Cheese Glorious Cheese!

I am sure I could live without cheese, but I love cheese! The powdered stuff is not a good enough substitute for the creamy, gooey, yummy real thing. Cheese is in almost all of my everyday recipes. I knew there had to be a way to store cheese safely. I found a few methods in my research. None seemed to be the solution to me until I found Cheese Wax. I was soooo excited.

Cheese wax provided me with a safe way to include cheese into my food storage. Cheese can be stored as long as mold is prevented from growing on it. It does not need to be refrigerated once it is coated in Cheese Wax.

Cheese wax is reusable. After you peel it off your cheese, wash it, dry it and save it for next time. I bought mine from www.cheesemaking.com. I bought three different colors: red, yellow and black. I plan to color code the cheese. I also bought a cheese wax brush, so that I can paint it on if necessary. (Cheese supposedly gets slippery when you try to wax it.) You will also need a double boiler. I recommend an old one or a garage sale find, as you will not be able to use it for any other purpose after using it to melt the wax. Follow the instructions and be careful. Cheese wax is EXPLOSIVE! It will be worth it. Just think about the yummy things you can eat that are made with cheese, glorious cheese.

Beef, It What's for Dinner

I finally used my Mother's Day gift, a pressure cooker/canner. To tell you the truth, I was scared. I have heard horror stories about them blowing up and burning people. I did not have any such disastrous things happen.

I was quite impressed with myself. I read the instruction manual and The Ball Blue Book.

I purchased two of the biggest packages of ground beef (97/3) that I could find. I was hoping to make 7 jars of meat, I only got six. They were a little too full, but I did it anyway. (It is not recommended to overfill your jars.) It took a long time. I used the hot pack method. I started late and did not have all the things I needed. I sent my hubby out to get the things I needed. It took him what seemed like forever. I needed something to warm my jars, so they wouldn't crack when I put the hot meat in them & a ladle to spoon hot water over the meat in the jars.
I chose the hot pack method because I have seen jars of red meat in other peoples storage. It just looks gross to me. I would rather see it browned. Anyway, here is my advice: make sure you have all the things you will need before you start, make sure you know how long it will take, and follow the proven directions.

I have not tried my meat yet, but I am excited. My food storage dinners will have much more variety. We will have sloppy joes, enchiladas, and many more.

Did I mention the house smelled great all night and the next morning?