New Day Dawning…
/New Day Dawning…
Hello Fellow (soon to be?) Travelers!
As a Californian, our “Stay-at-Home” orders were declared on March 19th by our County, and by our Governor.
On April 28th, our County announced that it would be letting these orders expire on April 30th. So what does this mean?...Do I still need a mask to go to the store?...Can I enjoy a sit down dinner at my local family restaurant?...and more importantly, can small businesses across the State (and Country) open back up?... I have dear friends that are so deeply impacted by these closures, and I pray that they are able to hold on until America can safely come out of hibernation from The Great Pause.
While this April 28th announcement in my County does not mean that everything will just open up on Friday, May 1st like nothing happened, it does mean that Friday will be the dawn of a new day, and that the restrictions have begun to loosen. As of today, thankfully there have been just 54 cases of COVID-19 in my County and no deaths.
One of my friends that has been impacted by these March 19th orders is my friend Nicole Easterday.
She opened her business, FARMcurious just over a decade ago when our country was in the midst of the recession of 2010. “FARMcurious is a company designed to educate, inspire and equip urban homesteaders with an interest in producing their own food, reducing their ecological footprint and eating seasonally and sustainably without abandoning their urban lifestyles”.
“Urban homesteading means something different to everyone but the movement arose in part from the growing separation between people and the food we eat”.
One of the most popular classes that Nicole taught was on home cheesemaking. She taught classes to individuals in a classroom setting, as well as sold kits to make your own cheese at home.
Our paths crossed with the American Cheese Society. She received her ACS Certified Cheese Professional certification in 2019, her artisan cheesemaking certificate from the College of Marin in 2011, and placed seventh in the Cheesemonger Invitational (read more here) in 2019. She loves to meet new people and geek out on curds.
When I heard that her business had all but shut down due to the “Stay-at-Home” orders, I wanted to try and think of a way that I could help her out…It was then that I remembered that she also sells cheesemaking supplies, so I ordered one of her cheesemaking kits (see her cheesemaking page here) and decided to try my hand at making my own goat cheese.
Within just a few short days the kit showed up and according to the box, “All you need is milk”, so facemask in place I headed down to the store to get a quart of goat’s milk. I found Summerhill® Goat Milk which is a whole milk and would be great for cheesemaking.
If it has been a while since you have tried goat’s milk, it is incredibly delicious, easy to digest, and is high in Potassium and Vitamin A.
This cheese kit was great because it came with: 4 cheese molds, cheesecloth, thermometer, starter culture, and simple to follow instructions… and thankfully Nicole has a YouTube video that I could just follow along if I got stuck (You can view it here). Trust me, you need to watch this video if you are going to make it as there are some great hints in there!!
I loved this kit because it also gives you the option of making cheese in two different forms: A fresh chèvre, or a slightly drier French style.
I gently warmed the milk, took the pot off the heat and added the starter cultures. Then I just put a lid on the pot and let it sit overnight on the counter.
The next morning, I awoke to find the covered pot on the counter, and gently started hand ladling (or moulé à la louche) the curds from the pot into the cheesecloth-lined cheese moulds.
The cheese continued to rest so it could expel more whey. Finally at lunchtime, I removed the fresh curds from the cheesecloth and mould and placed them into a bowl so that I could salt them to taste. I decided to use Pink Himalayan Salt only because the grinder that I have it in grinds it very fine and I did not want large salt crystals in my cheese. I chilled it, and several hours later was able to fully enjoy this fresh, homemade treat. Simply delicious!
I am grateful that I was able to help Nicole by purchasing one of these kits (I even bought one for my best friend), but I am even more grateful that our paths crossed and I am able to share her story.
If you check out her video on You Tube, be sure to subscribe!!
Wishing all a happy and healthy week ahead….Hang on, we are almost through this!
Until next week,
Trevor
