I made my own mozzarella!! I followed Ricki's recipe below. First and third batch came out great! First milk I bought at Target, third I bought at Foodarama. Second batch I bought milk at Walmart and it didn't set, guess the milk it pasteurized at too high a temperature.

So, we made home made pizza with fresh mozzarella for dinner! IT was fantastic!




Ricki Carroll's 30-minute Mozzarella
Yield: 3/4 to 1 pound cheese

1 1/2 tsp citric acid dissolved in 1/4 cup cool water
1 gallon pasteurized whole milk
1/4 tsp liquid rennet (or 1/4 rennet tablet) diluted in 1/4 cup cool, unchlorinated water
1 tsp cheese salt (coarse, noniodized flake salt similar to pickling salt; do not use iodized salt)

Slowly heat the milk in a stainless steel pot to 55 degrees. While stirring, add the citric acid solution to the milk and mix thoroughly.

Heat the milk to 88 degrees over medium-low heat. The milk will begin to curdle.

Gently stir in the diluted rennet with an up-and-down motion for 30 seconds. Turn off the heat. Then let the milk sit still while heating it to between 100 and 105 degrees. In about 5 to 8 minutes, the curds should be pulling away from the sides of the pot.

The curds will look like thick yogurt and have a bit of shine to them, and the whey will be clear. If the whey is still milky white, wait a few more minutes before turning off the heat. Scoop out the curds with a slotted spoon and put into a 2-quart microwavable bowl. Press the curds gently with your hands, pouring off as much whey as possible.

Microwave the curds on high for 1 minute.

Drain off all excess whey. Gently fold the cheese over and over (as in kneading bread) with your hand or a spoon. This distributes the heat evenly throughout the cheese, which will not stretch until it is too hot to touch (145 degrees inside the curd). You may want to don rubber gloves at this point, as the cheese will be extremely hot to the touch.

Microwave two more times for 35 seconds each; add salt to taste after the second time. After each heating, knead again to distribute the heat.

Knead quickly until it is smooth and elastic. When the cheese stretches like taffy, it's done. If the curds break instead of stretch, they are too cool and need to be reheated.

When the cheese is smooth and shiny, roll it into small balls and eat while warm. Or place them in a bowl of ice water for half an hour to bring the inside temperature down rapidly; this will produce a consistent smooth texture throughout the cheese. Although best eaten fresh, it can be stored in the refrigerator at this point.

Note: If you are using store-bought milk, and your curds turn into the consistency of ricotta cheese and will not come together, switch brands of milk. It may have been heated at the factory at too high a temperature.

A visit with Grandpa and Grandma Tamez

We went for an overnight visit and the kids were overjoyed to see Grandma and Grandpa Tamez!

The cousins

It's always chaos trying to get pictures of the four together. Someone is always doing something else or looking the wrong way! Here's Christmas 2008's attempt!

waiting for santa

guess who is in position waiting for Santa??? We keep checking Norad to see where he is and if he's near.

waiting for santa

guess who is in position waiting for Santa??? We keep checking Norad to see where he is and if he's near.oh and she's requested that we sleep downstairs tonight so that she can better watch for him.

This year's cookies!

Cherry WHites
Cherry whites...formerly known as Cranberry white chocolate cookies

2 cups (4 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 cups flour
1 pkg. (6 squares) BAKER'S Premium White Baking Chocolate, chopped
1-1/2 cups dried cranberries



PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add flour; mix well.
STIR in chopped chocolate and cranberries. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased baking sheets. Flatten each ball of dough slightly.
BAKE 10 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheets. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

Old Fashioned Shortbreads
Makes 3 dozen cookies
Ingredients

• 1 cup butter (use salted)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, cream butter until pale.
2. Add sugar gradually and beat until well dissolved.
3. Add flour, one half cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Divide dough in half. Form into logs about 2” in diameter. Wrap in waxed paper and chill until firm. (Dough can last in the fridge for up to 3 days and up to 3 months in the freezer if properly stored. Let refrigerated dough soften at room temperature for 10 minutes before slicing. Frozen dough should be left at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.)
5. Preheat oven to 300F.
6. Slice dough 1/4" thick. Place 1/2" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes or until slightly golden. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week, or freeze for up to a month.

Double Chocolate Brownies
Follow traditional brownie box direction but add 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup white chocolate chips. After cooled cut into bite size pieces and then drizzle melted chocolate chips and sprinkle with crushed peppermint pieces

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar, sifted
• 1 cup brown sugar, sifted
• 8 ounces melted butter
• 11/4 cups cocoa, sifted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup flour, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• hershey's kisses, one for each cupcake
  

Gingerbread cookies

I used a regular box for gingerbread and followed the soft gingerbread cookie option. I rolled the dough into balls and then rolled in sugar. Follow with drizzled dark chocolate after cookie has cooled.

Molten brownie cakes

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan.

In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Add both sugars. Add remaining ingredients, and mix to combine.

Pour the batter into a cupcake tins greased and floured, insert one kiss into each cup and bake for 20 minutes. Check for doneness with the tried-and-true toothpick method: a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake should come out clean. When it's done, remove to a rack to cool. Resist the temptation to cut into it until it's mostly cool.

Spritz dough sliced cookies

1/2 c. butter
1/4 c. vegetable shortening
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1 lg. egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/4 c. sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1. With electric mixer at high speed, cream butter, shortening until soft.2. Add sugar gradually, continuing to cream, about 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
3. Add egg and vanilla; beat well.
4. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together; add in 3 additions by hand or with electric mixer; mix well after each addition; dough will be stiff.
5. Shape dough into 2 rolls; wrap in plastic film, foil or waxed paper; refrigerate at least 1 hour.
6. Slice from dough and bake 7-8 minutes at 375 degrees or until just staring to turn light golden around edges, being careful not to overbake.

Peanut Butter Kisses
Ingredients

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 18 milk chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine sugar, peanut butter, and egg.
3. Shape into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. NOTE: If dough is too sticky, refrigerate 1/2 hour or until easy to handle.
4. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove cookies from oven. Press a chocolate kiss into the center of each warm cookie.

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine sugar, peanut butter, and egg.
3. Shape into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. NOTE: If dough is too sticky, refrigerate 1/2 hour or until easy to handle.
4. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove cookies from oven. Press a chocolate kiss into the center of each warm cookie.

Let it snow!!!

It snowed last night!!! not much of anything but enough to make the kids excited!! My hands were shaking as I took the pictures...I was so cold! haha

Mama Penny!!!

Penny came into town for her neice's wedding and we got to see her for a few short hours....it was great!
G was so excited to see her (as was I). We hung out in the hotel lobby and then ran her to the mall so we could see Stefanie, who was getting her nails done. I miss Penny so much! It was great to see her for those few hours....

Halloween.....

Houston!! We have Power!!

Power was restored to our block Friday afternoon! Finally!!! Now I am furiously washing clothes in the machine (by hand sucks but I did it every day so I only have some towels to do!) and scooba is busily cleaning the floors! Thankfully we did not lose a single fish. My hand scooping water into the tank saved them! That and the generator that Reuben found four or five days in to the darkness. We were able to run it at night and be moderately comfortable! SO....back to normalcy for us. Now to finish filtering the pool so we can see the bottom.