I’m feeling very, very busy with all the projects I want to do right away.  Today the kosher rennet I ordered for cheesemaking arrived, and the book on cheesemaking that I reserved also got to the library today.  I made a trip to the library with the kids this afternoon so I could pick it up immediately (I don’t go often – my husband picks up the books I order online on Sunday if I have something waiting – it’s efficient as far as gas and time). 

Once I got home, it was already dinner time, but I was thinking I’d be able to get a batch of cheese started before going to bed.  That was wildly wishful and unrealistic thinking, because besides the time involved in doing this for the first time, there’s the additional fact that it seems that I need either mesophilic or thermophilic starters for almost all of the cheese recipes.  That’s what’s nice about reading the book; you actually learn what you need to do! 

I don’t know if it will be easy to find or not – I know where to buy it within five minutes if it didn’t have to be kosher, but now I’ll have to spend some time on the phone making calls about it, finding out if this kind of thing needs to be certified kosher or not, and if so, where to get it.  It helps that dh is in the field of kosher supervision, because he has someone readily available to ask the questions he’s not sure about to. 🙂  But it still takes time.

I didn’t do the canning today that I said I was planning to do – I was too busy with lots of other things, beginning with standing on line for an hour waiting to vote.  (Not that I’m complaining – as I was standing there, I was thinking about how many people have fought for the privilege of voting in accordance with their beliefs.)  So that means I’ll have to can the soup that I planned to do today, tomorrow (though we ended up getting less than we expected, which means less canning for me!).

So the first steps have been taken towards cheesemaking – researched kosher rennet, called the manufacturers, called the supply company, ordered it, got the book, and bought 15 gallons of raw milk on Thursday to use – now I have to quickly get the starter I need so that I can use my milk while it’s fresh!  I guess worse comes to worst, we’ll drink the milk, and wait to make cheese for the next time I pick up raw milk, or try to make a batch with store milk (hormone free at least, though that’s far from ideal). 

I also ordered a bunch of small glass bottles with dropperlids, for others who may want to get some of the kosher rennet in a small amount from me.  I think I’ll have enough to split into 14 – 16 two ounce bottles, which seems to be the size generally sold for individual cheesemakers.  Unfortunately, there’s no source with kosher certification of regular sized containers, and the container size I bought (the smallest available) is intended for small cheesemaking companies – it’s enough for over one thousand gallons of milk!   Of course, letting people know it’s available and making those arrangements is another thing to take care of….but I never complain about being bored!

Avivah