Two Days in the Kitchen

I've been working in the kitchen for the past couple of days.  Yesterday I made cheese crackers.  I followed the directions because this was the first time I made any sort of cracker.  There was no salt in the recipe.  All crackers have salt in them.  I didn't think of it until they were ready for the oven.  I took the opportunity before they went into the oven to moisten the tops (slightly) and pop some sea salt on them.  I'm so glad I did.
For my taste there was too much parm in the finished product.  Next time I will cut the parm down by half and add a Colby to the dough, which is less potent of a taste.  On their own the crackers were too pungent.

But, I also made farmer's cheese.  Which is a first for me, as well.  I followed the directions, but instead of laying the cheese cloth over a sieve, I hung it from a cupboard knob.  I also added a bit of salt after it was done separating from the whey.

It has the consistency of cream cheese and it's very tasty.  I took a bit in a bowl and added the ingredients I normally make a cheese ball out of - one made with cream cheese.  We are talking gourmet food.  Martha Stewart couldn't have done better.  I am so happy with the outcome.

One not so good thing happened. (But, not the end of the world.)  I took the bottle of whey out in the garden to feed some to the tomato plants and dropped the glass bottle on the patio.  Nothing hit me, but I had an unplanned cleaning of the patio.



The cheese hanging over a bowl to separate the whey from the cheese.

The simple ingredients used to make the crackers.  Flour, salt, butter and cheeses.  This was turned into....

This.  Then rolled out and cut with a canning jar ring to make....

These.  I only got 16 crackers this time around because the cutter was bigger than a normal sized cracker.  A friend suggested I use the cap from a spice jar the next time.  Sounds good to me.  I may also roll the dough thinner.

This morning I took one of my large cucumbers, a tomato from the farm market stand, onion, and a pepper from the garden to make a salad.  Since my daughter and her family are coming for dinner, I made a large salad so she can take some home with her.  The meal is completed with home made corn bread, meatloaf, and green beans from - you guessed it- the garden.  Dessert will be jello with whipped cream made from fresh cream.

I consider us very  blessed to have such good, simple meals.  Gourmet?  Not for this family.

Before we eat, my son in law is putting a new light up in the kitchen for me.  he'll be hungry after all the swearing he's going to do!