Monday, June 06, 2005

Disaster for me - Heaven for the cats

Yesterday afternoon, after bring what was to be the mozzarella cheese up to room temperature (it had been soaking in whey in the fridge for two days); I was ready to begin the next step in the cheese making experiment.

Watching carefully, I brought my whey up to 180 degrees - just like the book said. I unwrapped my cheese ball from the cheesecloth and placed it in the warmed whey.

Again, like the book said, I took two wooden spoons and started working the curds. According to the book, the curds were supposed to become elastic and would then be easily rolled into balls.

Well, something went wrong somewhere. My cheese didn't become elastic. Nope, my cheese melted back into the whey. The more I worked the curds the smaller they became until all I was left with was what I can only call liquid cheese.

I had to laugh. This was the worst cooking disaster I had ever had and I've had some good ones. So what to do with the mess in the pot? I didn't want to pour it down the sink.

Then I looked outside the patio doors and there was Stubbers (our stub tailed Persian cat) with her two kittens. I wondered if they would like it. After dumping the whole mess into a bowl, I took it outside.

The cats, Stubbers and her kittens along with Inky and her kittens, went crazy for the stuff. Within an hour, all signs of my disaster were gone.

Will I try again? You bet, next week. But for now, I think I'll have my better half pick some Mozzarella up at the store.

1 comment:

Kindred Nutmeg said...

Fun & interesting reading here.. keep it up.. Kudos doing cheese..

Nutmeg