Home made Ricotta Cheese

Dear Family & Friends

Happy new year 2015!!

In the past, we have discovered that we can actually make our own homemade yogurt so easily. As we get fresh cow's milk delivered to our home each week, our big girl would boil them to pasturize it first. Just add a tablespoon or two of yogurt, to act as activator to your litre of warm milk. Keep it warm and let it set. That easy! you'll have new yogurt to enjoy. It's one of our joyful discovery!

Hurray for homemade Ricotta Cheese!!

Recently, we ventured with joy in making homemade cheese! We didn't realized that this is so easy to make too! Here's how:

Makes 1 cup
Active time: 10 min

4 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

3 tablespoons distilled vinegar, fresh lemon or lime juice

Step 1: Place the milk in a heavy-bottomed pot. Add the salt and heat over medium heat. Stir occasionally so the milk doesn't scorch. Heat milk to 180ºF to 190ºF (82ºC to 88ºC). The milk would start foaming at the sides of the pan, simmering, but not boiling.

Step 2: Remove pan from heat and add vinegar, lemon or lime juice. Stir only a couple of times. Almost immediately, curds will start to form. Make sure not to stir any more so as not to disturb the curds. Let stand for five minutes.

Step 3: Line a medium sieve with the cheesecloth and carefully pour the milk mixture into the cheesecloth, disturbing the curds as little as possible. Let drain for five to 20 minutes to the desired consistency. Draining for five minutes will give you a moist and creamy cheese. Draining for 20 minutes will give you a drier ricotta. You can drain the ricotta for longer of course, just remember that the longer it drains, the drier it'll be. Transfer the ricotta to a container and cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate for up to seven days.

A very pretty hand drawn  note to accompany a delicious ricotta cheese gift for a friend:)

My little girl enjoys making Ricotta cheese...but it doesn't really last long with us! Making simple ricotta sandwiches is one of her favourite...in fact, it's everyone's favourite....This is one of those very simple things that we can make at home. Worth doing for the family's enjoyment:)

Simple things in life are best...always is for our family! Hope this week, you'll find lots of joy in everyday simple living too:) Best wishes to you for the new year 2015!

Yours