Cheese sandwich

The Camemberts are draining for a total of 36 hours in their hoops and a sandwich of draining mats (aka sushi mats) and cheese boards (aka bamboo chopping boards)*. There are two cheeses here: one behind the other.

The sandwich arrangement allows the cheeses to be turned periodically so that they drain equally from top and bottom. The hoops are open-ended and have small holes drilled in their sides to allow drainage.

Tomorrow morning I'll remove the cheeses from the hoops. I'll then salt all the sides and leave them to airdry for a day or two, before putting them into a container in the cheese fridge/cave. They will need turning every day. 

After about two weeks white mould will have developed on the outside and after a further four weeks they'll be gooey inside and ready to eat.

I have been putting together a birthday gift for my bestie in Nelson: a selection of nine cheeses. Of course each one had to be tasted before packaging, to make sure I wasn't sending anything substandard ;-)

One of the nine is a Camembert made seven weeks ago.

My lovely GP prodded me, then made me bend and twist this morning. He was happy to announce that I am more flexible than he was expecting from my description of the problems with my back and hamstring. I was happy to hear that.

He thinks I have suffered soft tissue damage and inflammation adjacent to my spine, but to be sure it is nothing more serious (yes, he ran through all the worse-case possibilities) he has referred me for a back x-ray. 

By the time I got home again that appointment had come through...for two days' time. I am astonished it is so soon.

If the x-ray is inconclusive I will get an MRI, for which I suspect the wait will be considerably longer. 

I am happy to have investigations underway. In the meantime I am definitely mending nicely, thanks to doing next to nothing for almost a week. And I see my wonderful physiotherapist again tomorrow.

It was fabulous to discover that many of you are also Trekkies following yesterday's Blip. 

*= Most 'official' cheese-making equipment is unnecessary, and can be replaced with everyday kitchen items, or cheap alternatives.