Homemade Mozzarella with Basil from the Garden!

Panic mode when the cheese temperature was rapidly rising.

Scooping and draining.

Separating the curds from the whey.

Forming the curds into a ball.

It's starting to have a stretchy consistency!

Kneading the cheese curds.

Beautiful spread with vegetables fresh from the garden!

Our delicious spread.

And Puss joined us for a lovely dinner.

I am not known for my culinary skills in a desirable way. Rather my friends have been treated to and my family served an array of ambitious attempts, where my menu consisted of burnt risotto, doughy gnocchi, teeth-chipping gingerbread cookies and lastly, dolmathes where the soggy grape leaves hung raggedly around uncooked rice. Despite my usual inedible outcomes I find the intricate process of cooking exciting and fulfilling. Preparing and sharing dishes enables me to host memorable soirees where the food may be more scoffed at than savored but it serves as the catalyst for bringing us all together for hours of conversation and laughter.

To complement my habitually disastrous results, I have a penchant for choosing difficult recipes showcased by my perusing Martha Stewart and elitist foodie blogs. That was part of the appeal when The Spokesman-Review (where I happen to be employed) published an article on cheesemaking: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/jun/09/moz-zarella-magic/ I wasn't even aware this was something that could be done in single batches at home. It just seems like the sort of thing that requires a vat, wooden spoons as tall as I am and stretching machines in a large temperature controlled warehouse. As it turns out, the most difficult part of our making mozzarella was finding and working with the ingredients. Citric Acid I'm sure will be a useful addition to the kitchen cupboard and converting Rennet tablets into liquid involved a strange almost ritualistic doubling of the ingredients to throw out half. It didn't make any sense but we were afraid to disturb the precise directions.

As always in trying to follow a recipe in an exact matter, things went awry. The temperature rose too quickly and kept going, there didn't seem to be enough curds in our whey and the kneaded cheese had more of a lumpy texture than stretchy taffy consistency. The article we frequently referred back to for assurance is full of dire warnings of failure. It seems almost expected as the cheese experts focus their advice on encouragement to keep practicing until a successful batch is made.

We were prepared to start our second batch as we iced and refrigerated the cheese. But when it was sliced and prepared as part of a beautiful spread, we anxiously tasted the mozzarella and it was fresh and creamy and contributed to a delicious dinner! Our feast included fresh lettuce and basil from Julia's plentiful garden and was arranged beside ripe tomatoes and flavourful salami with olive oil and balsamic vinegar drizzled over.

It was a challenging recipe that ended successfully. It was a lovely dinner and it was a beautiful summer day enjoying Chardonnay on the deck with Julia as we caught up. It was a very leisurely and delightful time as we talked and watched the kids play on the assembled lumber of a dearly loved fort in the beginning stages.

Do you have any recipes that you are particularly proud of? How about any kitchen disaster stories?

-ako

10 Highlights from Last Week.

Some photos celebrating Fathers' Day and Jeffer's birthday:

Opening Night-My family LOVES baseball!Waiting for the gates to open.My gma and her cute hat.My gparents are too adorable.Showing off their snacks.

Sharing beer and snacks with my family at a local baseball game for fathers' day.
Firework show after the game.

Jeffer's 29th birthday celebration.I'm an excellent photographer.

Dance party at the drag show.Glasses and pints.

This morning was rough. It was Monday after enjoying two days of freedom and there was a mini-breakdown aversion as the day progressed--Thank goodness for good friends close and far away to validate my emotions as rational. I am finding more and more that with my intelligent girlies we are having to assure one another that even if it isn't logical for us to be feeling a certain way, it isn't any less important, necessary or warranted to have an emotional reaction to events in our lives. So I really appreciate that from today. This has me thinking of last week as it was full of many things I am so thankful to have experienced. What I found after looking over my list is most of them are focused on sharing something with a loved one--my most precious times occur with my relationships.

1. Treating my gparents to a baseball game to celebrate Fathers' Day early this year. It was opening night for the Spokane Indians! We gorged on kettle corn, peanuts, beer and oohed and awwed over the fireworks show and my gma and I appreciated the handsome talent on the other team (we were sitting by their dugout in left field).
2. Celebrating Jeffer's last birthday be he's old (29)! We've been putting up with each other's shit for many years now and I love him.
   
3. An unexpected and unlikely friend at work (which brings to mind that old strategic saying from political science "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". Perhaps a bit conniving and dramatic but when you find yourself wanting to "smash someone's face into a jelly"....
   
4. Live music! Cristie and I caught shows at the Big Sleaze (The Spill Canvas) and The Mixx (local younguns but talented and could quote funny movies like none other)...and then of course karaoke at Monterey Cafe as Nathan and I took it upon ourselves to be backup singers for the whole bar and then did a wicked rendition of Avril's "Girlfriend" ;)
   
5. An answer to a question that has been plaguing our group for months regarding our favourite local bartender. ;)
6. Homemade ice cream sundaes (we're talking the works) with friends while we watched several episodes of Strangers with Candy.
7. Some great runs I got in down by the water. I truly get a different perspective of this city and appreciation of it's beauty being seated in the northwest when I go running.
8. Friends from GU and study abroad organizing a reunion in San Francisco for NYE!!
   
9. Buying my plane ticket to go see two of my favouritest people in the world next month-Stephen and Shane! A long overdue reunion of the three of us - :) x 10
   
10. The rainy weather as of late so I can wear long cardigans, chunky scarves and boots with my summer dresses as I read the fall fashion previews that have hit my newstand magazines..

What are some highlights from your week? :)