Patricia's Page
Patricia, Bigfoot's wife, is Reevis's office manager, webmaster, shipping department, publisher, newsletter editor, lady of the house, and all-around how-can-I-help-Peter person. In her spare time, she knits, makes cheese, reads, and writes stories and poetry.
Patricia came to Reevis in May 2008. Before that, she lived in Globe and attended ASU, where she earned bachelor's degrees in math and English lit. She also completed an MFA in creative writing (fiction) at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina. She has lived in Arizona for ten years. Her favorite writer is Henry Green.
Knitting
Here's the sweater I knitted for Peter last winter. The yarn is Lopi, and I used a Lopi pattern but altered the fit and changed the colors.
I'm working now on an Icelandic sweater for myself and a wool hat for David.
Cheese
I have been learning to make cheese from a site on the Web, Dr. Fankhauser's Cheese Page. I get the milk from an organic dairy in Gilbert, use buttermilk to acidify it, and then use commercial rennet. I age the cheese for three months. By that point we can't restrain ourselves any longer!
I've experimented with using cleavers to curdle the cheese, and it works! But I'm not sure we want to have cleavers-flavored cheese all the time, so I've gone back to using commercial rennet. I'd love to know alternatives to commercial rennet (short of butchering a calf).
My cheese usually turns out like feta - crumbly and tart. We love it on steamed chard.
