this weekend we made the move back to our beloved little farmhouse in the berkshires of massachusetts. the first thing, always, on our way up from the city, is to stop by ‘our’ cows to pick up fresh milk. in truth, they are not our cows, they’re our neighbor’s. we do however know them by name, and we participate in the weekly ‘raw milk club’ which means that we get 3 half gallons of milk straight from the cows each week! more if i have cheese-making plans, which of course i do, and i will! i’m also scheming for our trip to neighboring vermont in the coming weeks for our 8-gallons of cream drive-by. this, so we can shake up our year’s worth of butter.
what i’m saying is; spring means home dairy makin’! and if you’ve been curious about dabbling in dairy, i would like to share with you the books that i’ve pulled off my larder shelf this month. if you choose to purchase one from my amazon larder, you’ll be giving to a very worthwhile cause just by buying a book! and, i’ll match your contribution too. win-win – say cheese!
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ricki carroll is considered the home cheese making queen. she’s what linda ziedrich is to pickling, and sandor katz is to fermentation – if you run in those circles you’ll know what i mean. one of the foremothers of the D.I.Y. movement, she is. i had the good fortune of taking a one day class with her about 5 years ago, and she’s the one (along with those cows up there!) that really got me excited about the things i can do with dairy in my own kitchen. ricki’s home cheese making is kinda everything you need to know about the subject with easy to understand instructions. and the book is really like having ricki in your own kitchen. oh, and she has this awesome website too. | |
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i can’t say enough about ashley english and her whole homemade living series. after dairy making with ricki carroll’s book for years, i didn’t think another book could be so thorough yet accessible. well, ashley did it on both accounts with her home dairy with ashley english! the recipes are just as solid and demystifying as my original cheese making bible. i love the look and feel of the book too. if you haven’t gotten into the homemade living series yet. start with cheese, then move on to chickens, canning and bees! |
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artisan cheese making at home offers plenty of gorgeous full color photos. it covers cheese making basics, and beginning cheese making all the way through advanced. the final chapter is ‘cooking with cheeses’ and (ahem) the page i just opened to has a recipe for maple planked brie with mushroom-walnut ragu. mary teaches cheese making on the west coast and her recipes reflect the mediterranean flavors that are so celebrated in the california region. and…oh, my, i just flipped to another page and i see chedder-jalapeño cheese curds. i do need to get cracking with my dairy this spring! i love this book. |
amazon associates receive their fees at the end of the month for the time period two months prior. that means i’ve just received info regarding february sales. my february associates fee of approximately 6% of sales plus my matching of that amount does not equal $50. today i have contributed my minimum guarantee of $50 to the humane society of the united states’ farm animal protection efforts. please go to my amazon larder page for full details on how your purchasing dollars can contribute.
…and get milk. make cheese!
off my larder shelf: a flavor of the month shout-out on books & kitchen things. why? ’cause your
purchase on my amazon larder contributes to a very important cause and I’ll match your contribution. go!
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