I have been cheesemaking up a storm.  I made a 2 pound block of smoked cheddar followed by a 2 pound block of traditional goat cheddar.  Both have been waxed, and now reside in the fridge until I figure out a better place to age them.

In the press now is a nice Parmesan.  I am a little worried about it because I followed the directions, but the curds did not look like rice like the instructions said they would.  It is my first batch, and the first batch is always an experiment.  I also have four more gallons of milk in the fridge that are ready for a nice batch of cheddar tomorrow (and a batch of feta as well).  I digress though.  More on cheese later.

With all of this cheesemaking, I have whey coming out my ears.  I feel like it is a crime to throw it all out, but I cannot find enough things to do with it.  I have been giving it to the chickens because they need the extra protein, and it is not bad for them to get the good minerals in the whey as well.  I’m not up to drinking it myself yet, though I may get to trying it sometime soon.

I am also giving some of the whey to the dog.  The cat I am currently cat-sitting is also getting whey to drink.

It is good for making ricotta, but I find that after a full day of cheesemaking for a hard cheese that I just can’t get to using the whey to make another cheese.  Besides, the yield on the whey ricotta is just not as high as I would like to see (I have only been getting a couple of tablespoons of cheese per gallon of whey).

One excellent use for it is to put it in bread.  Substitute it for water.  It helps the dough take on a tangy flavor, which is desirable for the kinds of bread that I make.  It just seems to make it more flavorful on a lot of fronts.

I use whey anywhere in the kitchen where water could be used.  I use it to steam veggies, I use it as the base of a chicken stock, literally, anywhere water can be used.

It is also useful for fermenting when making sourkraut or pickles.

I have almost 8 gallons of the stuff sitting around, and I am only using a gallon or so a day, but with the cheesemaking, I am adding at least two gallons per day to my stash.  A girl can only make so much bread and chicken stock.

Come and get it.  The whey is for sale for $1 per quart.

Today being Sunday, I decided to make something special for breakfast. In fact, every Sunday for the past couple of weeks has had me making some new special breakfast meal. Call it past cultural tradition from when my grandma used to make waffles sometimes or just call it me enjoying the weekend. The point is that I made a special breakfast.

We had pancakes and fiesta eggs. I really like pancakes, but I rarely make them, so I broke out the cookbook my sister bought me a year or so ago to try the recipe in there. I was definitely pleasantly surprised.

As we sat there eating, Jared and I were thinking about the cost of the food.

If we had gone out to eat at Denny’s, the meal would have cost us about $20. At home, the meal (for all three of us) cost us about $3.

My Master Card jingle for this is:

2 Grand slam breakfast and a kids menu breakfast at Denny’s – $20
1 Home made Sunday breakfast – $3
Eating breakfast with the entire family -Priceless
Not having to haul the kiddo around in the car to get to breakfast – also PRICELESS!

Consider making a meal at home for your family. It turns out, knowing how to cook is incredibly economical.

People tell me that I am becoming more and more like a hippie every day, but I think the truth is that I am just starting to show how much I have been changed by my recent experience abroad.

While I was in Italy and Greece, I learned about food traditions. The people there made their own food and they were proud of it. The food that was made every day was family property, and it was valued.Women truly mastered the art of staying at home taking care of the household. It was an honor to raise wonderful children and cook wonderful meals.

When I went to the grocery stores on Paros, there were no boxed ready-made meals. It was unheard of. Chicken was raw and not preseasoned and individually frozen. There were no boxed macaroni and cheese or other boxed prepared food. It was all home made, and it was all wonderful. I learned while I was there one very important thing.

I learned that there are food traditions that are amazing and wonderful around the world. They are as fabulous and gracious and amazing as the traditions that we have at Christmas, and they are around you all the time–all day every day. Good meals are a big part of being a happy soul.

I don’t understand the people that think they have no time for food, it is just beyond me. Our ancestors were able to settle down and do more than survival activities because they noticed that grains grow when you put them in the earth and they were able to use that to their advantage. I thank our ancestors for this work because it ensures that society can continue to go on and I can have the job I have as a wedding photographer, which would not have otherwise been possible (because no one would have time for leisurely activities like inventing the camera). Our survival is dependent on the food that we eat, and the quality of food that we eat.

The best and most incredible thing that can be done is creating and preparing foods in the traditions of our ancestors for a happy and healthy family.

I roll my own pasta like the Italians have always done. I am starting to mill my own grin with STONE, as all my ancestors have done. I make my own yogurt and sometimes my own butter. I have time to do these things because I believe that food is an inherent part of our culture, and I am not going to buy into the bull that some deadline or some 9-5 job is more important than me fulfilling these food traditions.