last week come and report on their experience- it’s so fun, such a community feel! This small but perfectly complete market is a treat- I hope you can check it out sometime (it will extend into Oct and Nov)!

A good day to come by is Sun. Oct. 4th when I will be demonstrating Queso Blanco with the market’s resident chef Kathryn.

Queso Blanco Shaped in a Ricotta Mold

Queso Blanco Shaped in a Ricotta Mold

We will make the cheese from start to finish and use market goodies to create a savory and sweet way to sample this versatile cheese (she will be working on a mostarda? or chutney of some sort!). It’s at 10:30am and free. I know you will LOVE this market too!

Then as a reminder, I will lead this very same demo at The Wedge Cheese Festival on Saturday Oct. 3 at 11am. I will be browning some queso in olive oil this day- you’ll be hooked…

Free class, free samples! How often does that happen?

Throw another chunk of cheese on the barby! Huh?

Posted on June 5, 2009 by in CHEESY ADVENTURES, Uncategorized

So I went to my first BBQ of the season and as I do for most get-togethers, I decided to make cheese. You may already know that I often pan-fry Paneer and Queso Blanco (because they don’t melt!) but I don’t often grill them…of course I had to try. Though my cheese wasn’t very tasty today (I tried to multi task and allowed the milk to boil, a lot, I know better but it snuck up on me..email is distracting, time warp!), it was quite firm which made it great for the grill.

I had a michelada (mexican beer with lime juice and chili/salt mix) or two at the BBQ so I didn’t take photos of the results for you but I did take pictures of the prep and build up. Imagine toasty cheese cubes with grilled red peppers and potatoes, drizzled with rosemary, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper…yum! Don’t leave this on the grill too long or your cheese will get very dry- I did that.

Find cheese kits and cheese making supplies in Portland stores now!

Posted on May 29, 2009 by in CHEESY ADVENTURES, Uncategorized

Good news! If you’re in Portland, you can purchase a kit at these Portland, Oregon stores. I will keep adding as the list grows. If you own a store or want to suggest one, I’d love to hear about it. Enjoy and always come back for updates on the kits etc. thanks!

is a cute kit like this in your future?

is a cute kit like this in your future?

Stores:

http://www.albertagrocery.coop/ (all 3 kits- moz/ricotta, paneer/queso blanco, fresh goat cheese)

http://www.urbanfarmstore.com/ (moz/ricotta kit by June 5)

cheese talk on the radio!

Posted on May 20, 2009 by in CHEESY ADVENTURES, Uncategorized

Hello cheesemakers! Just wanted to let you know something kind of funny, I’m going to be interviewed about cheese making and my cheese kits on a small Internet radio station this Thursday, May 21. It’ll be a show called Chocolate Covered Bacon through http://artisanshoppe.com/, 3pm Pacific Time, 6pm Eastern Time.

Click install or listen live depending on your set-up and you should be good. It won’t be riveting or anything but it’s kinda cool especially if any of you want to promote your handmade goods too. They’re all about artisans of all kinds. Tell them I sent you!

Also, I’d love to hear from those of you who have already received and tried your cheese kits. Please post on this blog or email me with questions, ideas, feedback, testimonials etc. Thanks and happy cheese making,

Are you a Cheese Nerd? The basic stages of making fresh cheese (in this case for easy microwave mozzarella)

Posted on April 19, 2009 by in CHEESY ADVENTURES, Uncategorized

The joy that these photos bring me makes me feel like such a cheese nerd. The milk, curds, the whey, the cutting, the ladling, the coagulation, the end result. Oooooh.

note: My apologies for the lack of photos between curds and finished mozzarella knot. I was alone in the kitchen and can’t exactly take photos while stretching and shaping hot mozzarella. I will enlist a photographer soon and add those photos but for now, know that yes, there are steps in between. Unless you have a special microwave oven, you’ll have to do some work before it turns into the finished product. These were just photos to nerd out on, not a full instructional. See my recipes soon though!

Meanwhile, buttermilk cheese is apparently a Jewish thing? Who knew?!

Posted on April 18, 2009 by in RECIPES, Uncategorized

I’ve been curious about the fact that buttermilk used to be a home staple but somehow has fallen out of favor. I’ve decided to try using it in many ways…pancakes, biscuits, waffles and of course cheese!!

Much to my excitement, it turns out that cultured buttermilk can be used as a mesophilic starter in cheese-making. More info. on that later.

As I searched for recipes I ran across this simple recipe that calls for baking buttermilk for a unique cheese- it sounded intriguingly different so I had to try it! Soooo easy and delicious.

Buttermilk Cheese (Tvarog) (D, TNT)
Source: “MealLeaniYUMM!” by Norene Gilletz
Yield: Approximately 2 cups

2 litres (quarts) of buttermilk

Place 2 litres (quarts) of buttermilk in a large covered ovenproof casserole. (I use a Corning Ware casserole.) Place in a preheated 375ºF oven for 15 to 20 minutes. It will separate into curds and whey.

Pour warm liquid into a cheesecloth-lined colander. Tie ends of cheesecloth and let drain for several hours. (Hang it over the faucet of the sink; put a bowl underneath to catch the whey, which can be used to replace sour milk or buttermilk in baking.) For a firmer cheese, squeeze out most of the liquid. Wrap well and refrigerate. It will keep about a week.

Here it is draining…
bag o curds

The cheese was super creamy and tangy, kind of like a mix between cream cheese and sour cream. Next time I will try to make a cheesecake out of it. The yield was great!

Messing with Mozzarella

Posted on March 23, 2009 by in CHEESY ADVENTURES, Uncategorized

Ever since I made my first easy microwave mozzarella my mad scientist little brain has been cooking up variations. Mozzarella is delicious and very useful as is but besides that I can never seem to leave well enough alone, it’s not really a savory, snacking cheese in my opinion. I did however see its potential, with some additions.

moz knot

moz knot

So today I made a gallon batch, split the results in two, added dried jalapeno flakes and red pepper flakes to one bowl (fresh and pungent, bought at Limbo Inc., sorry they don’t have a website but they are at SE 39th and Holgate in Portland, OR- HUGE selection of dried herbs, spices as well as some local produce) and I added mixed herbs to the other (I believe it’s tarragon, parsley, dill and basil; along with cheese salt of course) and both varieties turned out so yummy.

Now they’re dangerously snacky! Yum, I could really eat the entire pound and a half right now. So is it good or bad that I experimented? Oh boy. Must. Exercise. Control.

One motivation that helps me not eat the entire batch now is that I want to see how the flavors change/improve/intensify with some time to infuse the cheese thoroughly. moz ball

Here are the end results and a photo of my lunch. Try some crazy variations yourself, I won’t tell Italy if you don’t.

Mozzarella Tasting

Mozzarella Tasting

Forgot to tell you a have a fresh batch of Feta curing!

Posted on February 22, 2009 by in CHEESY ADVENTURES, Uncategorized

Lovely giant jar of February Feta

Lovely giant jar of February Feta


Unless I make some sort of fancy cheese schedule, I will just let you know about the cheeses I’m making and their different stages/developments like this. So, I made a huge batch of raw cow milk Feta in early Feb. (if you’re in Portland, I get it at Kookoolan Farms) It’s supposed to age 2-3 months in brine. So far so good. I do fear daily that I will open the fridge to find a jar of green sludge but luckily, it still just looks like feta in brine (water that has been saturated with salt). If all goes as planned, I’ll let you know more about it when I taste it in April and May. Here are some pics of the giant jar…it is so gratifying to see it in the fridge every day!
Creepy science project view of Feta

Creepy science project view of Feta

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