Hi, new from sydney

[Crystal]

Sorry, i wandered off for a bit there! Life got in the way of cheese and such! Ah! I made a grand failure the other day! UHT milk cant be used for fetta... I kinda knew that but wanted to give it a go the other day anyway! I do believe my rennet is losing its touch... even with the goats milk fetta i made it wasnt quite as powerful and ive only had it 6 months... So i guess it was older to begin with. Well, i have plenty of fig sap! I think that it doesnt get a firm set though so perhaps its only good for soft cheeses like cream cheese, etc... Guess i better look for more rennet! Im not game now to try that brewers shop, incase they are old too!

I was doing a new fetta on saturday, but DH DRANK MY MILK!! ROTFL!!

Did i tell you my caerphilly was terrible? Its so hard and dry and i use it in cooking. Muffins were great

I really want to get some more farmhouses into the cave. They are one thing ive not had trouble with so im going back to what i know! I also have to do a neufchatel this week, DS11 wasnts a passionfruit cheesecake Oh, and i want to make cheesecake brownies!!

So thats my plans for the week!

[keezawitch]

My nuef was a dismissal failure, i got an infection in it and it when spongey and holey, peppa pig enjoyed it. I think the buttermilk wasnt quite up to standard, even with  the use by dates I am finding the buttermilk just doesnt keep. Fig tree is still alive. I ordered my rennet through cheeselinks and it is working well, the prob with them is it is $11 freight so if get some(it is only about $9) it is more economical to buy a few things that is what i did, i need more baskets but I will wait until I need a few more things before ordering. I want to make a cheesecake with the ricotta I made the other day but i want a really simple recipe have you  got one. P.S is nanny back from holidays yet?

[Crystal]

Sorry Keeza, with all the rain ive had internet issues.
Yours sounds like a yeast infection. You cant make bread and cheese at the same time! Its one or the other

Yep, i use greenlivingaustralia, their stuff is cheaper.

Nope, my nanny isnt back for another week and a half, then i have to reapply to get her for another 3 months!

I also dont have a ricotta cheesecake recipe. Ive never made a ricotta one either... Sorry!!

Well, again, my cheese didnt happen... Its getting insane! I just have to DO IT i guess... and work around it in the kitchen lol!

I did make fudge though. And im selling it online, i know im meant to have an inspected kitchen, but until they say something bad luck. My kitchen's clean, im qualified and i have done my HACCAP... its good enough for my family so i reckon its good enough for other people!

[Crystal]

Oh, i forgot to tell you, my tomatos ripened finally!! Yay, but, plenty of them dropped before they were fully ready! Then, i accidently put them too close to the back of the fridge and some froze and went really soft!! Im getting bout 20 romas to a bush, but only 2 or 3 grosse lisse... so i think i will stick to the romas next year!

[Crystal]

Oh yeah!! I forgot another thing! DH says his new business should be running a bit smoother this week so he might be home a little more, That will give me the chance to come out and see you, but i'll txt you and check! probably tuesday, DH is away thurs thru sun too...

[keezawitch]

figured out the cheese problem, chlor infection, i think the buttermilk was infected. I dont make bread or beer at the same time as cheese, god i am good but not that good, i need to concentrate on one thing at a time. I ended up picking my romas green and made a couple jars chitney with them. I am usually home in afternoon on tues if that suits. Hope you get nanny back you really need all the help you can get with 4 tiny ones and 2 others tossed in. Glad you are selling the fudge and I agree stuff the beurocracy, I know i spelled that one wrong, I am trying to dig over garden for winter crop but i feel like i am battling against it, even digging in rain. Cant move the pig, too wet, and i want to use that patch for veges too, ah well will get there.

Kerry

[Crystal]

Hey kerry, been a long time since i was here hey! Srry about that! Isnt it funny that were always complaining about the rain? We were flooded this week up to the back door. Thought i was gonna have to start sand bagging! On the plus side, i planted seeds last week for winter veg and havent had to water them yet. THey are sprouting already which is good. I started throwing scraps in an empty bed just to compost for next spring and now have pumpkins and potatoes and some vine i dont recognise growing in there. Ill let the pots keep going but the pumpkin will die soon im sure.

Ah, what else... oh, i made delicious maple and butter pecan icecream the other week, ive been working with a lot of chocolate thru easter and managed a few eggs, truffles and rocky roads for kids and fam. Sadly, no cheese lately, but i need to do some soon before it gets too cold. Oh, i got a mince grinder so have been playing with that a lot. Going to do sausages this week hopefully. Ive got 3 i want to try. Breakfast, plain beef and chorizo! My nannys father is spanish and she just went to spain so we want to try a fresh chorizo. I was trying to find a recipe for the smoked kind but cant.

So, thats where im at. Hope peppa is doing good, and again, ill get there to see her before you eat her im sure!

[margaretsmall]

Hi Crystal,
The postage is a bit stiff if you are only buying a sachet of culture. Don't know where you are in Sydney, but the Cheesemakingworkshop now has a Sydney outlet -

Susan (02) 9958 0909 292 Sailors Bay Road, Northbridge, Sydney.

Margaret

[keezawitch]

well hello, its been so quiet here i had almost given up, I havent had time lately to do any cheese either really gotta get my act together, crystal get onto country brewers they stock a lot of sausage making things and are usually really great if you chat with them and can give you recipes or try this forum, aussiehomebrewers.com the guys on there are into all sorts of homemade stuff they make great cheese, fantastic sausages and breads and will tell you how to do things they even have instructions with photos to make a smoker out of 44gallon drum, gotta get son into this when we eat peppas family, we now have a boy pig, porky chop so hopefully in about 10mths we will have little chops available I will ring you if I am coming over your way and I have extra milk for you ok.

Margaret, I think I will try them next time for my supplies as the freight is stiff from cheeselinks if you only need something small, would be great if a cheesemaking shop opened up this way though, unfortunately the country brewers rennet and cultures are just not right.

[Crystal]

Your right, postage from cheeselinks is always high. I get mine from greenlivingaustralia they are cheaper ;-) there is a brewer in thornleigh, which is ten mins from here so i might need to take a trip there. I did snags with DH, its a manual grinder, and he was on grinding ;-) our american farm snags are too salty, and i only use half the salt, so ill need to cut that back. Our breakfast i felt didnt have enough pepper. But when i got to the bottom of the bowl i found all ghe pepper... DH mixed that batch! Our italian (couldnt get pork cheap so couldnt do chorizo) they are delicious!! I cut back tthe chilli, incase it was too hot for the kids, but its not hot at all... so more chilli next time! Ive got chicken to do thks week. Smoking is definatly on my to-do list... eventually... lol!! Id like to try to use the bbq, but i think the burner will be too hot on its lowest setting. Im thinking of putting an elec hot plate in there and doing it that way, but ill probably burn the house down. Ive got plenty of space for an inground smoker, and a detailed build plan in a book i have so it mau be better. I know i can get smoking chips at bunnings. Hmm... so much to do!

[keezawitch]

hi, I made a farmhouse cheddar today, one came out good the other one bloody well stuck to the cloth sleeve and it is an ugly lump, oh well will wax and age it anyway. Definately get onto the aussiebrewer site they will tell you all about smokers and what work well, the ugly drum smoker would be good in your yard as it does not take up alot of room it just isnt pretty, country brewer should also have chips for smoking too, ask them about plans for smokers, I had a look at manual grinders and I think when I start sausage making I will get an electric, give me a few months and we should  have pork, that is if porky chops does his job  although david keeps getting attached to the food and wont let me eat them  the sausages sound nice and fun to experiment with, gerty isnt giving as much milk as she was, hope thats a sign that she is pregnant. Have fun

kerry

[Crystal]

Silly men, dont they know its dinner, not a pet??

Im sure my kids will feel the same way when we get animals...

Shame about the cheese kerry, im sure it will work ouy fine though, but watch for bacteria in the rough parts... mould will love it!

Ill head ove to the aussie brewer now.

[keezawitch]

seems to be drying in the fridge well but its gunna be a bugger to wax, think i will need a bigger bowl more wax and just toss it in and let it sink so maybe the carcks will fill up.

keeza

[Crystal]

It would be best that way... i think i need to make some fetta next week! Im so out of touch with cheese and i just finished a big order in my shop so i decided i wanted a 'special blanket'. All my kids have what i call a 'grandma blanket'. Some were made by actual grandmas, others by other grandmas, two were by a lady who cant wait to be a grandma! So all the kids have beautiful grandma blankets and i dont. Since i dont have any grandmas i figured id make my own. So im crocheting a blanket for my double bed :-) its 1.5 by 2m and will be purple, magenta and light grey! It will be 77squares, thats 25 balls of yarn. And will take over 60 hours to complete... @ 3squares a day it will be over a montg before its done! Ive never done such a big project before and hope i dont give up on this one!

[keezawitch]

good luck with the blanket if you stitch together as you go you will have a lap rug to use until it is finished what do you sell in your shop crystal and where is it luv, how are the kiddies, bet it is hectic getting the older ones off to school. I am a bit out of touch with the cheese too, time flys, we have got just about all the winter vege crop in and peppa and porky are working on the spring patch , chooks off the lay, lazy buggers and i am trying to rear meat chicks, have had a disaster with first batch but have more ordered so cross fingers. when your life calms down, yes i hear you laughing, bring the littlies over for a visit my grandkids would to see them again and they can all run wild hopefully exhaust themselves and then you and dh can have a quiet evening hahahahah.
keeza