Homemade Cheese!

I went to a "dinner party" Sunday night at my friends apartment, it was a pretty interesting afair. 

A couple from England hosted the dinner - we ate fajitas, quacamole, couscous, and cookies (I brought them) - in Korea.

It was a very global affair, though all this is beside the point.  The point is my friends Ric and Sydney have begun making their own cheese, because if you have ever been to Korea the cheese here is pretty much garbage unless you are in love with Kraft Singles type, or can afford to spend an arm, and a leg to get the real deal.  And, if you have ever been to any western country we are pretty much addicted to the stuff.

I didn't realize how much cheese Americans really consume until I started looking on Pinterest for recipes one night...EVERYTHING HAD CHEESE!  It was very frustrating to say the least.

While I was trying to decide what to bring to share with everyone I wondered if Steph and Ric had spent a small fortune to buy cheese for the evening because I had been informed they had some already.  Upon arrival I found that Ric had actually made the cheese himself with a recipe our mutual friend Sydney gave him.  It was pretty deliscious so I decided to make some myself.

After a little research I found a simple recipe myself and decided to make a small batch for my first attempt with things I had around my apartment - Milk and Rice Wine Vinegar. That's all you need!  There are a lot of recipes that say you need a thermometer, rennet, blah, blah, and blah...and yeah I am sure you do if you want to get fancy, but lets not get crazy here, alright?  I mean I am trying to make this stuff in an apartment that is actually smaller than my closet was in my apartment back in Michigan!

It took about an hour in total, mostly because I realized I didn't have anything to drain the cheese with, and had to do a load of laundry in order to have a clean non-terrycloth towel to drain the curds from the way.

After it was all finished cooking, and seperating I put it in a old butter container, and stuck it in the fridge over night.  This morning I tried it...it turned out pretty well.  Much better than I had anticipated. 

Next...I'm going to make yogurt!