57 hours to go

Sorry again for missing a couple postings ... with graduation coming, everything is becoming a lot busier for me.

In the past couple weeks we have made a couple of cheeses that I have only made once before so I really had to think about the make processes for these cheese. Most cheeses follow the same steps but there are small differences that make them different cheese. With only making cheese twice a week and making a wide variety, I always really have to think about the differences because some are so small. I finally feel like I am getting the hang of all of the small stuff and am becoming more confident in my cheesemaking abilities.

As of now I have 183 hours done towards my cheesemaker's license with 57 hours still to complete, but I feel like I have been making cheese forever. With graduation this Sunday and exams to follow, and then starting my new full time job, I am a bit concerned about getting all of my hours so it might take me longer to get my license than expected but I will eventually get there.

This past week I took an ice cream makers course through the Center for Dairy Research. I really learned a lot about ice cream and many of the subjects crossed with what I knew about cheese. It was very interesting to learn how to make another dairy product but the best part of the course was all the ice cream we were able to evaluate … what a great class!