A Most Beautiful Gjetost

A couple weeks ago I showed you how I'm learning how to make gjetost, a Norwegian goat whey cheese. I'm really please with my latest one ...

Isn't it pretty? After Mama Pea read that first post and how I had a little trouble getting the gjetost out of the glass bowl mold I used, she went to her cupboards, pulled out this, and sent it to me.

A very nice springform pan with with an extra fluted bottom.

It's just the right size.

The only thing I did differently from my first gjetost, was to cook this batch down a little longer. Also I added a little cinnamon. The spring form pan made it much easier to remove than the bowl, although removing the fluted bottom was a bit tricky. I had buttered it but still had to pry. It was a relief that it came off and left the gjetost in one piece!

I almost hated to cut it, but we were also anxious to taste it. I served it for dessert that night with graham crackers. What a treat! It has a permanent place in our homestead cuisine.

I also tried one that I cooked down less, to make a spreadable version called "primost."

Almost gone! For this batch I added whole
milk instead of cream. This worked very well too

It has a lighter color because it didn't cook as long, but it has the same delicious tangy, nutty, slightly sweet flavor. Such excellent things to do with leftover whey.

Before I close, I have a couple of cheese related thrift store finds too.

A cheese slicer or plane. This is what they use in
Norway to shave off lovely thin slices of gjetost.

A traditional American style cheese slicer.

These were 25¢ each; how could I go wrong with that! The best part about the American style cheese slicer is that it's adjustable.

Thumb screw to adjust cheese slice thickness.

And! It's not plastic!

The most beautiful gjetost would be lovely on any holiday party table, don't you think?

A Most Beautiful Gjetost © Nov 2017

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

"Terroir" and Homestead Sustainability

I found this book at the library the other week, Mastering Basic Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell. It was one of about half-a-dozen cheesemaking books that I checked out, and it's been an excellent read. Her approach is pretty much the opposite of David Asher's. Where he uses raw milk and natural ingredients, her ingredients and techniques are very modern. Makes for an interesting contrast, and I'm learning a lot by comparing the two books.

One of the concepts she discusses in this book is terroir (tare WAH). Terroir is a French word often used in association with wine, beer, coffee, sourdough, etc., and cheese. It describes the uniqueness of foods based on their specific local factors: soil, weather, microclimate, growing and production techniques, microbial activity, and for cheese, even the kind of animal the milk came from along with its diet. Terroir describes the specialty of the place in which the food was grown and created. It is the reason some people are connoisseurs, because they appreciate the multiple international nuances of the foods they love.

Terroir also explains why we home cheesemakers can never truly replicate the cheeses in the recipes we follow. My Cheddar will never taste like it was made in Somerset, England, nor can I ever make a mozzarella that tastes like those from the Italian Mediterranean. At best I can follow the recipes and hope I'm happy with the results.

Now, if I were someone trying to master all the basic kinds of cheese, the concept of terroir might be discouraging, because I can never authentically replicate any kind of of cheese. In reality, I find it quite freeing; as long a cheese turns out well, then it isn't wrong, even if it nowhere resembles the cheese in the recipe I'm following.

On another level, terroir is important to something that I've pondered for a number of years now - that of homestead cuisine. Most of us know that cuisine (another word from the French) refers to a particular style of cooking influenced by local foods and cooking techniques. We all have our favorites: Mexican and Cajun are a couple of mine.

When I planned my first garden on our homestead, I thought of all the things we loved to eat. I thought I would grow everything we needed to continue loving those foods. But the reality of it is that not all plants grow well here. My climate and soil means it takes a lot more work to grow some things than others. If all I had to do was the garden, then I might be able to do just that. But as a homesteader working toward self-reliance, my time and energy are spread out over many things. To truly work smarter not harder, I must stick with things that grow well here with the least inputs from me.

In terms of homestead sustainability, this means learning to work with what I've got. It means that Dan's and my diet will be more limited than the modern diet, also more seasonal, and definitely about as local as one can get. The challenge for me, then, is to work toward variety through creativity; in other words, learn to develop my own homestead cuisine.

This is definitely a project in progress, but probably one of the most rewarding I've ever taken on. Because nothing is more satisfying that sitting down to a meal that is 80, 90, or 100% homegrown.

"Terroir" and Homestead Sustainability © Nov 2017 

by Leigh  at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Goat Bells

Dan needed to order a new ignition control module to fix his truck. We found the best price on Amazon, but still needed another purchase to have a $25 order for free shipping. He suggested goat bells!

These came in a package of 12 bells.

These are brass bells from India. They are roughly 1.5 inches tall and at first I thought they might be too small. They come in larger sizes, but I liked the price on these. However, they have a nice weight to them and we can hear them from across the pasture, so they are just right.

Daisy and Violet modeling their bells.

They are useful, because when I take the girls for walks in the woods, they sometimes spread out in the brush, and I can't see where they all are. The bells help me keep track of them.

When they're out in the pasture it sounds like wind chimes. Quite a chorus when they come running to the barn at milking time! It makes a nice touch to the homestead.

Goat Bells © October 2017 by Leigh 

at http://www.5acresandadream.com/