Cheese!

The freezers are full of milk for soap and future use.  We have plenty to see us through the dry times when the girls are pregnant and will not be milked, and with our production still remaining high today is a good day for cheese.

So far we have made Gouda, Cheddar, Chevre, Havarti, and a standard farmhouse cheese - and a variation with hatch chilies in it.  Today, we try our first Caerphilly cheese.  I have found one variation that does not have Flora Danica in it - which is good because I don't have any at hand, and the Homebrew Headquarters (where Bill buys his beer making supplies - and where cheese cultures are conveniently carried) did not have any in stock.  Poot.  Well... we'll try this without, and I'll order some Flora Danica be delivered so I can try it out the right way soon in the near future.

As it is, I am very excited.  The result should be a cheese that's about halfway between cheddar and gouda, and is ready in 3 weeks.  Yes! THREE WEEKS!!! 

I've take some cues from Chickens In The Road (my favorite blogger!) and her experiences making Caerphilly, as well as an English cheesemaker's site.  This is appropriate since Caerphilly is an English cheese!  It is currently in the press, and in 30 minutes, I'll turn it over and press it some more.  Then tomorrow it can have a brine bath before it gets to dry out and be waxed, then in about 3 weeks I can try this awesome new-to-me cheese.  (How's that for confidence today?)

That used 2 of the 4 gallons of milk in the frig.  Perhaps, with the rain rolling across the Texas plains and its impending arrival on my farm, it's time for a batch of clam chowder or broccoli cheese (goat of course) soup. 

If the rain doesn't sap me completely, some of the spent grains from Bill's new batch of beer (currently in the making) can go into a loaf of bread and the rest to the ducks and chickens.  As it is, It's Father's Day - Bill can pick out which soup once the amber is in the fermenter.