Cheese can be made at home, did you know?

I've gotten some wonderful gifts in the last few days... My former coworker (and current friend) Cheryl Lynn surprised me with a big tall box on my doorstep yesterday; she had thoughtfully sent me a beautiful honeysuckle vine, about 3 feet in height, presumably as a going-away present. Thanks Cheryl!

My neighbor also showed up at my door with two potted young bell pepper plants, one orange and one red. We've been swapping gardening tales as of late, and I gave her one of my many flats of spinach seedlings in return. She showed up with her 6-month-old on her hip, and in the course of our talking, her two boys, about 4 and 7, showed up as well. Ty was overjoyed to have kids in the house; he LOVES children and babies. Hint, hint, Artie! Then this morning, Artie's friend/employee Seamus showed up for their Saturday workday. I had some of Martha's fresh zucchini/carrot muffins for the boys and Seamus had brought me an assortment of terra cotta pots for the plants he's been watching grow week by week, when they come by for a homemade Saturday lunch, made by yours truly.

Speaking of homemade, and having to do with my garden only in terms of growing/making my own food, I am proud to say that today I ...drumroll please, MADE MY OWN CHEESE! That's right, at this very moment I have a fist-sized hunk of handmade mozzarella in my fridge! I recently finished Barbara Kingsolver's fantastic new book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, in which she describes her and her family's year of moving to a farm and learning to eat locally, growing most of their own food (see where my inspiration came from?). In the book, Kingsolver describes making her own cheese from fresh local farm milk. She attended a seminar by "Ricki the Cheese Queen" and listed Ricki's website, and here we are with our own mozzarella (btw, I got my "Ricki the Cheese Queen" cheese making kit, which is essential for the recipe plus the citric acid and rennet tablets required in cheese making, at Rainbow Grocery in SF; probably available at natural foods stores but if not, just Google it and order directly).

My mozzarella is AMAZING and tastes and looks exactly like store-bought. But I made it, how fun!!! Pictures of everything above coming soon~