3 new things came into my life this week. The first being Windows 7. My Husband, Arnold built me a new desktop computer for my birthday and I installed Window 7 Professional. WOW! Where has this been all my life. So easy and user friendly. My love/hate relationship with my computer is now a love/love relationship. I’ve not chosen a new monitor for my new computer yet so I’m using one that my son used to use before he turned to the dark side and bought a Mac.
My new speakers are awesome and it seems I never turn off the music. The new tower has lots of red and blue lights and looks so cool. The new keyboard is so much bigger than my laptop that it takes some getting used to. But this new computer and Windows 7 were for one big reason and that is to make it simpler to do my job as a Travel Agent. And to that end, Cruise Planners has given us a convenient new booking tool that offers state of the art technology to research and book your Air, Car, Hotel and Vacation Rentals. So many of my clients have asked for a tool to help them book their own non-cruise travel and now here it is! Our new booking tool is available 24/7 and is a one stop shop for over 100,000 hotels worldwide as well as extreamly competive prices on air and more. Check it out at www.funcruises4you.com.
The third great thing that came to my life this week is a great recipe for Homemade Goat Cheese. I was not really sure if I wanted to try this but something told me to take the time and “just do it” – I must have been wearing my Nike shoes at the time. I found this recipe online when searching for a local goat cheese producer. This recipe sounded too easy to be good.
HOMEMADE GOAT CHEESE
Adapted from Over the Rainbeau: Living the Dream of Sustainable Farming
1 quart goats’ or regular cow’s milk
juice of 2 lemons
coarse salt (1/4 TSP or to taste)
2 TSP finely chopped fresh herbs of your choice
Freshly ground pepper (1/8 TSP or to taste)
Gently heat milk in a heavy medium sized saucepan until it reaches 180 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Let stand until set, about 15-30 minutes. If milk does not set, add a little more lemon juice.
Line a colander with several layers of cheesecloth. Ladle set milk into colander. Tie the four corners of cheesecloth together; hang on the handle of a wooden spoon set over a deep bowl and let drain until it is the consistency of slightly dry cottage cheese, 1 to 2 hours (depending on the consistency that you are looking for. Shorter drain time means gives you a creamier texture, longer draining gives the cheese a crumbly texture). Transfer to a bowl and fold in salt, pepper and herbs. Store in an airtight container, refrigerated, up to 1 week.
Makes 8 to 10 ounces.
