Making Ricotta Cheese

One day I watched Ina Garten on the Barefoot Contessa MAKE her own ricotta cheese.  I thought, really, WHY?  Although she's all about "delicious and easy," I was skeptical.  Then I read about making your own cheeses in one of my Mother Earth magazines.  They gave recipes to make Fromage Blanc, Mascarpone and Paneer.  Each of these recipes seemed quite easy so I decided to give this cheese making a try.

It turned out to be quite fun AND delicious!


Homemade Ricotta Cheese

 Here's the process -

All you need is
  
2 quarts whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons lemon juice

 

Line a large sieve with fine-mesh cheesecloth and place over a large bowl.
Slowly heat the milk, cream and salt in a heavy 6-quart pot over moderate heat.   Stir it occasionally to keep it from scorching. 

Heat this to about 180 F.  
 

 

Lower the heat and slowly add the lemon juice.  Let the mixture stand for a minute or two, as it begins to curdle. 

 



Pour the mixture into the lined sieve and bowl and let drain 20-30 minutes.  The longer it drains, the dryer the cheese will be.  Check it now and then to see if it's the consistency you want.

 



 

 Although this doesn't look very glamorous, it's necessary to allow
the whey to drain.

 

 

Yep, it does drain away.

 

RICOTTA!!!

Use immediately or store the cheese in a covered container for 2-3 days.

This recipe makes about 2 cups.

Here's a delicious recipe for Herbed Ricotta Cheese.
(based on recipe by Ina Garten)

2 cups ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons minced scallions
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Mix all ingredients together and set aside.

Lightly toast slices of sourdough or other thick bread. Spread with Herbed Ricotta and enjoy!!


Linking to these great parties:

Share Your Cup Thursday

Foodie Friday

Home Sweet Home

Fridays Unfolded




 

Purple Halloween

It's a new challenge from Kathleen, an Autumn table in Purple. 

 

I thought a Halloween theme would be fun but didn't want to set a table that would scare your socks off.  Perhaps a bit of lace

and a little sparkle would set the mood. 

 

 

 

Cream chargers highlighting lavender plates, topped with white pumpkin bowls.

Cutwork napkins and purple pearls.  All quite elegant. 

 

 

Just add a few skulls, pumpkins, spiders and witches' hats that
lean toward the macabre. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you're welcoming Fall in style (and with a bit of whimsy)!

 

 

 

Linking to these inspiring parties:

 

Amaze Me Monday

 

Table It!

 

Tuesdays at Our Home

 

Let's Dish

 

Tablescape Thursday

 

Share Your Cup Thursday

 

and the 2014 Harvest Hop Link-up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goldenrod

This table was inspired by that lowly meadow weed, Goldenrod.  Lately, it's been blooming all over these parts.  

 

 

It's a simple setting, just black, white and gold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I added the succulent arrangement purchased at our state master gardener conference.  I though it went well with the table.  Succulents are new to me so I've been reading up on their care.  Think I can keep them this healthy looking?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I would be remiss if I didn't mention this table also reflects the colors of Old MIZZOU, the university all in this home hold dear.  This past weekend, our football team beat the South Carolina Gamecocks in a heart-stopper, 21-20!

 

M-I-Z            Z-O-U

 

 

Hope you're enjoying all the signs and celebrations of fall! 

 

 

 

Linking to these parties:

 

Amaze Me Monday

Tuesdays At Our Home

Tablescape Thursday

Share Your Cup Thursday

Table It!

Home Sweet Home

Fridays Unfolded

Blue and Orange

Late summer has been quite busy this year with putting up lots of veggies from the garden and a relaxing vacation to Michigan.  Getting back into the blogging routine has been a challenge.  Here's a simple table I put together using some new cloches I recently found at All About Home.

 

 

I found these salad plates at World Market earlier this summer and used them here.  I knew they would look nice with blue and found these placemats on sale at Kohl's.  The glasses and soup tureen are from a local resale shop!

 

 

 

 

The vegetable garden work is winding down and I'm looking forward to getting back into a more regular routine. 

 

Thanks for visiting!

 

 

Joining:

 

Table It

Tablescape Thursday

 

 

The Ultimate Quilters' Store!

Last week, a friend and her husband took me along as they traveled to Hamilton, Missouri to visit the quilters' 'Mecca,' Missouri Star Quilt Company. 

I was here back in January and knew my friend would love this store!  Her husband graciously agreed to drive us the three-plus hours (!) to shop four different stores Missouri Quilt Company have now opened on Main Street in downtown Hamilton.  (If you're a historian, you may recall Hamilton is the birthplace of J. C. Penney.)

The flagship shop was our first stop.  That's where you'll find their famous "Daily Deals," helpful and creative assistants and lots of great fabric.  We perused the huge selection.  In fact, I was so busy looking at everything, I forgot to take any photos!!  There were several coordinating fabrics I was looking for to complete a few projects.  Here are a couple of photos I found that give you an idea of what this shop looks like.

Source

 In short order, I found what I needed for two of my projects!  We headed down  the street to the next store, Sew Seasonal.

 



There was an unbelievable variety of fabric for any holiday and lots of 'inspiration' hanging on the walls.  My friend is planning a winter-themed quilt and needed quite a few coordinating fabrics.  She found a lot of what she needed here.
 

 



Next we visited the 'solids' shop.  This is in the old J. C. Penney store!



 

 We both finished up our shopping lists at this store! 

 

The final shop contained Civil War reproduction fabric but, again, I forgot to take any pictures.  :(

MSQC is also known for it's inspiration through live, in-store demonstrations, instructional videos and classes.  They even have a bed and breakfast where a group can come and piece, sew and quilt to their hearts' content!  What a cool concept!

 

 

 

You have to bring your own breakfast but they provide a lovely, modern kitchen.


One building we didn't visit this trip was the quilting building which is in the old public library.  It has several long-arm quilting machines and is always busy.

Source

 

 

They doing quilting for people all over the world.  Germany, Australia and Montana!

 

 

It was a fun productive day for us.  We each bought the supplies we needed for our next projects!   Here's what I got. (I had a few of these pieces and found coordinating fabric.) 

 

 

 

I'm almost looking forward to winter when I'm snowed in with all of these goodies!!

 

 

Hope you enjoyed tagging along! 

 

 

 

Sharing with these ladies:
 
 Time Travel Thursday
 Share Your Cup Thursday
 Home Sweet Home
 Fridays Unfolded
 Inspire Me Please
 Amaze Me Monday