Transformation – Page 4 – How I Can Do That

Can I do that???

Right now I’m in the middle of several projects at the same time and instead of throwing something together for you, I decided to spend a coffee moment with you and just share about me. And I welcome you to email me and continue any conversation that you would like to have.

By nature I like being a person who has all the answers. Sometimes it’s because there are so many people out there who don’t have the answers and nothing is more frustrating than hearing someone say they don’t know. I also love researching and learning new things. I like being a person who says I don’t know but here is what I found out…. And in the last few years I’ve embraced those failure moments where things, methods, ideas just don’t work out. I no longer have a fear of saying that I failed at something. The brilliance of failing is that the failure is not the end all be all. I’ve come to the knowledge that failure in one attempt or ten attempts just means that something didn’t work in the process. Life isn’t static. It isn’t pass/fail on one attempt. Everything is a process. And it’s a process that incorporates the effects and influences of things outside us.

In the crafting world, there are so many methods out there where you have to make this item doing x, y and z in that precise order. But in reality, sometimes the person who makes the steps are aware of outside influences that can change how things turn out, or it’s just not something on their radar.

For example, in a crafting group someone was commenting on how the scorch pen didn’t work for a recommended group craft and they fault was on the pen instead of the recommended scorch paste. I’ve used the pen months before and I had the exact failure that she mentioned. But the difference in approach of project failure came down to the framework of thinking. I can’t vouch for what this crafter thought inside of her head, how she reacted emotionally. I can only assess by the phrases used in an online forum. The phrasing indicated that this lady attributed the craft failure to using the pen instead of the paste and the additional contributing factor of not using the exact same heat source (for burning the chemicals) were the reason why she couldn’t obtain the desired effect. On a different response level, I shared with her how I used the same product, used what was supposed to be the “correct” heat source, and still got the same results. It wasn’t the heat source. And it wasn’t the chemical source for that matter either. When I obtained a failed result, I noticed something. The chemical from the pen bled because of the wood grains. The scorch pen didn’t bleed in all directions. It bled in the direction where the wood grain left a miniature channel for the liquid to migrate around instead of remaining in the partitioned area created by the stencil. This same failure could have still been had with the scorch paste if the grain ridges were deep enough for the paste to be pushed through the stencil or seep out and under.

The problem wasn’t the product.

The problem was the outside source.

The solution, even though I haven’t yet gone back to prove this for an absolute fact, is sanding the wood to make sure there is nowhere for the chemical product to move outside the stencil.

Life is so much like this. We see a result in someone and we try to go through their steps of getting that desired thing in our own lives. But for one reason, or several, it doesn’t give us the result that we desire. We chalk this up to failure. It feeds into our current (or long lasting) insecurities and feeds our preconceived ideas of ourselves.

“I tried that once…” It didn’t work. They were wrong. They have (knowledge, education, resources, money, family, time, support, etc.) that I don’t have. They had the chance that I didn’t have. I’m just a failure.

How many of those statements have we used in our own lives to excuse why something didn’t work?

What other statements have you used?

For the life of me I cannot remember what caused that triggered in me the need to be perfect. But perfectionism is a disease that eats at you just as much as being a serial failure. Sure a part of me hated letting other people down. But what ate me up the most is when I let myself down. I see in my head how things should be, how they should play out, and I use to beat myself up each and every time I failed those self expectations. I made myself miserable with these failures. Not just the event/activity but how I failed myself, sometimes repeatedly.

The turning point, for me, in this viewpoint of failure happened in college. I was interested in becoming a doctor and took the list of pre-med classes. I was challenged and I excelled in all the lower level classes. I watched others wash out and I was proud of myself for meeting my expectations.

Until….

I hit the wall that I just couldn’t break through. It didn’t matter how light or hard I hit those bricks, that wall would not move. It didn’t matter which angle I came from, there was not a chink in that mortar to gain leverage. There was no going above the wall, under it, or around it.

Organic Chemistry and Advanced Calculus kicked my butt and won.

I had to change my focus and get my degree in another area, one that felt like an easy out because it came natural to me.

BUT…

I took a chance in going in a direction. I learned the human body and how the world works around it. I learned more than what I should actually write here. And even though I “failed” I learned information that I still use today. I understand my body, how it should work, and know what questions to ask and research when it doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to work.

That education also translated into understanding how my garden works even though I never took a botany or agriculture class.

Yes, my initial moment in failure devastated me. To no end! It was the first time I ever truly failed out of something where I couldn’t work my way out. But my walking away learning moment from that complete and utter failure is that there is always something to learn, pull from, and still have tools that I can walk away with.

The world is so quick to define failure as a hard STOP, do not cross, you cannot move beyond this point. But nothing can be further from the truth!!!

Failure is just the simple fact that something did NOT work. It’s NOT a reflection of you. It DOESN’T even define you. Failure IS simply a method that did not work.

Let me rephrase that.

Failure is simply a METHOD that did not work.

You are not a failure. You are never a failure. In fact, the secret of life is that you cannot fail. Ever.

There are always countless options in front of you when you see that failure is not a description of who you are as a person. When you switch the focus from you being a failure to the method of life being a failure, you suddenly see that there is so much out there for you that you couldn’t see before.

In fact, I’ll go as far as to say that when people tell you, “You are a failure” or “You failed me” it has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU! Instead it’s them shifting their own failure onto you because they can’t face or deal with the failure in their own lives.

So the answer to the post’s question is YES! Yes, you can do that.

And this is the heart behind these blogs. I talk a lot of about crafts, decorating, and food. These are areas that I’m passionate about and having working knowledge with. I dabble in a lot of other areas. And because of that I can say that these principles also work in all areas in life.

If you want to know why I walk with confidence and talk with confidence because I know I’m not a failure.

You’re not a failure

I take every moment, task, event, problem and look at the outside variables. There’s always something else that is an acting influence on what is happening and in some instances, not happening.

My goal is to enable you to see that you’re not a failure. You literally can do anything you want to do. If you want to pursuit a goal you march yourself right up to it. If you hit a wall you can’t go under, over, or around that you redirect yourself. BUT you take with you everything that you learned along the way. When life gives you a dead end, it is not failure. It IS a defining moment where you see the parameters of what you are gifted for in life. You can go to the left or the right and keep that wall on your side. Or you can keep the wall to your back and keep moving forward. The purpose is that you keep moving forward.

And when you hit another wall, you found another boundary, showing you where your purpose lies.

There are some people who feel like all they do is hit one wall after another. My question is this. Are you hitting the same wall over and over again? Or have you just hit all the walls around your boundary and not understood their meaning?

If you’re hitting wall after wall, the focus should be turned away from the walls themselves and focusing in on this specific area inside all these walls. This is your gifting in life!

In fact, if you’re the one who feels like you’re always hitting the walls, you are at an advantage to someone who never feels the pain of trying and ramming the walls. You actually see the definition of where you are weak, the things outside of your wheelhouse. You can turn away from all those and see more clearly what your strengths are. And you can see more clearly what your purpose in life is all about.

The world is good at making us focus on the walls or glass ceilings. Because if we focus on the walls or the limitations in life we’re not seeing who we were designed to be. We are easily controlled and manipulated. We are easy to put into depression and give up on life.

BUT when we see our strengths and our calling, we are a powerhouse!

Each and every person alive has a purpose, because there is not another person like you. There is not another person like me. You have a specific meaningful job and function on this planet that others need that only you can provide. I need you. I need you because you’re not me. I don’t care what the mirror on your wall shows, that image does not define you. You reside inside your body. And that is where your purpose resides. You can be the most different person from me and I will still need you, because you have something inside you, at your core that we all need.

If you want to continue this conversation with me, please email me here:

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Repurposing A Frame

(This post contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.)

It never fails that you find something very cute to give something, but it comes with non-removable art that just not fit with what you want to gift or make for yourself. Maybe it is art that isn’t your style. Maybe it is a design that’s so cheap and is exactly the reason why you find it at the dollar store.

For example, I found this cute frame.

I found that the size was cute. And I absolutely loved the beaded clutch like handle. Best of all, I loved how the frame and handles were very much reminiscent of unfinished wood. This was the perfect blank slate that I could do so much with!

The negative mark was the non-removable art. Truth be told, I almost put this back on the shelf.

But here is how I turned this dollar store product into the perfect blank to make a personalized present.

First you paint over the non-removable art

Especially if you like the current state of the finish of the frame you’re working with, you want to grab some masking tape and tape off the frame to protect it from the paint. It doesn’t matter how handy you are with a paint brush, you really do want to take the few extra minutes to tape off the frame. It just takes an unexpected sneeze or someone sneaking up behind you, knock on the door, ring of the phone, or that your brush slips.

Apply the tape on the inside edge of the frame. Cut down the tape to the corner of the frame, so you can fold the edges over.

The tape that I used here was Green Frog Tape.

Once the frame is taped off, take your paint of choice and cover the original art.

I used Waverly Cashew Chalk Paint. Because this color is so pail, it took about 4 layers to cover up the dark original colors. The important thing to remember is that you always want to paint with thin layers. First they paint dries quicker. Second, you can apply cleaner layer lines.

If you choose to put on a thicker layer of paint to compensate for dark colors, it just takes forever to dry before you can add successive layers of paint.

Once the paint dries…

You have the choice of what you will do next. You can apply a stencil to paint on your new design. Or there is the option of hand painting a picture.

If you are done with all painting options, you’ll want to remove the tape.

Removing Tape

Depending on who you talk to, there are a handful of different theories on which time to remove the tape.

OPTION 1:

Some crafters say, remove the tape while the paint is wet. Yes, this method prevents peeling up the paint that you just laid down. The problem I have with this method is that if the paint is wet on the surface, it’s wet on the tape. So you have to pay attention to the paint on the tape as you pull it up:

Paint ending up back on your blank because of the tape flopping over backwards (or paint side down) on your frame.
Paint ends up on your fingers. Sometimes you forget, or think you avoided paint transfer, and then you find out later you had a small drop of paint on your finger and now you have a paint finger print.
Paint ends up somewhere else on your, like your shirt or pants.

OPTION 2:

Other crafters advise that you remove the tape when the paint is dry. This method is great for preventing all options of potential paint transfer. However, the problem with this method is that sometimes the paint adheres to the tape and pulls up off your project when you remove the tape. This is especially the case when the original surface is smooth or plastic.

OPTION 3:

A third group will tell you to wait for the paint to mostly dry. This is the happy medium to the first two options.

I’ve never been able to make OPTION 1 or 3 work for me. If there’s any wet paint, I’ll somehow find a way of getting it on me or transferring back onto my project. So my go-to is OPTION 2, wait for the paint to dry.

TIP for OPTION 2: right before you remove the tape, take an exacto knife, and run the blade along the bottom of the masking tape all around the frame. This will effectively separate the tape and paint.

What if my paint strips off with tape removal?

Have no fear! Take a breath and don’t panic. This is an easy fix.

The first thing you’re going to do is build back up your layers of paint on the surface where the paint stripped off.

TIP: To create the illusion of no paint stripping, keep from this new set of corrective paint layers from overlapping on to the original dry paint that remained intact.

Once you’ve built back up the layers of paint that had peeled off, you’re going to add one more layer of paint over the original and new paint. This will cover over any potential seams in the paint.

The best of all is that if you are going to add any decal over this paint, it is possible for the decal to cover over any potential seams. If you’re using this as a shadow box, the items you place in front of the painted back ground will cause enough shadows to distract from the seams.

This is an example of where one less layer of paint can show the difference of your paint patch job. Make sure to do the same number of layers, plus an additional layer over both original and new paint.

Adding decals over the background paint with transfer tape

I want to mention one more potential problem you can face, with paint peeling, with a project like this. Whether you’re adding vinyl or a decal with a clear piece of transfer tape, you will want to be mindful of this transfer tape. Even if the transfer tape has low tack, it can still find a way of holding the paint more than the paint is holding on to the project surface.

The way that I have gotten around this problem is that I think of the transfer tape ONLY having contact with the vinyl or decal, and hold those elements in their place for application. I go out of my way to NOT press the transfer tape down onto the paint.

Instead, what I do is gently place the design down on the painted surface so there is absolutely no adherence. The bonus to this is that you can use a weeding tool, palate or other tool to nudge the design center (or any other location) on the frame. Once the decal or vinyl is exactly where I want it placed, I only press down on the decal/vinyl with my finger. The pressure from your finger is enough to get the decal/vinyl to adhere. And once your elements are all pressed, you can then peel off the transfer tape without it pulling off your paint!

Can’t find a frame like this, but want to make one?

I have no idea if I will find this beaded frame again at my local dollar store. In fact I would be surprised if I ever did. There’s something about the cute things in that store chain, that you pretty much only find in stock one time.

The good news is that this is an easy frame to create!

Originally this frame has a 4 x 4 inch work space. But you can select any shadow box of any size.

You can make the wooden bead clutch handle by using a thick jute twine and stapling it to the frame.

Yes! This handle is literally stapled to a mini shadow box frame.

If you want a supply list, to make your own frame, here are the items you will need:

Shadow Box: 4×6 Frame, 8×8 Floating Glass Frame , 8×8 White Shadow Box, 3-Frame Set
Jute Twine
Wooden Beads: 16mm (Thumbnail size), 20mm (US Quarter is 24mm)
Staple Gun (if you choose to use a standard desk stapler, make sure that you use several staples on either side of the twine. The twine can be reinforced by using wood glue and gluing to the shadow box.)
Scissors
Paint/Stain (optional–if you want something other than unfinished wood)

I hope you have just as much fun as I had making this Affirmation Gift!

The Baby Affirmation cut file used for this project can be found in my shop here. To personalize with the child’s name, just select your favorite bold font and place in the provided blank space.

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Easy Cheesy

Since last week I continued my experimenting with whey and I wanted to do a follow up post on what I learned. And this information is important because of the inflation, the items that are starting to not be stocked in the grocery stores, and supply chain issues.

So whether you are trying to be more efficient with how you spend your grocery budget, or if you’re trying to find a replacement for the things you cannot find on the shelves here are some ideas for you.

First, for those of you who are dependent on keeping some probiotics in your diet for your guy health, know that whey gives you a better option for probiotics. Check the label on your yogurt with probiotics. It’s been brought to my attention that those yogurts often have higher sugar content than other yogurts. If you’re not up to making your own yogurt, you can buy greek yogurt, stir in whey and you have a probiotics yogurt, at a better price, and lower sugar content.

If you make a dressing at home (for example we make Ranch) from a packet/scratch, switch out the milk content for whey. If your dressing calls for water instead of milk, still use whey instead of water. This simple switch automatically adds gut healthy probiotics and gives you the same dressing. The whey will impart a hint of lemon to the final product, but that gives new life to a favorite condiment that you take for granted or no longer excited about.

Whey also solved a problem that we had with the Ranch dressing we’ve experienced for the last 6 months or so. For whatever reason, the dressing (same recipe we’ve been using for years) always separated after a week. I was tired of this waste, and got excited when I came across an article that talked about how homemade mayonnaise normally lasts a week. However if you add whey into your homemade mayo, the shelf life increased for one week to a month. That was what caused me to substitute out milk for whey in our Ranch dressing mix. We are approaching two weeks and my dressing no longer separates. It hasn’t turned bad yet either.

So if you’re looking to extend your shelf life on a mix, look to whey.

Do you remember the list, I posted last week, about uses for whey?

I’ve been working my way through that list.

Here is everything that I got out of that first gallon of milk:

1.5 pounds of Mozzarella Cheese
4 loaves of Bread
1 jar of Ranch dressing
1 batch of homemade Doughnuts (which my boys and husband’s coworkers couldn’t eat enough of)
Pizza dough (enough for 2 large pizzas)
66g of Ricotta Cheese
And I froze the whey left over whey before it went bad for 5 more loaves of bread.

I couldn’t believe how much I got out of 1 gallon of milk! If I had used milk for all of that, instead of whey, I would have used at least 2.5 gallons of milk.

How great is that?!!!!

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More Cheese

I know that even with my first time experience, there’s a chance that someone might still be uncertain of making cheese. So I wanted to make Ricotta from the mozzarella whey. And Ricotta is the absolute easiest cheese to make.

If you were leery trying to make Mozzarella for the first time, try Ricotta!

Now above I already stated that I was able to recapture 66g more cheese by making Ricotta from the Mozzarella cheese. This was not enough Ricotta to make a lasagna dinner with for my family. So that same day I grabbed a gallon of milk from my fridge and made Ricotta from a second method.

Get ready to make the easiest cheese from one of these two methods!

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Traditional Method From Whey

Before I made this first batch of Ricotta, I had already used about half of my whey from making Mozzarella. (I share this with you in case you’re reading these two methods to see which is going to yield you the most cheese–yes, I see you!)

With the traditional method, you put your whey into a stainless steel pot and turn on the heat to medium low.

That is it. You let it warm up to 200°F. There are small bubbles that start to form around the edge of the pot. Don’t be afraid if you don’t see Ricotta forming until the whey reaches in the neighborhood of 140°F. That was about the temperature that I started to see some action take place.

Once you reach 200°F, turn off the heat and remove the pot from the burner.

The instructions, that I followed, said to immediately remove the cheese and drain it.

Now Ricotta has smaller curds of cheese than mozzarella, so this time I used a cheese cloth to strain the curds from whey.

The instructions said to let the cheese drip dry for 2-8 hours depending on how dry you want your Ricotta. I had very gently squeezed the whey out and hung it to dry for an hour and a half before I taste tested it. It was already too dry for my liking and tasted like chalk. The instructions never told me to salt the Ricotta. So I’m going to tell you, salt the Ricotta.

Tip: Salting Ricotta is easier when it is warm instead of cooled from the drying process.

This is the left over whey that I put in the freezer to make 5 more additional loaves of bread. I pre-portioned the whey out into baggies so that all I have to do is defrost the whey in the fridge, the day before bread making day, and I don’t have to measure it out again.

The great news about this method, of Ricotta making, is that even though I didn’t stir the whey during this cooking process, my pot was clean on the bottom.

This traditional method is right in the skill level of my 6 year old’s cooking level. So if you were nervous or afraid of making Mozzarella, rest easy and KNOW that YOU CAN DO THIS! I have every confidence in you.

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Ricotta From Milk Instead of Whey

As I already mentioned, 66g of Ricotta is not enough for a lasagna dinner. It is enough to make a spread out of and eat it on top of a toasted bagel.

I grabbed a fresh gallon of milk, the Ricotta recipe from the beginner cheese maker kit (that I shared last week) and tried a different method of making Ricotta. The Recipe I used called for whole milk and a couple of cups of heavy whipping cream. All that I had in my fridge was a gallon of 2%. So that is all that I used. From just 2% milk, I yielded 630g (1.4 lb) of Ricotta.

Into my stainless steel pot I added the milk, 1 tsp. Citric Acid, and 2 tsp. Non-iodinated salt. Turn the burner to low-medium heat. Leave the milk alone until it reaches 140°F. Then you scrape the bottom of the pan with a rubber/silicone spatula. Do not touch it again until you see the cheese layer, on top, crack and the whey start to boil up through that crack(s). Turn the burner off and put the pot on a cool part of the stove. Cover the pot and let it sit for 20-30 minutes.

Strain the Ricotta through a cheese cloth, inside a fine mesh strainer.

In this method, instead of air drying I used my spoon (or you can use your silicone spatula from earlier) and pushed the Ricotta around in the cheese cloth. The whey naturally separates without the gentle squeeze or drip drying. And while you push the Ricotta, take a pinch of salt at a time and season the Ricotta to taste.

You are in control of how salty your Ricotta tastes. And you are in control of the sodium content, for those who are on a low sodium diet.

I stopped pushing my Ricotta when I got to the creamy texture that I prefer. If you prefer your Ricotta to be drier and you’re not able to get it from just pushing the cheese in the cheese cloth, go ahead and hang it up to air dry in the cheese cloth. I recommend checking on your cheese every half hour just to make sure that you do not get too dry.

Tip: If your Ricotta gets too dry and you just can’t eat it like that, don’t worry. Mix in a little whey at a time to re-wet your cheese. If it becomes too wet, hang it up to dry again.

The only problem that I had with this method of making Ricotta is that the heat was a little higher than I did with the first method. The bottom of my pan did start to scorch, as you see here.

Even with this level of scorch, the flavor of the cheese was not harmed. But it was a close call. Moving forward, I know that my stove needs to remain at a medium Low temperature.

The next time that I make Ricotta from this method, I’m going to drop my heat a little BECAUSE I know that my stove runs HOT. I am forever reminding my husband to drop the heat when he cooks because it slips his mind that our stove does this and he has burning issues. He’s a good cook, he just expects our hot stove to behave like a normal stove and it just doesn’t.

Tip: Know your stove. If your stove runs hot, drop the heat a little lower. If your stove runs cooler, add a little more heat.

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Differences in Whey

There is a difference in the appearance of the whey from Ricotta compared to the whey from Mozzarella. The Ricotta whey was not as clarified.

Independence Day weekend is very busy with my family, so I have yet to put the Ricotta whey into the pot and run a second batch. But as you see here, there is a lot of material left in this whey that I anticipate a greater return in additional Ricotta (vs. what I pulled out of the Mozzarella whey). I have time to food prep coming up early this next week. So be sure to sign up for my newsletter below and I’ll email you the results of this second run in my 7 July 2022 email. (If you are reading this past the email date, please comment below and I’ll respond with the results that I found).

Over all…

I’m excited to have cheese in the house that only has 3 ingredients: milk, citric acid, and salt. In a day and age where the ingredient lists grows longer and longer, this makes me feel good about the food I cook my family. Even more so, I learned new skills that I can teach my boys that I don’t have to wait until they’re older for them to make.

I am also happy that I have healthy probiotics on hand that I can add to as a seasoning and milk alternative to other recipes.

Please walk away from today with ideas on how to stretch your milk ingredients and add more nutrients into your other foods.

An idea that just popped into my head, how whey would work with making risotto. I know that I’ve made it with wine and also with chicken broth. So it makes me curious. I may have to try this out for dinner later on this week!

If you’re interested in making a Ricotta spread (which I use for my bagels), cut up some fresh herbs and mix it in with your cheese. I used the leaves from two sprigs of Italian Oregeno, from my garden, and used enough Ricotta for two bagels.

Use your imagination with the herbs that you have on hand.

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Something New To Stretch

For about a year and a half now, I have wanted to make cheese at home.

What kept me from doing it for so long?

I lied to myself stating that it was just the fact that my days are busy with three young kiddos in the house. It’s a convenient enough excuse. But deep down these were the core issues that I was dealing with. Maybe you’re familiar with these fears.

It’s too difficult.
What am I going to do to keep from burning my hands?

If you had a childhood like mine, and you pulled homemade taffy, you know what I mean about burning your hands. At least with taffy you could coat your hands with as much butter (or other fat product) to protect your flesh from the hot candy. And if you’ve read about Mozzarella making, you know you have to pull cheese. Buuuuut, you can’t put butter on your hands.

Let me tell you something. I am so glad that I set my fears aside and dove in to make my first Mozzarella!!!

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First let me assure you that I did NOT burn my hands. So you can rest assured that you can also keep your hands safe.

Second, Mozzarella cheese making is so much easier than I made it out to be in my head. In fact, the next time that I make more cheese, I’m going to have my 6 year old help me. With the exception of handling the warmish hot cheese for the stretching and shaping, I know he can do this with me verbally walking him through the steps. So if you think cheese making is too difficult, I think you’ll also be surprised with how easy it is.

I used this beginner cheese making kit from Standing Stone Farms. Their recipe comes in the kit, which is included here with their permission. Thank you Paula Butler for allowing me to share this recipe! Here is another link for their products, and the link for this beginner cheese making kit on Amazon.

If you want to branch out on your own with a different recipe, I know there were a couple that I specifically or indirectly linked to throughout the post.

Before I get in the flow of my first time experience, I want to mention now another fear I had. It didn’t rear its ugly head until I had my pot on the stove and the milk already on heat. Let’s just say I’ve scorched many pans cooking milk based soups and chowders. If you cook with milk, you know what I mean. There comes a point where you just accept it as normal.

So now you understand what I mean when I say, I had a legitimate fear of scalding my milk because I’ve been told in the directions, that with Mozzarella cheese you have to be gentle when you infrequently “stir” the milk and you can’t circular stir your milk. Maybe some Italian Mama will comment and say, “Pssht, stir the milk.” Or maybe they’ll agree. So please Italian Mama’s comment and put some minds to rest!

Here is an after the cheese making shot of my pot. My pan didn’t scorch. This is cooked over medium low heat and this was the damage done. So if one of your fears is burning the milk, as long as you keep your temp low and slow you won’t burn your milk.

Making the Cheese

I know another real fear in cooking is not having pictures of what is normal so you have something to compare to. In what I’ve read in my own research, I haven’t seen any pictures like this. I want to set you up for success!

These are all in stage order so you can compare your own journey as you go.

What I didn’t anticipate was how quickly the Acidic Acid works in curding the milk. That gets added to the milk before you turn heat on the burner. And almost right away curds started forming. Obviously the acid and the milk are going to react. So don’t freak out if you turn on your burner, look at your milk and suddenly think, “OMG did I just put in expired milk?!” No you didn’t. The process is already under way.

At 88°F I added the Calcium Chloride and Liquid Rennet.

After all this instant gratification of seeing curd growth, I have to admit it was hard to have the patience for curd temperature to reach 104°F.

Again, as a first time cheese maker, I assumed that whey was going to be milky white. So you can guess how it felt when I saw the whey was yellow and I asked, “What did I do wrong?”

Nothing. I did nothing wrong. Whey is going to be yellow. The pictures below do no justice to it. It kind of reminds me of neon yellow lemonade. So if you have yellow liquid with your curds, you’re doing great!

Once your curds come to temp, remove them from heat and let them sit for 2 minutes. Once the time is up it’s straining time!

I was super excited for this part! Looking down from the top of my pot, I thought I was going to pull out something like large squeaky cheese curds. I tried to be gently lifting the curds out of the pot with a slotted serving spoon. Low and behold, I was pulling out Titanic Iceberg cheese curds. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but there were a good dozen chunks that stretched over the edges of my slotted spoon. I felt like a rock star.

Once the cheese is all strained out there’s one of two methods you can go; stovetop or microwave heating of the cheese. Normally, I avoid using my microwave. I think it best serves me as a bread/cookie box. However, I undertook this new venture during nap time and the kiddos would be waking up any time. So I opted for the microwave. This method works, but I have the feeling I can get better results with the stove top next time. Again, I just don’t cook using my microwave unless I’m cooking popcorn or quickly heating leftovers.

If you’re interested making Mozzarella without using a microwave during the stretching process, here’s one resource I found.

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Back to the show.

The heating of the cheese is to help release the whey from the curds. And the light addition of salt before each 60 session of warming is to help extract the liquid from the curd. Once you have about a Tbsp of whey left you’re good to move on to the stretching and forming of the Mozzarella.

In the directions I was using, I was told I could use a metal spoon to fold over the cheese while it was hot. And you better believe I took advantage of that tip. (I still cringe at childhood taffy pulling. That candy was hot!)

By the time that I got to the point of this first picture, the spoon lost its effectiveness and I was ready to bite the bullet and go to town using my hands. It was still hot (something similar to a hot spa towel, hot but not flesh burning) but quickly cooled down as I stretched it a couple of times.

For shaping, I decided to go the method that bread makers use when folding the dough under to build up surface tension for boule bread.

Tip: This method of folding the cheese under did two things. One, when the cheese cooled to hold its shape, there’s a canyon like crevice on the center bottom. Two, when I cut a test slice for my mom today that surface tension made a dense slice. If you want a solid slice of goodness, this shaping method might work for you.

Tip 2: I suspect that if you’re looking for more of a string cheese pull apart texture, the method that you’re probably looking for is to keep with a taffy pulling method. Keep going with a pull and fold until you start to feel the cooling of the cheese tightening it up. Then I would focus smoothing the surface for that finished look.

Tip 3: If you’re looking for that soft, squishy ball of mozzarella, I’m pretty sure you’re looking to just stretch it a couple of times, smooth the exterior and then let it cool in your brining liquid or whey.

Once the cheese is shaped, it’s time to put it in liquid to cool and store. I should have just put the cheese back into some of its whey. Or even just water, because I had seasoned it to my liking before I stretched and shaped. The brine I had made was 1 Tbsp of kosher salt in 4 cups of water. It’s too salty for my liking.

If you are sodium sensitive or limit the amount of salt you use, I recommend skipping the storage in brine.

As you can see here, I have a bit more whey then I thought I would. And I looked at my table wondering what I’m going to do with all this whey. But I think I’m going to be okay. The day of and the day after I made the cheese, I used all the whey in the bowl on the top left.

What I’ve Used Whey For

The first thing I made with the whey is my bread recipe that I posted a few weeks ago, found here. The full volume of milk that I use for my bread, I completely replaced with equal volume of whey.

There were a couple of differences that I found with using whey in my bread recipe. One, the dough was much wetter than I’ve ever seen my dough, even on high humidity days. (Picture below) I’m the only person in my family who doesn’t eat raw bread dough, but I have nibbled before just to know what everyone feels so appealing about stealing my dough during proofing. With the whey, the dough feels smoother in my mouth and has a more sweet and bread like flavor than just the overpowering flour flavor that my dough has with milk.

I accidently forgot my dough (thank you children who pushed all my buttons that evening) and my dough over proofed. Because it over proofed I can’t tell you an accurate description of how the whey proofed with the bread. Nor can I tell you how the flavor was different with the whey vs. milk. If you’ve over proofed your bread before, you’ve probably noticed that not only do you have flat tire bread, but there’s also a kind of funk to it. When I over proof bread, the only good thing it’s really good for is grilled cheese sandwiches. My boys won’t really touch it. However comparing over proofed bread flavor, I can tell you this. My boys at 3/4 of a loaf for their PB& J (asking me to make extra sandwiches–this only happens on fresh from the oven days of properly cooked bread). Flavor wise, the only difference from properly cooked and this over proofed was that the natural sourness of the bread was neutralized. And I was about ready to bust out my oil and vinegar and have that for lunch. So I’m excited to try again and do a properly proofed baking of bread with whey!

For Taco Night I decided to take advantage of whey’s natural probiotics, as well as solve my problem with homemade ranch dressing separating after a week.

Ranch Dressing with whey really surprised me! I used a premixed packet, added the store bought real mayo, and for the cup of milk that I normally use I substituted out 3/4 C of whey. I have never tasted ranch dressing that was so good! It had a citrus lemon flavor to it that just lifted it from normal hum drum standard condiment to I think I have a cooking secret ingredient. I had my mom taste it (and she doesn’t do ranch dressing) and she immediately said that she was so glad that she tried it. To her she picked out a cucumber like sub-note, which makes sense with my husband’s reaction that you can taste the herbs in the dressing instead of being overpowered by the mayo.

With the Refried Black Beans that I plopped out of the can into my little sauce pan, I added whey instead of water to get that smooth spreadable consistency. If you think that canned beans are heavy, you most certainly won’t think so after adding whey to it. Again, there was a citrus note that just lifted it into something lighter and much more pleasing to eat.

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Let’s just say that those two changes were enough to transform Taco Night into a let’s stay home and skip eating out. I have had some amazing authentic Mexican Food from Chefs who used family recipes. And the only restaurant I would now take over my family Taco Night is Los Cubanos in San Jose, where the Chef has cooked for Presidents and A-Listers.

I am amazed at how much whey can improve the flavor of run of the mill, standard recipes.

As I mentioned earlier, I’m writing this post as a first time cheese maker, so you can have an idea what to expect from a first timer and not someone who has been making cheese over and over and perfected their skills before sharing with the world. I want you to know what you can expect when you first try your hand at cheese making.

Please Try! I want to know what results you find.

As you can see I’ve only tried the whey in three things. But I did pull a search of different ways that whey can be used. I’m going to forewarn you that the list that follows is extensive, but don’t let it intimidate you. I’m looking at this list with Christmas Morning excitement, because the quantity of whey in my fridge is going to get used up AND there are so many different things that I get to try! And let’s face it, I am definitely going to be making more cheese in the future.

Other Uses For Leftover Whey

Ferment Foods “such as sauerkraut, ginger ale, ketchup, and pickles.” Almanac.com
Ginger Ale or Lacto-fermented Root Beer (I’m going to have to do a project with the kiddos making the root beer)
Fruit Kvass
Fermented Mayonnaise (extends homemade mayo from a week shelf life to a month)
Kimchee
Freeze for future use
Add as acidic note to smoothies, slushies, or milkshakes
Pour on top of dog dry food
Feed to Livestock (chickens & pigs)
Whey Lemonade (this is definitely a recipe I WANT to try)
Sauces
Soups
Pizza Dough
Mashed Potatoes
Frosting
Fruit Salad
Add to Pesto
Use as a substitute for Buttermilk
Use when stir frying Vegetables
Spray on the leaves of peas, cucumbers and squash that has powdery mildew (Ratio 1:1 with water)
Toner for Skin and Hair
Lemon Whey Pie
Make Gjetost Cheese (sweet cheese)–traditionally made from Goat Milk Whey BUT can use Cow Milk Whey
Fermented Bean Dip
Lacto-Fermented Apple Sauce–This is another Must-Make for me
Lacto-Fermented Horseradish

Baking recipe replacement for water or milk
Truffles
theprairiehomestead.com has used whey in cornbread, pancakes, waffles, muffins, homemade biscuits and homemade tortillas.
Use for lacto-fermentation (pickling) in vegetables, condiments, chutneys, and jams.
Soak legumes–one site said NOT to do this because it made their dry beans tougher (so a judgment call)
Dilute down and water your garden (acid and Calcium loving veg and flowers)
Make Ricotta Cheese (traditionally made from whey)
Whey marinade (add your herbs and seasonings of choice) for your meats
Use for your mozzarella storing brine
Soak your oatmeal overnight in whey
Cook your grits, rice, grains and pasta in whey
Cocktail alternative for raw egg whites
Add to Fire Cider
Added to your stock of choice (replacing a cup or two of water)
Use when making Risotto
Substitute for Orange Juice in smoothies and baking.
Substitute for Lemon Juice in recipes, vinaigrette, and cocktails
Make Fermented Salsas, Dips, & Spreads (more recipes on this one link than I can state. Looks like it covers just about everyone’s flavor profile. So you should be able to find at least one to excitedly work with)

Expectations for Best Use Dates

From the Cheese Making directions I used, the Mozzarella is good for 2 week when stored in bring or water. It can be frozen for up to 3 months.

From what I’ve read, frozen whey is good for 3-6 months. (But you will not be able to make any cheese products from frozen whey.) People have made Ricotta cheese with whey that’s been in the fridge for 4 days. One source says that it’s good for 5-6 days. Another says no longer than a week. If you dehydrate it into a powder, you have 6 months refrigerated or 6 days at room temperature on the counter.

If you are looking for a more professional answer, instead of experiential hearsay, the USDA liquid milk products are good in refrigerators for 1 week. Cheeses are good frozen for 3 months. This doesn’t answer precisely for liquid whey, but it appears to fit with circumstantial evidence.

So if you don’t think you’ll get to all your whey right away, be sure to freeze it.

Your whey has gone bad when it has a rancid smell and/or bitter taste.

Pulling from being a breast feeding mom “rancid” and “bitter” may not be what you think. It’s more of an “off” sent/flavor. Yes I tasted my fresh breast milk and warmed frozen breast milk. When the milk was within the 6 month recommended frozen window, it warmed with not much flavor difference. Older freezer milk, when warmed did not have the same flavor. It had more of a sour instead of sweet taste.

In the same manner I recommend that you take a little taste of the liquid whey that you produce and focus on remembering the smell. That way when you ever have a question if the fresh or frozen liquid whey is still good you have a working knowledge to pull from instead of the random descriptors that writers use to convey a thought. After all your taste buds are going to pick up something different than mine, and the milk we could be using could be different in base flavors. (Ask a picky child what this means LOL.)

I know this is a lot of information, but I hope it empowers you into making some cheese and using the whey for other uses. Be sure to leave a comment below about what cheese you make and what you’ve made with the whey.

I know that I will never look at a gallon of milk the same!

Check out what’s new in my store for Cut Files that you can use on your favorite crafting machine. New Releases go live every Monday!

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One response to “Something New To Stretch”

Easy Cheesy – How I Can Do That

July 2, 2022

[…] last week I continued my experimenting with whey and I wanted to do a follow up post on what I learned. And […]

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I Love You Means Propagating

Lately I’ve been very interested in the Boho style of event designing. A lot of event designers and coordinators tend to gravitate toward the fantasy of rich and fancy feeling decor. There is nothing wrong with that. I gravitate toward that. There’s just something about pretty sparkly things grabbing our attention.

Even when I worked for a decorating company, there was this huge gravitation toward bringing the Boho brides nearer to the glittery and sparkly end of design. I know why there is that nudging toward that direction. But I’m not going to speak ill of other businesses. I just want to take this moment to see and recognize those brides, and other event organizers and celebrants, who want to stay more toward the end of the spectrum of the simplistic and natural look.

This post is for you!

What I want to focus on today are a couple of floral options that are different than what might be proposed to you when you talk with a florist; succulents and preserved wild or garden flowers.

Succulents

Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh on Pexels.com

I don’t know if you’ve taken the moment to look at all different colors available in succulents. They are definitely a wide spectrum that diverges from the cactuses and green succulents that your mind naturally gravitates toward.

The best part about succulents, especially if you’re DIY as much as you can for your wedding, is that you can get these in advance and arrange your centerpieces weeks in advance. This is true, even in the middle of winter!

The one thing that you want to pay attention to is the little amount of care that you need to give them. But these are not going to wither or die on you when you look at them funny. They just need to be kept in soil designed for succulents and give them a little water every now and then.

Tip 1: Succulents loved being watered from below. So when watering them, place their dish (with drain holes) in a dish of water and give them a few hours to drink as much as they want. They have enough water when you see that the soil on top has been touched by water, not dry to touch.

Tip 2: If you see the petals start to have a wrinkled appearance, they are underwater. Make sure you soak them in a dish of water. It may take a little time. But once the succulents have gotten enough hydration they will look plump again and not wrinkled.

The only other thing that you have to pay attention to is how much light they get. Here in the Pacific Northwest, succulents are not about to get too much sunlight. They can be burnt by full sun, depending on your region. But in the couple weeks that you have them before your event, this is not likely going to be an issue.

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One issue that you might have is when you’re succulent undergoes what looks like a growth spurt.

This example is definitely an exaggeration of what you will see because I’ve had this succulent for well over a year. It started to bolt like this a couple of months after I received it. What happened here is that the window sill (eastward facing) did not receive enough light. So the plant grew to reach more sunlight.

Your succulents will stay small when they have enough light. So if you see this, or you notice that there is some growth that is starting, then you want to find your succelent(s) a sunnier location.

If you catch the growth quick enough, you can trim off the growth, and return your succulent back to the smaller size.

Take a length of dental floss, wrap it around where you want to trim and pull it tight. You can use scissors, but it will apply pressure from two points to cut. If you use thread or floss, you can apply even pressure around the plant. Also if have a cluster flower of a succulent, you can fit the floss in between the petals and top the succulent without damaging the rest of the plant.

The clipping you can then put in a new container with soil and it will propagate for you.

I put the topped succulent in this cup with water with another topped clipping that I’m waiting on soil for. It’s okay to put into water, but you want to get clippings into soil as soon as possible.

If you are saving money by propagating your own succulents from bought succulents, make sure that you give yourself enough time to let new buds grow. It doesn’t happen overnight. If you don’t have enough time, your succulents will look bald and not so happy.

Here is another What-Not-To-Do

This succulent was originally small like the first picture of succulents I showed you in this section. This one also grew to reach for more light. I should have trimmed this when it first started to grow. Had I done that, it would have remained small and cute. Instead, it changed its shape and spread. But what you can learn from this is what it will look like at the spot where you clip back the top your succulent. There is a small bud that you see on the top right. That grew in about two weeks after trimming. On the bottom left you see another bud grow in where I snapped off some of the larger leaves to practice propagation techniques that I’ve seen on FB reels.

If you are interested in looking to propagate succulents for your event, make sure you give yourself enough time to do so. You will want a couple of months to do this DIY. Talk with some local greenhouses with growers who have experience with succulents. Also there are FB groups dedicated to succulents. Join a group or two and learn from those who are succulent whisperers. There is a wealth of good viable information there.

I readily admit that I am not an expert. And there is a world of information available. Just do not take your advice from clips and reels on FB, Tick Tock, or anywhere else. I tried propagating leaves in a plastic bag, through a slit in paper to suspend over water, and directly in water. None of these have worked for me and I am most certainly a novice at propagating succulents. If you’re a novice, I suspect that these reel methods are not going to lead you to success either. (With the leaves, I tried about a dozen and not a single one grew. This is reason why I have little reason to believe these techniques work. Not working the numbers paid off. If I get a success rate of 1 out of 10 attempts, I call it a viable option.)

One other walking away point I want to draw your attention to, is take notice of the terra cotta pot decorations on my pots. These were painted on with acrylic paint and have stayed on the pots over a year later. So it will not flake off anything else. And this is an excellent way of incorporating your event colors. You can create endless possibilities with your design. Whether you go with feather like swirls, dots to simulate lace, stripes, or even using a stencil from any store’s craft department. You can certainly dress up your terra cotta to fit the look you are going for.

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Wild and Garden Flowers

I’ve lost count of how many events that I decorated for where I would take home flowers after an event because there was no second life for the floral arrangements after a wedding.

Don’t get me wrong. I LOVED those events because I had pretty flowers to take home and enjoy for a week or two. That is definitely an occupation perk that I’ve enjoyed.

However, at the same time, it has always saddened me a little because I have always wanted people to have more bang for their buck when they are spending good money on a wedding or other event.

So here is where we join two very important passions of mine!

I breathe creativity and decorating. But I also love working in my garden and learning all the old skills of creating home supplements, natural cleaners, and especially new ways of putting food on my table.

The very day that I learned about making a Chive Blossom Vinaigretteis the very same day that I made it.

This is Day One of my Vinaigrette:

My Four year old and I did this together for the very first time and as soon as I saw how this jar looked I immediately thought, “How Beautiful!”

And this was the first, on many ideas that I had:

You can go with sentiments or go all the way with the couple’s monogram, name and wedding date, or even line art that goes with your over all Boho decor.

What I absolutely LOVE about this inspiration is that it’s simple but has so much LIFE after the wedding or event.

For example, this Chive Blossom Vinaigrette will become a salad dressing, meat marinade, or other meal flavor provider in as little as 3 weeks. The total cost for this is just your jar, the chive blossoms, and food vinegar. When you’re looking for cost saving centerpieces, you seriously can’t beat this for bang for your buck!

To do this idea, you will definitely have this be your day of preparation, so have a few hands on deck. You will want to clip your edible flowers, rinse them, and place them in the jars before adding the vinegar.

The reason why I say do this on the day of is because of the process needed to properly turn this into a proper dressing or marinade. It is shelf stable during the whole process, but it needs to be kept in a dark cool place for the 3 weeks of processing. You could also use the jars at the end of the three weeks, when the vinegar takes on a fuchsia/purple appearance. But you want to try to limit the heat and light exposure no matter if you do it at the beginning or end of processing.

Tip 1: This needs to be shaken once a day for the entirety of the three weeks. So you will have a cleaner look at the beginning of the process. At the end of the process, you will have some floating pieces from the flowers. That just naturally happens with daily agitation.

Tip 2: At the end of the 3 weeks, you will need to filter this vinaigrette through a cheese cloth to remove all debris (and rebottle) before you use this as a dressing/marinade.

Maybe puple is not the color that goes well with your Boho design. Here is a list of some other edible flowers that can be used in making your own version of a different vinaigrette. Or you can just put the blossoms of these flowers or others into a jar filled with water.

Nasturtiums
Pansies
Violets
Hostas
Borage
Calendula
French Marigolds
Chrysanthemums
Carnations
Hollyhocks
Sunflowers
Cornflowers
Gladioli
Honeysuckle
Dianthus
Antirrhinum
Tulips
Roses
Lavender
Pea Flowers
Broad Bean Flowers
Onion/Chive Flowers
Brassica Flower Heads
Pak Choi Flowers
Squash Flowers
Dandelions
Daisies
Chamomile Flowers
Red & White Clover Flowers
Chickweed Flowers

WARNING: Make sure that you only use flowers that have NOT had pesticides or herbicides used on them. Whatever has been applied to flowers will enter your body if you eat them or any extract that you make from them.

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Flowers as herbs and seasoning have different flavors that they impart. Some have a peppery note to them. The chives that I grow are a garlic chive, so it imparts a garlic flavor without having to fuss with cloves of garlic. I’ve also started working with Lemon Balm (a member of the mint family) which imparts a lemon flavor. So I could have added tiny Lemon Balm leaves in with the chive blossoms. Which now that I think about it, I’m definitely going to add that to my vinaigrette as soon as I post this!

Another thing to keep in mind is that for thousands of years edible flowers and plant leaves have been used for natural medicine. For example, Lemon Balm is great for combating the viruses behind the common cold. So you can give your body the things it needs to keep healthy while adding flavor to your food.

If making a vinaigrette is not something you will use after the wedding (or other event), consider looking into making your own chemical free cleaner. For example, you can still use this mason jar idea and make a kitchen cleaner with lemon or orange slices and peels.

If you’re not looking for a natural cleaner, than even using berries and mint, basil or other leaves in water, is a great of washing your produce before you eat it while borrowing it for a few hours for your event.

There is one more option for Fall and Winter Events when most of the edible flowers are not in season. You can make Pine Syrup or Spruce Tip Syrup. I found this type of syrup interesting because I have spruce widely available around where I live and real Maple Syrup is a luxury on my family’s budget. This can be a pretty centerpiece as well because you use the new growth tips on a spruce tree or pine cones for the Pine Syrup. I’m sure that you can imagine the possibilities for all your holiday parties with this one!

Decorating the Mason Jars

The simplicity of these jars is beautiful all on their own. But maybe you want to dress them up a touch. What can you do to add a little panache?

Paint the jar ring (White, Gold, or other event color)
Apply glitter to the jar ring (after finished spray with a clear coat of paint to keep from leaving a glitter trail)
Use squares of pattern, texture, or fancy cloth on top (held in place by screwing the ring down onto the jar over the fabric)
Decorate the jar itself
Use the jar as a base for a taper candle (with candle holder) to raise the level of the candle above other centerpiece elements
Put your table number on top of the jar

I hope you’re just as excited about these ideas as I am. These are definitely something fresh for existing wedding and party themes. Be free to experiment with using some of your food preparation and preserving techniques the next time you are decorating for your next event!

Files Used In This Project

As a special treat I have a surprise for you! Visit my store and check out Love. Be sure to hang around and see what else is new. Every Monday at least one new SVG is added!

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