Rustic Lemon Cheese Mashed Potatoes

On April 9, 2026April 9, 2026 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dry storedLeave a comment

After I started this month by explaining how to make an easy cheese at home, I wanted to offer plenty of ideas for using it. The recipe I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon is both straightforward and versatile. It mixes fresh, homemade Lemon Cheese into basic mashed potatoes for a simple and flavorful side dish.

As I explain in my column, I intentionally leave these mashed potatoes relatively dry so that they work well as a filling for pierogi, a recipe I’ll share in next week’s column. Even though you could mix other cheeses, store-bought or homemade, into a side dish of mashers, my lemony version of farmer’s cheese doesn’t completely melt when heated and won’t become oily and ooze from a pierogi wrapper. This ability to retain its shape, hot or cold, makes this cheese my favorite addition on and in many other dishes.
Learn to make Rustic Lemon Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Lemon Cheese

On April 7, 2026April 9, 2026 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn cheese, ColumnLeave a comment

For the first time, I’m sharing my homemade cheese recipes in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. I’ve been making these recipes at home and teaching them in cheese-making workshops for years, and they’re tasty enough that they should be on your table too.

Cheeses run the gamut from easy and quick to complex and well aged, but the one in this week’s column is about the easiest to create. I call it lemon cheese because I use lemon juice to set the cheese curd, but it’s also known as farmer’s cheese, queso blanco, and paneer. You only need three ingredients and 20 minutes of hands-on time to make this cheese, and just a few specific tools and ingredients: a large kettle, finely woven cheesecloth, an instant-read thermometer, and ideally nonhomogenized milk.

Learn to make Lemon Cheese

How To Make Cheese, Step by Step

On April 25, 2023November 19, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn cheese, FermentingLeave a comment

I’m excited to share my first pieces for The Old Farmer’s Almanac website—all about cheese! I created a basic cheese making guide to help beginners make their first cheese and experienced cheese makers learn some of the history and details about the process. It includes a recipe for a classic cheese from pioneer days: Farmer’s Cheese. You’ll also find that recipe in a separate post that includes step-by-step photos of the process.

I’m just as excited that by creating these pieces for Almanac.com, the editors have added more recipes to their website for making cheese and other dairy products. The website’s collection now includes recipes for homemade ricotta, yogurt, and butter. I have another piece in the works for their website, too.
Learn how to make cheese, step-by-step

Cheese: You Can Do It!

On April 1, 2021April 1, 2021 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Fermenting, Topic5 Comments

The first thing to know about cheese making is that you can do it! Learn more at TwiceasTasty.com.
Spring is working its way into Montana. This means 4 weather cycles in a day, plenty of mud, the first harvest of walking onions, and baby animals in the barn. At the farm where I garden, two baby cows have arrived, with a third on the way. Although the mommas will keep their milk for their newborns, it always seems like the perfect time to explore home-fermented dairy and cheese.

I’ve spent little time making cheese over the past year. A year ago, I skipped my planned cheese posts to extend the sourdough giveaway and share ways to eat well when stuck at home. Then I co-opted my “cheese cave” (aka mini dorm fridge) for pickles while I was launching my new book.

But last month, while filling pierogi with potatoes and Lemon Cheese, I was reminded just how easy it is to make cheese and other dairy products. Here’s your reminder too.
Read more about making cheese

Making Better Yogurt and Cheese

On April 3, 2018December 1, 2019 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Fermenting, TopicLeave a comment

Making new styles of cheese has taught me a few tricks that apply to my homemade standards. Learn about making better yogurt and cheese at TwiceasTasty.com.
Each April, the recipes on Twice as Tasty focus on making cheese and other dairy products at home. Between the information on the blog and the workshops I’ve been teaching to everyone from adults to kids, the pool of home cheesemakers has been growing steadily all year.

As I wrote last year, yogurt was my first homemade dairy product. It’s still the milk-based product I make most often, partly because it’s so easy and partly because it’s so versatile that I eat it all the time. This also means I’m constantly finding new ways to improve my yogurt-making skills.

I’ve also been playing with variations on acid-based cheeses and delving into new cheese styles and dairy products. Some of these will be the focus of blog posts in the coming month. But these styles have also taught me a few tricks that apply to my homemade standards. So before I offer you new recipes, here are some things I’ve learned in the past year about making yogurt and cheese.
Read more about making better yogurt and cheese