It could be that you, fellow cheese lover, have already made mozzarella by hand. Perhaps you laid pieces of your creamy white cheese on golden and crimson slices of summer tomatoes and basil, or used it to top that rustic pizza dough you've been perfecting. I can see it now- everything was glistening from the extra virgin olive oil drizzled on top.

Or perhaps, fearful of your klutzy elbows knocking over pots in the stretching procedure and scorching the milk that needs to be heated more than once, you avoided trying to make one of best cheeses around even though people claimed it was easier than making good pie dough (which, don't let anyone fool you, is very difficult).

Either way, welcome to Kitchen Curds (formerly Home Creamery Event on VindelaTable)!!! We're making mozzarella! Every four to six weeks, cheeseheads wanting to cut curds at home are invited to join "Its Not You, it's Brie" in making a pre-selected dairy product. I'm using recipes from the  Home Creamery book by Kathy Farrell-Kingsley, but you can use any recipes you'd like.

We'll make the same cheese or dairy good in our own homes, then share our trails, tribulations, and hopefully delicious outcomes on "It's Not You, it's Brie" through blog links and comments.

Kitchen Curds Guidelines:

1. If you're interested in making the pre-selected dairy good of the six weeks (always open to suggestion) at home, and can do so by the selected due date, then....
2. Make the choosen dairy product at home (your home). Warning: Check your recipe at least 2-3 weeks prior to beginning your cheese. Few (like mozzarella) require products, such as rennet, that generally need to be special ordered.
3. If you have a blog, send me the link to the post where you talk about your Kitchen Curd experience - good, interesting, funny, delicious or just plain bad. I'll post your link on the assigned "Its Not You, it's Brie"  cheesemaking post. If you don't have a blog, share your experiences in the comment section of the the post where I list the links to the Curd blogging adventures (this post won't emerge until about a wk. after the links due date).

If you haven't caught on by now..... the first assignment is ..... Mozzarella! Kitchen Curders, link me by the last day of June! And, if you'd made mozzarella before, feel free to warn of any common oversights you think we should know. Or, if it's important not to eat the concoction until it's finished, someone warn me, because god help me, I'm going to taste it all.

Have fun!

Also: Sometime this week I'm going to be giving away a copy of  the Home Creamery book on my Twitter page. Consider signing up for my tweets if you haven't already!

(photo of traditional mozzarella making on Sorrento, Italian coast)

Next post: the low down on La Tur, one of Italy's perfect cheeses.