Cheese Making, Kids Bathing Outdoors, What Next?

This past weekend I thought more than once, that this farm family is living in the wrong century. I looked out the window and five of the farm children were outside dressed in their prairie clothes and one of them was in a galvanized tub bathing. Yes, you read correctly, bathing (as in clothes off, soap, water-bathing) in a metal tub outside under the shade of the cottonwood tree! They had a clothes line, my old washboard that I had hanging on the wall in the laundry room and the very important--snacks (which they had taken out in baskets because that's what Laura and Mary Ingalls would have done if they didn't have a pail) Well, I thought it was pretty funny and cute so, like any mother, I ran outside to take a photo, not thinking that would bring loud protests from the bathers. Oops, my kids are getting older and I forget they care about those kinds of things...after all they were bathing outside in front of God and everybody! I patiently awaited them dressing so I could get my picture and get back in the air conditioned house (it was so hot and humid outside...it almost takes your breath away just to step outside), for this particular day was the self declared cheese making day.

I'm a complete novice at making my own cheese but decided I would have a first try at it. Pansy, the milk cow, has been giving us gallons of beautiful milk and I can't stand the thought of having to pour it out, so cheese it is. I decided to start with soft cheeses because they just looked easier and I wasn't sure I had all the equipment needed for the hard cheeses. The novice is quickly becoming the experienced! At the close of the day, I had six cheeses "under my belt"...oh maybe that was the wrong colloquialism...it might me "under my belt" if I eat all of it! I tried my hand at fromage, lactic, lemon, yogurt, cream cheese, and queso blanco! I learned pretty quickly, a "quick" cheese just means it doesn't take months to age. So, I'll have to post back the results, as we consume them. I can see where this could become habit forming and can't wait to start on some hard cheeses.

The funny part is, as I was running back to the house after taking the kids' picture, sweat running down my head like the condensation on a cold glass of water, I realized I couldn't wait to get back in the house where the A/C was at work making my house cool. I quickly concluded that this century is for me after all! Praise God for the air conditioning, the camera to catch cute kid things and these wonderful moments that cause me to be so thankful for life in general...in this century!