Homemade Birthday Bounty

This year, my birthday celebration was all about food.

First, on Saturday, E2 and I made mozzarella from scratch, using ingredients from the Cheesemaking Kit I bought myself as a present.

For milk, I splurged on whole cream-topped milk from Straus Family Creamery.



After following the first half of the recipe, I was shocked to see that it looked like we may actually succeed on our first attempt:



The curds stretched, just like they were supposed to.



So we stretched them some more.



Meanwhile gorgeous salted garden tomatoes lay in waiting.



We tasted the cheese and could not believe how rich and creamy it was. So, quickly, before we ate it all, we prepared our first course of caprese made of garden basil, garden tomatoes, homemade mozzarella, California Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar from Modena.



MMMmmmmm... Homemade Birthday Happiness.