Things Made for Eatin'!

So... Here is the leetle cheese that I just pulled out of my cheese press:


It's a Monterey Jack with dill and a pinch of onion powder... It is currently drying on a plate in the cupboard. When it is completely dry, I will wax it and put it in a cooler in the basement to age.

Replacing the Jack in the cheese press, I have placed my first attempt at cheddar... Alas, i fear this experiment may be made of fail. A taste of the curds as I was flipping the cheese revealed them to be a bit on the bitter and grainy side.... Additionally, I fear that my press was not rated for cheddar (Requiring 50 lbs of pressure on the curds... The hoop keeps tilting and squirting curds out the bottom... It's a little disturbing.) I'll see how 3 months of aging does for it... I hear there's some kind of "magic flavor change" at the two month aging mark...

And speaking of aging cheeses, I have ordered black wax in which to dip my cheeses to protect them during the aging process. (I've got a wax stamp for letters that I intend to mark my little cheeses with too... Soon I will have a bunch of little goth cheeses hanging out in my basement. :) For some reason this idea makes me extremely silly happy. Hopefully they will be tasty cheeses that I will be pleased to call my own, but only time will tell.

Oh, OH! And I also started a gallon of ginger ale that should be ready for drinkin' by the May Day Moot. I hope it doesn't suck... I also hope I don't sample it all before the moot....