Goals Make You Happy

We have been studying The Law of Happiness by Henry Cloud in women's Bible study. This past week we studied principles 4 & 5. Principle 4 says happy people pursue goals. We discussed how to set goals and achieve goals. Apparently, I was partially on the right track. Now if I could just accomplish each month's goal before the last day of the month.

This month I set out to learn to make mozzarella. It took me three tries, but I did it. The first try the curds didn't really come together and I had nothing to show for it. The second try it worked so much better, but I forgot to add the salt. So the flavor wasn't right. But it came together and looked right. The third try was so much better. I guess they say third time's a charm because you figure what went wrong the first two times.

The ingredients for mozzarella are few:
1 gallon of milk
1/2 tsp citric acid
1 cup cool water
1/4 tsp rennet
1/4 cup cool water

I have learned that rennet can be hard to find. I bought mine at Whole Foods. Mine is in liquid form. You can also buy it in powder form, which may be easier to find. I have a tiny bottle and it has lasted me a while, and I use mine for sour cream, cream cheese, and mozzarella. It is used to make most cheeses; it's what curdles the milk.

Dilute the citric acid in 1 cup cool water. Then combine the cold milk and the diluted citric acid in a large pot. Slowly heat milk mixture to 90° while stirring often. Dilute rennet in 1/4 cup cool water. Once milk is heated to 90° remove from heat and add diluted rennet. Stir to combine, cover and allow to sit. The recipe I used said to allow it to sit for 5 minutes, but that didn't work for me. I had to let it sit for 15 minutes. Using your fingers you will be able to gently pull the curd away from the side of the pan and you can see the whey. Using a knife, cut the curd into 1" squares.

Put the pan back onto the stove and heat the curds to 105° while stirring slowly. It will break the curds up some. This part I was so unsure about the first two times I did it, but it came together later. Once it reaches 105°, remove from heat and continue to stir slowly for 2-5 minutes.

Transfer curds to a colander over a bowl using a slotted spoon to drain off the whey. Once I got close to removing all the curds, I moved the curds from the colander to a microwave safe bowl and poured the rest of the whey and curds into the colander. Some people save the whey for making bread or other things. I don't use that much whey so I just pour it down the sink. I already have a jar of whey in the fridge from making sour cream.

Combine all the curds in the microwave safe bowl. In the bowl, knead the curds together like you would bread. It will not look like mozzarella at all, and it won't be a solid mass. While you are kneading, drain off the whey. After kneading for a couple minutes, heat curds in microwave for 1 minute. Remove from microwave; using a rubber spatula knead curds. Continue to drain the whey. Once the cheese is cool enough to use your hands, knead with your hands for a couple minutes. Microwave again for 35 seconds. Knead again and drain whey. Add salt to taste. I couldn't find an exact amount but I used a 1/2 tsp. Microwave again for 35 seconds. Knead. At this point it should be smooth like mozzarella. Stretch mozzarella like taffy for a couple minutes. Then form a ball and place in a bowl with ice water to cool it off. Wrap cheese with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

I haven't decided on what to make for March. Does anyone have any ideas? My ladies' Bible study suggested head cheese, sushi, sauerkraut, & sausage. The only one that appealed to me was sausage. Does anyone have any other ideas?

Want to check out my other goals for the year? You can find them all on this post.

Printable Recipe

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