This time I got my act together. Added critic acid just a few degrees beyond 50℉, I realized that was actually kind of cold, and then added the rennet at exactly 88℉, which I realized is still cooler than body temperature, so when they say "heat the milk," it's all relative. Took that a while to sink in. I also used liquid rennet procured on the internet, and not that chincy Junket™ rennet. You only use 1/8 teaspoon liquid rennet for a gallon of milk, and you can see it start to work immediately.
This batch came out much better than the previous two, but it still wasn't stretchy like it's supposed to be. Still, can't complain though, I'll figure that out.
When I bought the milk for the cheese, I also bought some ordinary cheese. I mentioned to the fromagere guy I intended to attempt my own cheese he suddenly perked up and found me terribly interesting. He asked me all kinds of questions I wasn't prepared to answer. I told him this is only my third attempt. He goes, "Oh, how exciting!" Ha ha ha ha ha . He admitted with some embarrassment he hadn't tried it yet, to keep him posted how it comes out. Those Whole Food people are totally into this kind of shit. It's amusing. He engaged me about raw milk, the near impossibility of getting it, most likely reasons for that, and possible means to work-around the difficulty. We commiserated on the unreasonableness of the Nanny State intruding on our natural food choices. We cheered each other.
Today just as I was leaving there was a tentative knock at the door. I wondered, "Who the heck could that be? Nobody called. I didn't order anything." Standing there were two people I didn't recognize right off. They were holding out one of those folded white kitchen towels I use to wrap bread along with a small card. It was coming back to me. The thing is, I never saw the two together, and the woman looked different than before. Actually, I didn't know they were married. But it was so cute for them to give me a thank you card. They borrowed some tools at different times, but I didn't know where they lived and I didn't know they lived together. This is the card they handed me. In'nat cute?
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