Little Miss Muffet...

...knew what she was talking about when eating her curds and whey. The new love of my life is homemade ricotta. I never knew...never dreamed...never imagined the difference in homemade ricotta and that store bought stuff that doubles as spackle. Making ricotta is like a delicious science experiment that results in the creamiest, most delicious concoction imaginable. There are several methods of making ricotta as far as the milks and creams you can use. One word of caution, stay away from the ultra-pasteurized stuff, pasteurized is ok, but not ultra! Ultra...bad!

My favorite way of making ricotta (with store bought ingredients - yet another reason I regret not living on a farm)...is using a whole milk/heavy cream combo with a bit of kosher salt and an acid like white vinegar or lemon juice. The easiest and best recipe I've come across is from the Barefoot Contessa herself and you can find it here...Homemade Ricotta.

I'm telling you, this homemade delight will single-handedly transform lasagna, stuffed shells, parfait, etc. It's so much fun to make and see the curds develop right before your very eyes and there are no crazy weird chemicals or preservatives like that off the shelf stuff. I've died and gone to curd heaven. Make it...and then thank me!

P.S. How about a big shout out to the super cute vintage Pyrex dot bowl. I love you just as much as ricotta, I promise.

image courtesy of me

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary...

...how does my garden grow?  Pretty damn good at the moment.  The sun and rain have made the garden explode!  The potatoes, corn, and garlic are doing so well - now if I can only keep the crows and rabbits out, I'll be doing good!  You know how they say, "no pain, no gain" - I swear a farmer must have coined that phrase.  I am the proud new owner of a Honda tiller which will literally dig down to China.  However, while tilling and gardening all day last weekend, I successfully threw my back out and walked around like the Hunchback of Notre Dame until yesterday.  Yep, no pain, no gain {but vicodin, ice, yoga and BioFreeze sure do help}!  I do have a new favorite garden accoutrement...wait for it...wait for it...yes, bird netting {applause}.  The first row of pole beans and lima beans I planted were just about obliterated thanks to ground squirrels, birds and other devil varmints that were eating on them.  Only a few survived from the first planting so I just replanted and covered the whole area with bird netting.  So far, the devil varmints have not been munching on them or digging up the seeds...yea, bird netting baby!

Chloe has a small strawberry patch and the first two berries just turned red overnight - don't you love it when that happens?

images courtesy of me