Rachel stirring a pot of Colby curds

Making cheese is easy enough, but some folks make it look even easier and Rachel Chamberlain is one of them.

She started making cheese 3 or 4 years ago when her sister purchased one of our 30 Minute Mozzarella Kits and she was off and running from there.

She has a major advantage over most of us because her mother-in-law has cows, so Rachel has easy access to all the milk she wants.

But, even so, Rachel has truly become a master home cheese maker in a very short time.

She sent us pictures of some of her gorgeous cheeses and a series of pictures of herself making Colby. Thanks, Rachel!

Kiara feeding Nova / Cuddling with Bling and Salsa

Kiara is eleven and she is already raising goats and making cheese. We think she's amazing!

Kiara was the youngest entrant in our recent essay contest. She wrote, "Making Mozzarella is my favorite because it's the only time your mother can't tell you not to play with your food!"

She is our first young cheese maker in this new section. We're very excited about our plan to shine the "Junior Spotlight" in every upcoming issue.

Aviva Mulawa's first Brie

Tzfat cheeses with olives and dill, Tzaziki in center, Camblu and Brie

This is my first ever Brie attempt with your recipe from your website (at left). The taste is good too.

I also made a very successful Camblu (so I was told), Halloumi and I also make a cheese called Tzfat cheese, its an Israeli cheese almost like a very delicate Bulgarian feta - no pressing needed.

In the picture (below), the big cheese on the top right is the Brie, the small one on the same board is a Camblu and the cheeses on the left are the Tzfat cheeses in which I incorporated dill and olives. The one in the center is Tzaziki.

Needless to say they were all gone by the end of the party. (My daughter's 3rd birthday party.)

Aviva Mulawa, Lublin Poland*
*I am originally from Kibbutz Alumim in Israel and when we are not in Lublin, Poland where our home is, we live in Mackay in Queensland, Australia.

Lynda Garneau (aka Cheese Kook)

Claude built this cheese "cave"

I am sending you some photos of my wife's new cheese room.

BTW, you have helped create a monster - my wife started making cheese a year ago, and has not even stopped to come up for a breath!

Now, she has an aging room and a dedicated cheese making room.

To make the room, I removed all of the insulation from against the 2 cement walls, and applied ceramic directly to the concrete and floor. This helps keep the room cool

I also installed a room air conditioner with a Cool-bot for the summer. For the winter, I installed a bathroom ceiling fan which draws heated air from the basement and blows it into the cheese "cellar." It is thermostatically controlled.

The only problem we have had to date is maintaining a steady humidity level, but we are working on it. The shelving is white pine, 1" thick, and the glass doors are just plain French doors. The lighting is set to shut off automatically after 10 minutes, so if we forget to turn it off, no harm is done.

There is not a lot of cheese in it yet. She wants to keep her "pre-room" cheeses separate, so we still use the wine fridge for now.

Claude Garneau, Ottowa, Canada

Judit Repas with her first smoked cheese

Judit drew this picture!

I'm sorry, my English is not good, but I recently started to learn your beautiful language.

A few words about me. My name is Judit Repas. I live in Hungary and I'm in my 40's. I work as a TV reporter for Hungarian satellite TV (DUNA TV) with my husband, who is a cameraman and online editor.

We bought at the supermarket a smoked cheese, and the taste was very bad. The cheese had a lot of material and artificial coloring. We decided to make our own smoked cheese.

We live in a house with a large garden. We bought fresh cow's milk, ten liters (approx 2.5 gallons) and rennet.

We searched for a video about how to make cheese at home and found your website - www.cheesemaking.com and other websites.

My husband made in the garden a simple smoker. He dug a pit into which he put the wood and fired it. The smoke is introduced in a cardboard box under the cheese. In 20 minutes is ready the smoked cheese. Should be washed thoroughly.

I not only make cheese, but I make whey cream cottage cheese, whey Hungarian (Zsendice). The whey is warmed to 85C (185F), and I add a tablespoon of citric acid. I wait until it has collected at the top, filter it and flavor it to my liking. To make it hot, I add a little oregano, red onion, green onion, salt, pepper, etc.

Judit Repas, Felsozsolca, Hungary

The gift bags were ready

Jenny cooked the lunch, which included pot pies all wrapped and ready to go

That's Kathy in the Santa hat and Ricki at right

Kathy showed our visitors how an order gets assembled and packed

As we have mentioned before, we work with a team of veterans who help us with various aspects of our business- assembling kits, cutting wax, etc. They do a wonderful job and we feel very fortunate to be able to work with them.

Every year, in December, we (the Royal Staff and the Cheese Queen) make or buy something to pack in bags for the veterans. We usually deliver these bags to the place where they work, but this year, they came to our business in South Deerfield, MA for lunch, bingo and a tour of our warehouse.

Ricki's royal grand daughter, Jocelyn

Sarah, Jenny and Ricki with Jocelyn

We haven't assigned her a bar code number, and you can't order one for yourself, but we do highly recommend this new addition to our product line!

Jocelyn has already claimed the hearts of everyone she's met and we are all head over heels in love with her.

Ricki, of course, is way over the top! She's knitting baby clothes, taking pictures, buying gifts and negotiating with Sarah and Mark for more time with her grand daughter. (Everyone knows the Cheese Queen is an awesome negotiator, so we're sure Jocelyn will be sitting on the throne in the Queen's lap for a good part of her childhood!)