Home-made chevre

Goat cheese from scratch

I made goat cheese this morning and it was both super easy and wonderful. I used this recipe and didn't make any changes - will explore options more now that I know how simple it is to do. Couldn't be easier - heat goat milk to 180 degrees, add lemon juice, drain, add seasonings - I added garlic and salt and eat.

Pounding garlic and salt

Wow! Very delicate and fresh tasting and not at all goat-y. Total work time? Maybe 10 minutes with an hour and a half draining whey. I've got chicken parts soaking in the whey - will fry them later with gf crumbs.

The finished product.

Gluten free picnic

Tonight we're going to Shakespeare in the Arb. This is a lovely summer tradition here - a performance of a Shakespeare play in the Nichols Arboretum where the Arb itself is the set and one wanders through, following the actors. We've been going for years and always picnic beforehand.

So what's on the menu?

•Tortilla espanola - lovely omelet made with my friend Kim's farm eggs, onions and potatoes. I use Penelope Casas' recipe from The Foods & Wines of Spain, one of my favorite cookbooks.
•Roasted red peppers in olive oil and garlic
•Chevre
•Baguette from Zingerman's for the wheat eaters and Crunchmaster's Multi-seed Crackers for the gluten free
•Caprese on a stick - toothpick size caprese salad found via Use Real Butter
•olives and cornichons
•Good salami
•And Smitten Kitchen's Summer Strawberry cake made gluten free by substituting Better Batter flour for wheat flour. I also used turbinado sugar rather than granulated and strawberries from my friend Cheryl's garden. We had a trial of the cake last night and it was one of the most successful things I've baked gluten free - will definitely make it regularly! We'll top it with whipped cream from a can since we're picnicking - a compromise I'm entirely ok with.

Pictures will have to come later!