I made cheese today!

Thanks to my life, I’m just about always cooking for a party of one. This has made certain substances unsustainable, milk being a prime example. I hadn’t dared to bring home a carton till Joy visited but even then by the time the expiry date came and went, there was still a substantial amount of creamy goodness I had to toss. I felt slightly sad about that plus paiseh my dear landlady had to test smell for me, since I have no idea how milk smells either way. 

I don’t know what brought the idea of cheese into my head, but it did and I’m so glad it did. Credit goes to the excellent tutorial on thekitchn, whose link I have attached. What I liked about it was written in the spirit of things, with specific bits on what to look out for. So instead of an exact temperature, all I did was to “take it off the heat” when the milk looked “foamy and steamy”. The comments below are helpful too!

I didn’t rinse my cheese, didn’t measure the amount of lemon juice and because the lemon ended up not working very well (read: like, barely.), I used my landlady’s white vinegar instead. But even then I am extremely happy with the results. Here’s the process: 

This is the beginning. I’ve emptied my milk (about 1.5 litres or so) onto an enamel i.e. heavy bottomed pot, and the fire is burning mediumly – is there such a word? To the pot’s left is a wooden spoon for the occasional stir to check the milk has not burned at the bottom, my then-unbeknownst to me non-curdling lemons which I had precisely intended to use for curdling, and once bread bag now cheese cloth bag with a strainer and mental pot below the strainer. 

 

Behold, the wrung cheese. It is full of lemon pulp because, as I have since discovered, lemon juice does not simply and easily run out when one squeezes the lemon like the imaginary commercials in my head. Lemon juice is a battle to be fought with the selfish lemon who will not surrender its lifejuice and has to be struggled valiantly with before clumping off into pulp. And also I accidentally dropped the lemon into the pot. Did I mention it didn’t curdle my milk anyway? Used 3 tablespoons of white vinegar then let the stuff stand for 10 minutes.

 

This be the previous step, the separation of the curds from the whey. As an aside, was this the stuff the nursery rhymes spoke of? 

 

 

 

 

Tadahh. The cheese, after being set and refridgerated for an unknown amount of time; possibly under an hour. Apparently it needs a heavy weight of top of it while setting in its cheesecloth bag so I dumped my glass bottle of condensed milk atop and checked it off the list. I think it looked beautiful enough. Now I can kind of understand why parents are forever taking photos of their kids. (I only took one at each stage.) The lemon pulp did value add in the end; it gave a nice, light lemony taste to the cheese. Also, the texture was pretty dreamy – smooth, firm, and melty all together. You know it’s good stuff when your landlady’s husband is invited to try a piece and ends up munching on a few more. Everyone liked it, yay. 

One more for the road: 

tadahhhhhh

backdated: some flowers are too pretty to drink

 

so we’ll take a photo instead. 

hello my husband! this post is for you!

 

How To Clean a Greasy Range Hood Filter

 

hahahaha. it truly is for you, for the days to come when the ventilation hood has to be cleaned…. xoxo.

but never fear, i am fair and have picked out stuff for meself too! 

“5. Make a habit of letting loose, but by design.

Design one small area into your kitchen where you can fall back when you’re caught in a pinch. That might mean designating one small open shelf over the counter where you can easily put things you don’t have time for in the moment (in open view so you’re reminded to get to it later, but up above so you can still use the counter for kitchen prep). Or having one “junk drawer” that catches those “homeless” odds and ends that inevitably end up on the kitchen counter. Allowing a little room to be messy takes the pressure off, making the prospect of sustainable success much greater.

As they say, everything in moderation. I think it’s important to remember that the adage goes for limiting the junk that piles up, but also for being realistic about keeping things perfectly organized.” 

– from the same website 

And then for us as a couple,

Slow Home Essentials: Good Lighting

for the home that is to come

That’s all. I’m heading back to my tutorial. 

p/s that’s not all. I love you. 

the most meaning

 

r-

sigh i miss you

miss you as you were to me two months ago

 

P-

I’m the same.

Yours. Yours yours.

Yours to have brekkie with

Take wrong turns with

Yours to wander around with, with no objective but the most meaning

 

 

48 (hours)

the hubs and I, creating a laugh while studying.

in other news, i’m here because i’mnotallowedtosaycuzmebbefalsealarm so the world wide web shall freak out with me, as opposed to any real and specific people i actually know. life.

–
update: 26th august- life carries on as we know it

loading all the things

Unknown author of Spokane Press newspaper c. 1910

dear Father
i remember the youngling
when suicide seemed inevitable
the desparate prayers offered then
begging for his life
it’s been two years now, since.
he still breathes.

You say Your strength is made perfect in weakness
and Your grace is sufficient
God may it be so
once more

to the discouraged
i ask You give hope
to the disheartened
would You offer Your hand
to the fearful
i pray You give peace
to the weary
be their rest

for those of us called to love these
grant us thy spirit
let Your love flow through us, to them.
give us the words of healing
make us gentleness and truth

that together, they and us,
will remember the cross
the Light of the world
the Hope of the nations
the Salvation of our God
our Master and Redeemer

to find the reason to go on
our hearts and minds renewed
our souls and strength refreshed
our feet steadied

that in looking to You
we will be whole again
and even if we aren’t
not now
not yet
and even if we are
broken further
for Your glory-

give us eyes to see
Your kingdom
give us ears to hear
Your truth
give us hands that will for You

remember
we are made from dust
do not turn away from us
comfort our bruises
tend to our wounds
hear our cries
mingled with those of the voiceless

keep our tears,
like You promised
let us know they matter

i hope the video gets embedded proper

chanced across this tonight; haven’t heard it in awhile, not since canberra. listening to it brings back cold winter nights at the engineering lab where j would be working on his thesis, and i, taking a break from wedding stuff. i can even bring back the smell and sense of the lab, remembering. canberra is warm bed, computer chairs, carpets, and the most amazing comforter that was the best to snuggle under. a duskier, earthier note, than perth. perth is light on the nose.

i’ve had my first week of school. tonight i bought five books off amazon, six more to go. tomorrow i will organise my assignments, do my laundry, maybe drive to the butcher’s for a chicken thigh.

yesterday i was told to ‘look at people with a cross on their forehead,… or whatever it is that makes you remember Jesus died for them; that gives them a worth, that forces us to treat them as people who have a price beyond all telling because Jesus’ blood is over them’.

pea, not that you’ll see this, but i need an outlet- i’m concerned and worried: if he hurts you or your heart gets broken again, i will seek him out and destroy him, even if he had been honourable, for having approached you at all.