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| Hi Ricki,
I just want to tell you I am THRILLED with my cheesemaking efforts so far! I have made five pounds of mozzarella and am now going to try some hard cheeses. The last batch of mozzarella I made I added some Herbes de Provence during the last kneading and it was to die for! Everyone is impressed! The recipes are easy to follow and the website wonderfully helpful and easy to navigate. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Best regards,
Shirley F |
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| Ricki
I just tried your cheese making kit for the first time with FANTASTIC results!!! How cool to make my own cheese. I added fresh basil and am making brushetta for dinner to enjoy the cheese.
Smiles
Amy, Glenrock Wyoming
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| Thank you, thank you, thank you, for making this all accessible and easy for a total novice like me. I ordered the 30 minute mozzarella kit, and I made my first batch yesterday. I am absurdly proud of it, and have been telling everyone I can think of that I made my own cheese. What\'s more, it is so much better than store-bought, and really was as easy as Ricki makes it look on your website. I have thoroughly impressed a number of friends, especially the ones who got to taste the finished product.
I am sure this is old hat for you -- you make cheese and teach others to do so every day. But it was pretty amazing for me. So, thank you!
Karen |
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| Just wanted to let you know I made the Mozz and it
is unbelievably easy and good. You have opened a whole new world to me! I ordered a kit for my dad for Fathers Day and I can hardly wait to show him how to make his own cheese!
In case you keep track of such things, I read about your work in Barbara Kingsolvers new book.
Thanks,
Shelley Wood |
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| My name is Sarra Ghiassi and I am Middle Eastern American. I was born and raised in New England (Maine) and currently I am residing overseas in Kuwait. The food here is lovely: rich salty cheeses; chewy cheeses; creamy cheeses -but no ricotta. They have never even heard of it. As much as I love the local food, I miss that homemade lasagna, baked ziti with four cheeses and stuffed shells. The one time I attemted to stuff some manicotti with the sweet breakfast labneh, yogurt cheese, it was a disaster! Who would have thought I could be making my own ricotta cheese at home!
Your website is great, easy to navigate, helpful and informative. I especially love all the beautiful pictures, the thoughfulness in your instructions, answers to questions, and how excitely you share your love of making cheese. And best of all a New England company -of my own heart! Thank you so much for your wonderful website, products, and recipes.
Sincerely, Sarra Ghiassi
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| Hello,
I received my first cheese-making supply order yesterday,
and made my first batch of mozzarella today using your
30 min mozzarella recipe, and I just want to tell you
I am totally blown away by how good and how easy it is!
I followed the instructions in your book and referenced
the information on the website, and it came out perfect!
I have eaten half of the batch already!
We also order a hard-cheese kit, and can\'t wait to
get started on it!
Thank you for your speedy service and and wonderful
instructions!
Suzanne |
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| I just want to thank you for how quickly you sent out my
order. I ordered it on Wednesday afternoon and my package
arrived Friday! I have not tried the ricotta, but making
the mozzarella was quick and fun. It was also easier than
I expected. And the taste is out of this world! My only
regret is that my heirloom tomatoes aren\'t ripe yet.
Oh well, guess I\'ll be making some more batches when they
start coming in. |
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| Just wanted to say thanks. I ordered the Mozzarella Kit and love it. I made my first batch today and it went just as you said it would in the instructions. Such fun. My Grandkids are going to love making string cheese. Also the service was great. I could not believe how quickly I recieved the kit. What fun I am going to have. And look forward to trying other things. Thanks again!!!!!!! Leisa |
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| Thank you, thank you for your mozzarella kit that arrived today. I was nervous about trying something new, but amazed at the results! I am so happy and proud that I can actually make fresh mozzarella at home in not time at all! I have called all my friends to tell them about it. Be prepared for new customers. I work as a cashier at a grocery store and talk to many many customers each day. I will be sharing my experiences with many. Bev. |
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| What a fun project this was! Directions are clear and
well-written, and even better when you look at the photos
you have on your website. Almost - dare I say it? -
foolproof! And the cheese, oh my! That is the best fresh
mozzarella I have had on this side of the Atlantic!
Thanks for making a wonderful product! |
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| My husband and I just purchased your beginning Mozzarella making kit and are so happy to begin what-- I have a suspicion -- will be a long love affair with making cheese!! Thank you so much for such accessible instructions, to say nothing of such a helpful web site. We are new and enthusiastic fans!! Margot & David Capra |
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| Yay!
Thank you. Ricki, I\'m so grateful for your supplies. One set of my great grandparents were cheese makers in Italy. It was their prosperity from cheese making that allowed them to immigrate to America with enough money to buy a home and live comfortably in New York where several generations lived together in Mt. Vernon.
I\'ve been yearning to make cheese ever since I saw your book Home Cheese Making a year ago in my Good Cook book club magazine, but I didn\'t know why. I have always eaten cheese, yogurt, drank milk and kefir, once I discovered it, except for a short lived period of vegetarian (vegan) life that in the end left my body wasting away.
I didn\'t know this history about my family until I told my dad my husband\'s nickname for me is cheeseasaurus.
I\'ve had \"new agey-hippie\" types for decades deploring me to get off dairy products; some even diagnosing me with deep seated mother issues because of my love of dairy. Well, what a crock! Good thing I ignored them. Even my husband thought I ate way too much cheese and drank way too much milk (can there be such a thing) and finally accepted my condition when he heard of my family heritage (he is part Italian so that helped.) But, guess what?, me, the dairy eater, is the slim one in the family. I get excited every time I hear on TV the connection of calcium to slimness and the benefit of dairy to regulating blood sugar.
This dairy thing is in my genes and I am so happy to be be learning to make cheese here in sunny [read HOT, probably like in Italy] Florida. The best part of this story is that it was my Italian father who bought me the two kits, Mozzarella and Ricotta, and Home Gourmet Dairy for Christmas. He has boyhood memories of his talented grandfather shaping mozzarella into beautiful animals.
Well Ricki, thanks again. Writing this has me choked up, and tears are in my eyes.
Happy New Year!
Tonora |
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| Thank you very much for the swift dispatch of my Mozzarella making kit. I ordered it on Thursday and received it in the north of Great Britain on Saturday morning!!! My 2 boys (aged 9 and 6) and I had great fun making our first batch. It was amazingly easy, just following the instructions and resulted in delicious mozzarella. Nicola McMeekin
PS Our dog enjoyed drinking some of the resulting whey, the rest will be used in bread making! |
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| I placed my order for a cheese making kit on Thursday afternoon from Mesa, AZ and by Saturday afternoon I was already enjoying my first batch of fresh, homemade mozzarella. Thank you for the great service and the great products. You can count on me being a loyal, steady customer. Thank you very much, Michael |
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| We just made our first batch. This is One of the most impressive things that I have ever done. I am not a cook or claim to have ANY kitchen skills, none necessary for this excellent product. I am going to pass the word around about this fabulous product. We give this product 2 big thumbs up. The online tutorial is definatly helpfull. Im so happy with your product. Thanks for everything.
Rob Gigliotti |
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| Thanks a million for everyhting you offer for cheese making! There\'s just nothing like warm, home-made mozzarella! Especially for missionaries in the bush of Chad who can not get any type of cheese. It even works with our powdered milk and tasts fantastic! I\'ll never go anywhere else to get my cheese making products.
-Charity Szobody from Chad |
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| I finally made the Mozzarella last night and although it is not perfect, I think for a first timer with no experience or training I did pretty darn good, or as we would say in the Bronx, \"I done good\". The texture was softer than any mozzarella I buy and although it squeeked on my teeth (funny no?) it was not rubbery at all, not at all which is what I feared. I also was a bit timid and think I should have done one more heating in the microwave (I did about 5 or 6) and should not have been so timid to stretch it. But after I let it sit in cold water for about 1/2 hour and sliced it to taste (I do not like it salted although I salt it to serve) and poured a Sicilian E V Olive Oil I use for raw dribbling (not cooking) and a tiny sprinkle of salt and it was luscious. I also attempted to make ricotta with the remaining whey the way it is traditionally made and I did but it was only about 1/4 cup and I see why it is not worth it in that way but rather to use milk to get a full amount. But honestly , I would not make ricotta, I would just buy it. But I certainly would make mozzarella. Thank you so much. You have no idea how happy I am to do something I have always wanted to do and find out it really is not all that difficult if you time it all right. I only wish I had noticed that there are photos of you making mozzarella on-line. I only just noticed that today. It would have helped more. Again thanks and hoping to order more stuff as I progress. Sincerely, Robert C.
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| Hey Ricci, thank you so much for the great kit. I made the mozarella today, and it was DELICIOUS. I love making my own pizzas, and I know the cheese will be GREAT on it. Also, since I like it so much, I am being filmed for a segment on WB33 (local news) about, Kids on the move, and I will be featured for cooking. I would like to let you know that I will be happy to use the cheese I made from your kit on the pizza I chose to make for them. I love making pizzas and cooking in General (I got on Food Network for this actually) and I have something else I can cross off my list of things to try, I have made cheese. Now, I am going to get some lipase powder to try that out, and move on to some hard cheeses, I can not wait to try homemade paremesean cheese. Well I am rambling now, so I will stop, I just wanted to thank you for a great product. |
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| I would like to say that my Homemade Mozzarella kit has been an absolute joy to use. My family thinks I am a magician because of all the great cheese I have made since I got my kit. It is great! |
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| Just wanted to send you a note of thanks for the prompt shipment of the Mozzarella Kit. I teach three foods class in High School and we made the cheese on Weds. The students loved the experience--some thought it was gross when the curds seperated from the whey but no one burned themselves and the lab was a success! Tomorrow will be the real test--they are putting it on pizza!
Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Sarah Clark |
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| HI!
I recently received my mozzerella making kit in the mail from you and I just wanted to drop you a note thanking you for such a wonderful product! I never tried anything like this before but once I finally got the courage to make my first batch it was so easy I was shocked! Everything worked just the way you said it would and the mozzerella turned out perfectly, it was delicious!
Thanks again!
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| Dear Ricki,
I received my Mozzarella kit in Portland, Oregon just two or three days after I ordered it. Thanks so much for the prompt service. My very first batch turned out WONDERFUL. During the past four weeks, my two little daughters and I have made almost twenty batches of cheese, modifying the recipe a little each time. Every last batch has turned out good, and through trial and error we\'ve learned to make cheese of varying textures and consistency. We\'ve even discovered how to make a soft, spreadable, flavorful cheese that tastes fantastic on crackers. What a fun, wholesome family activity. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Daniel Chiara, DMD |
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| Dear Cheeseheads,
What a blast! I got my basic ingredients to start making cheese
yesterday, after I had already gone to the dairy for my weekly purchase.
Of course, I went back again, and bought a gallon of whole (not
homogenized) milk, and quart of half and half. I have to tell you,
making mozzerella and mascarpone is instant gratification. I have been
making sour dough bread for the past two years. Learning how to make
consistantly good bread from sour dough is not instant gratification,
even with very good books. I launched into cheese making last night,
and told myself if it came out okay I would serve it at the party
planned for today. Well, the cheese was great. It is so easy to make
with Rickis directions from her book, and the fresh milk from the dairy
must make a huge difference in the quality of the cheese. By the end of
the party all the mozzerella was gone, and all the guests, including
many small children, agreed that this was excellent cheese. I can not
wait to make mozz with kids; it is cheese from milk before your eyes.
Recently I was shopping at Sur La Table in Chicago. They retail
food-grade silicone hand mitts. I used these instead of rubber gloves
to knead the cheese; I think the material is probably more stable in hot
temps than rubber of rubber gloves. Thank you very much for the
excellent instructions and products. Andi Faulkner. PS. Most of the
mascarpone is gone too: my guests liked it on the sour dough brioche. |
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| I just wanted to say thanks for getting my first order out quickly so that we would have fresh cheese to serve at our holiday party. It was the first time that I attempted to make cheese...your mozzarella cheese recipe turned out great! I made one batch and I did not stretch as much and kept it in the whey and used later on top of fresh tomatoes with basil and balsamic vinegar (yum) and then I made a ball to grate and use on my home pizzas that I make with my own fresh dough...and I also made a Rope String that I added spices to and then rolled it and braided it...It tastes better then the one that I buy at the store for 9 bucks and mine is twice that size! I can not beleive how easy this was, you may have thought I was making cheese for years...Currently, I have 2 batches of Fromage Blanc hang drying...Added spices to one of them too, I cant wait to spread on crackers and bagels..Again thanks so much! I am eagerly awaiting our cheese press and ingredients to make hard cheese. It looks like we will be keeping the cows busy! Ed Kopczynski |
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| Dear Folks and Ricki in particular, Your company is the best mail order company I\'ve ever dealt with. You almost feel like family. And a fun family at that! Somehow you manage to mix that all in with professionalism and quality. Good Job! I started making your mozzarella a couple of years ago. The first attempts were so successful that I dove right in and bought 100 rennet tablets. Things started going downhill after that. Sometimes I was successful, othertimes not. Very frustrating!!! We had a goat freshen a few weeks ago so I thought I would try again. I was so excited to see that you had a new recipe. I could hardly wait to get my copy. In fact I could not wait so I decided to try my hand at the old recipe. Instead of using the microwave as I had always done previously, I used the stove method. That night was a breakthrough for me. I finally knew that I understood Mozzarella! I had almost wished that I had not ordered your recipe. That is...until it came. Wow 30 minutes! It really did work! It is awesome. Only one problem...we eat it up tooooo fast! I really can not thank you enough. We have allergies to cows milk and also to mold. Goats milk mozzarella is a blessing for us. Thanks again, Terry Hatt, MI |
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| I have just received my 30 minute mozzarella and ricotta kit and have
made my first batch of mozzarella.
Apparently the instructions are vitually fool proof because the very first
try came out superb!!! Being of 100% Italian
stock, cheese is not merely a food
item, but, an essential of life!! I will catagorically state that even my
first batch of homemade far outshines
the plastic wrapped, hockey pucks that claim to be mozzarella. Thank you
for the return to my youth with
this wonderful kit! Matteo Lepree, Tucson, Arizona.
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| Thank you so much for having the know how and kits to get me
started making the Mozzarella, holy cow I have been having a ball. The last batch I made was garlic & basil mozz, then I made the pizza dough and we had a wonderful pie!!!! Sherrie Miller,TN
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| I just ordered your Mozzarella and Ricotta cheese making kit and made my first batch of Ricotta last night, it seemed to work perfectly. I made Mozzarella this morning, It is really fun! I made cannelloni last night using both the Ricotta and Mozzarella and they both tasted great! Beth |
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| Just a quick note to tell you how impressed I am with the 30 Minute Mozzarella Kit. I have taught this subject to my students for 10 years with mixed results. Yesterday all 20 students produced perfect product. Congratulations on a wonderful idea and product. Timothy Brown, Chef Instructor of Culinary Arts |
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| Nice Kit idea, I had to use it on a project and commend you for its simplicity and great taste. I had your Mozzarella recipe sent to my house, I am a collage student and I had my sister try it. She was thrilled, she said it worked beautifully. Thank for the recipe. Daniel Swick |
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| Wow, I can not beleive I made Ricotta. Even after all I had to read about how easy it was to make Ricotta, I still was a bit skeptial. But now I am a beleiver. I just made my first batch and it is wonderful. And soooooo easy. Thank you for the wonderful kit I ordered and the instructions. Sincerely, Celesta Carlson |
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| Last week I made Ricotta cheesecake with cheese I made myself! It was out of this world. I shared it with my coworkers who were very impressed. Thank you very much, even if you do not have time to write back, I love my cheese! Sincerely, Rebecca Hassell, FL |
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| We received our Mozzarella Kit last week. Thank you for the prompt delivery. My family is having so much fun making the cheese. We keep having to send my husband to the store for more milk. Thanks. The Freeman Family |
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| Ricki Thanks, I never thought Mozzarella could be so easy and fast. I have watched Rosengarten and Emeril on FoodTV using the old fashioned asbestos fingers in HOT water to make it. Takes hours. I bought a gallon of whole milk at the local egg dairy for $2.19 and in one hour I had the best looking, best tasting ball of mozzarella I have ever had anywhere and I have worked in NYC and my wife in Brooklyn and I am an Italian. I can not wait till she tries it, she does not know I bought your kit last week. My thanks to your products and methods again, Ricki. Jim Wheater. |
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| Hi, Just thought I would drop you a note to tell you how successful I was with my first attempt at cheesemaking. I got the Mozzarella kit (fast delivery time too) and tried the new recipe. Fantastic! It worked exactly as described and produced a nice cheese, which I used on pizza.
That was with whole milk.
The next day I tried it with a half gallon (cutting all recipe amounts in half) with 1% milk. Much to my surprise, this was even better! (it required a bit more salt to taste) and was stringy when melted and tasted great.
Next I am going to try the more involved recipes, using all the cool stuff that was included in the kit, for the full cheesemaking experience.
Thanks a lot for making your kits so easy to use. Tim
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| It has been just a few short months since I first
ordered supplies from your company. The two
recipes I have tried thus far are the Queso Blanco
and the Mozzarella from the Mozzarella kit. My wife
is originally from the central Andean plateau of
Columbia, Pereira Columbia. In that coffee and
agricultural region Queso Blanco (farm cheese)
was what my mother in law served me daily for breakfast.
Your recipe replicates the many delicious breakfasts
I enjoyed. Needless to say, my cheese is a hit with my
relatives now living the US. Now: to the mozzarella.
My wife and I are members of the local Italian-American
club. Kens Mozzarella (mine, but your recipe) with fresh
chives from my garden have been the rave of the club.
The folks who praise me the longest and loudest are the
native-born Italians. My cheese transports them back to their beloved roots. I love their response; when I serve it they reciprocate by keeping my wine-glass filled to the brim. But the most important aspect is the pleasure you have brought me. I can not only take pride in my accomplishments but I have the pleasure of eating and enjoying a real cheese and a damn good one at that. May your company prosper and you and yours have a very wonderful holiday season and a most glorious New Year. Ken |
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| I am very new to cheesemaking, however every recipe that I have tried of yours has yielded commendable results.
Even with the success at other types of cheeses, I was not going to try Mozzarella. It appeared too hard.
Since receiving your Mozzarella made easy instructions I have tries it twice. The first time I was on lunch from work and thought, what the heck, give it a try.
I did not read very well and did not add the citric acid until the milk was already warm, immediately before the rennet. The milk curdled in fine grains and could not be gathered into a mass, so I drained it and put the curds in a glass bowl in the microwave continuing on. I did the required heating and stirring and amazingly it stretched and became cheese taffy.
The other time I headed the lessons learned and simply forgot to dissolve the rennet, so I substituted liquid rennet and carried on. Everything happened as it was supposed to amazing my best man and his buddy who were sitting at the counter in the kitchen giving un-needed commentary.
The results both times were satisfying…I can not help but think this would be a wonderful teaching tool for young children that would combine chemical reaction with a practical result using a cooking method most seven year olds could handle.
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| I just made my first batch, 1/2 a batch actually and it came off without a hitch. I just spent the last three years on Naples and this is very close. I only microwaved it once for 30 seconds and the texture is just about right. Short of milking buffalo, which surprisingly enough I don\'t own, this is some good stuff. The Caprese was great!!
Just for general info, this was my first ever attempt at making cheese. John
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| Hi, just received my first Mozzarella cheese kit, I can not believe it. I actually made the fresh mozzarella cheese! Thanks for the great kit and easy to follow recipe. It was easier than I thought it would be. I can not wait to try other cheeses. Yolanda |
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| Dear Ricki and company, just a quick note to thank you for your prompt response to my order and questions. I have already used my cheesemaking kit twice, and each time the mozzarella has barely enough time to cool before it is eagerly eaten. We are hooked ! Thanks again.
Ina |
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