If It Looks Like Cheddar...

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!

Ahem.

So, I knew I could sample the Farmhouse Cheddar as early as a month after waxing. 

Originally I was going to try to hold off for two months, but...I was just so curious.  A mix of curious and worried that maybe I'd somehow messed something up and it would be spoiled. 

I just had to know. 

So earlier in the week I decided that we'd sample the Farmhouse on Friday. 

Then I sort of forgot about it because I got 2 gallons of goat milk at the Farmers' Market yesterday and got distracted by thoughts of chevre.  Mmmmmmmm...chevre....

So when Bill said something like "Are you still doing the cheese tonight?" I thought he meant was I going to make the chevre...and then I remembered. 

The cheddar!

So I got it out of my temperature-regulated chest freezer "cave" and brought it out to the deck on a plate with a knife and some crackers.

And with little fanfare (just some pictures), I picked off the label and cut the wheel in half.

 

And pulled the halves apart.

 
AND THERE WAS NO SLIME OR MOLD OR ANYTHING BAD!

 
Sorry, I'm still a bit dazzled by it all.

I cut one half in two and peeled the wax off, and took pictures (while Bill fidgeted impatiently nearby) and finally, finally, we sampled a slice.

 
And...

...it tasted...

...like...

...mild cheddar cheese.

Holy dairy cow, Batman!

I did it!!!!!!

But actually, the REAL test was still to come.  I've said, more than once, that Alex doesn't like soft cheeses, so he hasn't liked any of the ricotta, mozzarella, chevre, or cream cheese I've made in the past.  So in addition to just the natural progression of things, part of the reason I've wanted to make hard cheeses was so I could make something Alex could enjoy.

So I hollered into the house and summoned the kids.

And we gave Alex a slice of cheddar on a cracker...

And, after careful chewing and consideration...

He gave his stamp of approval...

 
And had another bite.

And I breathed a sigh of relief.

If you missed the earlier posts on the making of this cheddar, you can read them here and here. 

Comments

[Jackie]

Congratulations, Jayne!!! You should be very proud of yourself. :D

[roo]

Cheese, glorious cheese-- so scrumptious and luscious...

Congratulations, Jayne. I wouldn't mind a slice of that myself.

[sarahk]

Beautiful cheese! You're making me want to make some. Especially once I read "chevre". Mmmmm. Can't wait to see your chevre.

[Laura]

YAY! Congratulations on the successful cheese making! :)

[judith]

You are so awesome! It's so pretty.

[Nabeela]

Congratulations!! The cheese looks delicious!

[Heidi]

Congratulations!

[Apartmentkitchen.wordpress.com]

YUM! Wow that looks really delicious!

[Mimi]

How cool! Are you going to let the next one age longer so you can have a sharp cheese?

[Jayne]

Yes! My other two cheddars (so far) will age for longer periods of time, and in fact I might cut them both in half, re-dry half of each and wax them again so we can sample at different stages.

[Mickey]

Really interesting story-I read all three posts-congratulations.

[Mimi]

That's so fun!! I look forward to seeing how it goes!!