John Wise

Downtown Phoenix at a local bakery/kitchen was where I joined the Barn Goddesses Celia and Pam, who gave me lessons in how to turn goat milk into cheese. I have made mozzarella before but have always wondered if I was missing something so I went to watch the pros. And it actually is that easy and doesn’t require a lot of stressing out. Pour milk into the pot, add citric acid or lemon juice, bring to 95 degrees, add rennet, slice, drain off whey, mix in spices and salt – cheese. In a short 2 hours, anyone can turn a gallon of milk into a pound of cheese. Ok, hard cheeses are a different story, that lesson will come at a future date.

I don’t review restaurants here on my blog but this new place in Scottsdale is worth mentioning due to the rarity of just such an eatery. Fresh Mint is a vegetarian restaurant that is no less than wonderful. I am not a vegetarian but my wife Caroline is, so finding a place that caters to her likes is quite the coup. Add to the equation that I love it too and we have a winning new restaurant we will return to often. On our first visit last week we tried the pepper steak and the green apple tofu curry – both were awesome. Yes, I did say steak, and yes I did say vegetarian; the steak is some kind of soy product. I don’t really want to know precisely what it is, suffice to say it was delicious. This evening we had the rainbow vegetable stirfry and the soy beef delight noodles. The banana fritters on tapioca as a dessert hit the spot. We love Fresh Mint, a big Thank You to the owners who up and left Maui to open this new outlet, bringing us a small taste of paradise.

It’s getting late in July and there hasn’t been much of a monsoon season yet. Late this afternoon, though, thunderheads appeared on the horizon. Try as I might I couldn’t capture one of the many lightning bolts that appeared at the base of the anvil. I spent the day freezing carrots, freezing squash, making granola, and an Indian dish called kadhai paneer that will find its way into the freezer. I also donated nearly a hundred of our books to the library in our continuing efforts to downsize. After spending the day on the domestic front a nice hard storm with a house rattling thunder and lightning show would have given some real excitement to the day.