Making Cheese.

Today I went and bought groceries. Including milk. Purposefully choosing milk that was as far out as possible so it would last. Welp.

We left it in the truck.

Not for long, but too long to be able to drink it safely.

So I boiled it up, heating it to 203 by the thermometer then added apple cider vinegar.

I made a type of soft cheese, adding garlic and dill to it. It became quite delicious.

It starts out like this, 1 gallon whole milk. It has to be whole milk or there isn't enough fat to make cheese with. You can also use half and half and whipping cream. Whole milk is cheaper
Normally you just need to heat milk hot enough you cannot put your little finger in. I chose to get almost to boiling for safety sake.

This is what it looks like after  you add the vinegar to it. You can use vinegar, lemon juice anything with a high acid content. You add enough to make it curdle. This will vary every time. Sometimes it takes a tsp sometimes a cup. It depends on fat content, what the cows ate, the phase of the moon. Tons of different variables. When it curdles, you've added enough.

 Strain. Some people keep the whey. I am not one of those people. There are culinary uses. If I had pigs I would give it to them. I don't. So down the drain it goes.

even after straining you'll notice that whey is still leaking out. I ball it up, and pat dry with paper towels until it's dry. You can of course use towels, but really? I buy paper towels at $0.60 a roll, I used 1/2 a roll patting this dry. the thirty cents is much easier than trying to get cheese out of my towels. I've tried. It sucks.

TADA!

Doesn't it look pretty?

You can eat it with crackers, smeared on bread, I've added it to soups for extra richness and flavor.
One of our favorites though, is to add this to tortillas and make a quesadilla.

Possible flavor variations.

This one is garlic and dill.
I also have made honey/ginger
Thyme/Oregano
Parsley and Sage
Rosemary and Thyme.
Olive and garlic.

You really are only limited by your imagination as to the flavor combos. These are our favorites. However, while I didn't enjoy it a popular one with some of my family is jalapeno, okra (It was just weird) and scotch bonnet pepper. I like some spicy but I do not want my cheese to kill me.