What's been happening here...

Wow, has been a long time since I have had a chance to blog!  I have wanted to get on here many times, but life has kept me so busy.  I guess that is good though--better to be living life than writing about it!  So here is what I have been doing...

Cheesemaking
Tried my hand at making some mozzarella cheese.  I got the recipe, rennet, and citric acid from the New England Cheese Making Supply.  I didn't buy their mozzarella kit, rather their hard cheese kit.  I just tried the mozzarella cheese first.  I used raw cow milk and didn't pasturize it first because I wanted the benefits of the raw milk to be present in the cheese as well.  I just heated it up to the 88°F and followed the directions from there.  I didn't use the microwave method though.  I heated up my whey and dipped my curds into it.  I don't think I let them get hot enough.  They never were as stretchy as the pictures suggested.  Another blunder on my part was not adding salt.  The end result was a dry, non-flavorful cheese.  I think I might be able to use it on pizza and just salt it before it melts.  Will give it a shot.  I did continue to heat the whey and get some nice ricotta cheese from it, and because I had salted the whey to dip the curds in previously, the ricotta was plenty salted.  Next, I am hoping to make some farmhouse cheddar or colby cheese.  One thing I didn't realize about making cheese is how much milk it takes to make such a small amount of cheese!  1 gallon of milk produce 3 small balls of mozzarella and about a cup of ricotta!

Soapmaking
I have been working on a new line of soap for my kids' business.  Their business is called Crazy Critter Soap, so our new line is called "Little Critter" and is geared toward babies and children.  My daughter is also knitting some washclothes to go with this line.  Can't wait to get it all together!  I am brainstorming ways to market and sell our soap.  Any of you successful soapmakers have any suggestions?  I thought about craft fairs and possibly trying to get into a retail baby store?

Homeschooling
Well, we officially started up about the time I stopped blogging, imagine that!  I consider myself a very relaxed homeschooler.  The older kids do much of their work on their own, and we take every opportunity to learn things naturally.   I feel that we are a pleasant blend of classical and charlotte mason--in other words, a hodge podge (what's the word, eclectic?).  We have had some wonderful opportunities to take some coop classes this year.  The older kids are taking speech, art, and pe.  I am so thankful for the opportunity, but I am really a stay at home kind of person, so being on the go tires me out.  I am also thankful that the speech is only 12 weeks long.  So I can consider this a busy season rather than a busy lifestyle! 

Hope to be able to post more later.  For now, life calls...