Say Cheese!

I went to my first cheese making class Friday - mozzarella.  This takes care of one of my top ten for summer list items!  I will have to say right off the bat that there will be no pictures....sorry.  I took my camera but decided to just be in the moment and enjoy without worrying about taking pictures to capture every move.  

The class was taught by Debbie who just happens to be the wife of one of the engineers I work with.   She actually did a cheese internship in Italy.   Can you imagine how fun that would be?   I remember when she went and thought it was odd and wondered what she would do with the experience once she returned -well now I know.  The class was small about 12 people and we were divided into groups of two.   Debbie did a short introduction about herself and then had us go around the room and tell our names and why we were there.   It was mostly women with two men.   My partner was Jenny and she  was super nice but a tad interesting.   She didn't have a microwave and didn't seem to be married as her roommate had just moved out - and he had taken the coffee grounder.   She did however have a huge dog that she had gotten the DNA testing back on but had not had time to open it.   This I don't understand - how could you go to all the trouble to send in the testing and then not look when it came back - people are funny for me.  Since Jenny didn't have a microwave we did a different method on the finishing part of the cheese than the rest of the class.  The rest of the class used the microwave once the curd had formed.   We heated our whey back to 175 degrees and used it instead to "cook" the whey.   It made the cheese a different consistency then the others - not good or bad just different.   I think that this method would get easier the more you did it as well.  The microwave approach was more straight forward and you were able to do all the curd at once so you didn't have to handle it as much. 

Overall it's amazing to me how simple and easy it is to make mozzarella.   Definitely a good party trick and hope to do it for my next dinner party.  It is a task for two however - doing it by yourself might be a little challenging.  Debbie also sent us home with citric acid and rennet tablet so all you need is the milk and your off and running.

Debbie has a website found here that list her class schedule.  I would totally recommend taking one of her classes.  They are fun to go to with friends or totally doable to do by yourself and meet new people.  She also does parties so you could do a cheese making birthday party - would be kinda fun!  The classes are taught in the Mississippi area of Portland at Mr. Green Beans and they have other fun classes as well which are probably worth checking out.  Side note - there is a frozen yogurt shop next door and  couple of cute restaurants so it would be fun to go to a class and then dinner after.