The Fuzzy Chef & Friends

Four months ago, my wife gave me the present of a cheese class with Wil Edwards. In this class, we made paneer and the now-infamous 30-minute mozzarella. This opened my eyes to how easy and fun it is to make cheese at home. In fact, making my own fresh cheese has become like making my own pizza and pasta; I can't tolerate store-bought versions anymore, because they don't compare with the stuff I make -- especially whole-milk ricotta.

While actually making the cheese is easy and fun, getting started can be a little daunting. So let me go over the basics, including equipment.  Later I'll lead you through a cheese recipe.

This one's a much harder quiz, which may have you hitting the books (or, more likely, Google).  Accordingly, I will post the answers after a couple of days; please post your answers in the comments, and we'll see how you do.

The region constituting southwest Oregon and northern California is often called Jefferson State by the locals, in memory of a brief and unserious succession attempt in the 1940's. Jeffersonians see themselves as aloof from the Sodom and Gomorrahs of Portland and the California cities, and much abused by them.

Despite this, the hundreds of wealthy California retirees moving into the Rogue Valley over the last 15 years have brough a taste for the finer things with them, and have made the region a reasonable place to cook, provided you're willing to spend a whole day of driving to get the groceries. Here's where to find everything: