Making your own cheese is easy !!!

I never knew it could be this easy...after reading about making cheese in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, I asked for a cheese making book for Christmas. My sister bought me: Home Cheese Making by Ricki Carroll. Both Bob and I read through it, while he was dreaming of cheddar, blue cheese and camembert, I just wanted a simple easy cheese to start with.
Lemon cheese from this book was the answer for me. The cheese will not taste like lemon, the lemon is just to make the milk curdle.

Here's what you need: 1/2 gallon of whole milk, 3 lemons, a thermometer, a pot, colander and a fine weave cheesecloth or piece of cotton muslin.
This recipe will yield about about 2 cups of cheese.

In a large pot, heat the milk to 185-200 F, stirring as it heats.
Add the juice of two lemons (about 1/4 cup) and stir well.

Cover the pot and let the milk set for 15 minutes. You are looking for curds or clumps to form. If they don't seem to form add more lemon juice.

Line the colander with fine cheesecloth and place over a deep bowl or pan, this will catch the whey.

Pour the curds into the colander, twist the cheesecloth and hang the bag to drain. Don't squeeze because it squeezes out the fats and the cheese will be too dry.

Allow to drain for 1 to 2 hours.
Remove the cheese from the cloth.

Now the fun begins.
I find this basic cheese to be rather bland but very adaptable. At this point you can use it for lasagna, manicotti, cheesecake, frosting or whatever you can think up.
I decided to make this herb cheese spread to serve my dinner guests.

For one cup of cheese I added 2-3 tablespoon olive oil, a 1/2 teaspoon of salt, a small sprig of fresh rosemary, oregano and thyme and two cloves of garlic. I blended it all together in a small food processor. It makes it so creamy and great on crackers or bread.