Over the winter John, the kids and myself went to our local farmers market here in the DC area.  It was a cold day and I was just there for some apples, whatever greens I could salvage and some farm fresh eggs.  We happened upon Sandra, who was selling eggs and there in her van she had a big tub with a 2-day old baby goat.  Of course my kids and John went who-ha over the goat and without even thinking about it John said, "we're getting goats!".  Of course Jocelyn and Dylan were so excited and my first thought was, uh-oh, here it goes.  John had goats back in the day and loves them, he's always talking about getting a few for our farm.  John and the kids are such animal lovers that it never stops in my house, animal after animal after animal, so I just try to keep quiet not to encourage all the work we will have to endure.  So for the next few months John and Jocelyn do extensive research to find the best goats and decide on Nubians.  John visited local farms to get information and figure out where he would purchase a few Nubians.  He found a local dairy farm called Breezy Timber Nubians in White Hall, Maryland that had been raising, breeding, and showing goats for about 35 years and picked up two kids; 5 and 6 weeks old.  

We had to keep them at our home for two nights and I was so surprised how good and easy they were, they slept the whole night, not a peep.  For the next couple days we made sure the goat pen at our farm was perfect, we had all the necessary items for the kids and then brought them to their new home, stalls and all.  Saturday they went to the farm and by Wednesday we had a momma goat (not planned), so of course we have lots and lots of goat's milk coming in. 

All the milk was coming home with us, day after day after day. It's not stopping.  The goat gets milked twice a day, which means we get two quarts of fresh milk a day.  

I am so fortunate to have met an amazing cook, Mrs. Wheelbarrow (aka Cathy Barrow), and I texted her in a panic!  I need to learn how to make cheese and I need to learn NOW!!  Amazing Cathy to the rescue, she just flew in from Boston, had me come to her home, where I have spent many hours cooking by her side, and we made cheese! 

Cathy decided it would be best to start with Chèvre and I thought that was a great idea!  She taught me exactly how to do it, what I need to purchase and best of all, how easy it is!  I am so thankful to have Cathy and her amazing wisdom. 

I came to her house on a rainy Tuesday afternoon, and the process began.  Chèvre is a two day process, so I had to come back Wednesday to finish up. 

First we pasteurized the milk, bringing the temperature up to 145 degrees and keeping it at that temperature for 30 minutes, which meant a lot of back and forth, turn off the heat, turn on the heat, put it in an ice bath, put it back on the heat.  Finally we did it, our milk was pasteurized. 

Then we had to bring it down to 85 degrees and we could add our starter and rennet.  Mix it up a bit, cover and let it set for 24 hours, that is just keeping it in a warm spot over night. 

Cathy texted me the next morning to tell me the cheese set beautifully....that was a great text to get!  

A few hours later I was at her house and we transferred the cheese to a cheese cloth, strung it together and I brought it home to let it hang for 8 hours so all the whey releases.  We bottled up the whey and used it in a smoothie the next morning.  

The final step is adding salt and rolling it into the shape I desire (I opted out of this last step and just put it in a container)!  Walla, there was cheese! 

I'm so excited for my cheese making chapter to begin!