Why make my own goat cheese?

As Lance as kindly taken care of the "how" I thought I should round things out with the "why" - or at least my version of it.

It is kind of a complicated question to answer. Only because clearly the only response is "why not?" I have long held a fascination with making foods from scratch. Not just foods like pizza or lasagna that have only (relatively) recently appeared in grocery store freezers, but foods that you don't even think twice about buying ready-made: marshmellows, tofu, doughnuts, butter - the list goes on. In fact, the list is in my kitchen. I have made a point over the years of finding, copying, and saving recipes of things can be made from scratch that normally I would just buy pre-made. And friends, cheese is on that list. (Interesting side note: goat cheese is not. I have recipes for paneer and cow's milk ricotta, but no goat cheese.)

But why make it from scratch? Isn't that a lot of work? Won't it take way longer? Well...yes. It is a lot of work. And yes, in my experience making things from scratch does take a few extra moments than just picking it up off a shelf. But for me, those reasons are the why- because it takes more work and because it takes more time.

I find it interesting, and to be honest, kind of sad that our collective set of culinary skills is declining in North America. It wasn't that long ago that making your own bread was normal, that most meals were homemade and that people - everyday people - knew how to do these things. I started making my list of Foods to Make From Scratch based on a fairly basic realization that we have all these pre-made foods because at some point in time people made them at home enough for them to become popular. We have just collectively forgotten how that was done.So my wanting to make from scratch is an expression of my desire to remember and learn culinary traditions that I feel are slowly fading.

I also am a complete sentimentalist. I like the idea of spending time with something - a book, a recipe, an object - and then sharing it with someone else. Some of my most prized possessions are ones that are old - my grandmother's quilt, a book given to me by a friend, on of my mother's dresses - and it is because someone I love has already spent their time with those objects that I adore them so much. I think the same can hold true for food. Baking bread for a friend becomes more than just giving them food, it becomes sharing a recipe that I love, giving them three hours of my time, working and kneading and really doing something for them. And it is yummy to boot!

So there ya go. Making my own goat cheese will take more time. And it will be messy and a lot of work. But I want it to be. I want to know what it is like to make something that I like so much. I'm not going to pretend that I will ALWAYS make my own goat cheese or that I will ever want to do it again after that first potentially disastrous attempt. But at the very least, through doing and trying I will gain an appreciation for how a food that I love is made, and I will think of that experience every time I buy a package at the store. Which will often, because let's get real - I eat a lot of the stuff.