If I had more hours in my day, and quite possibly a few extra days in the week, I would love to volunteer for the National Trust of Victoria. What better way to learn and share with others the fascinating way of life for our early pioneers and settlers than to guide others through historic homes and gardens?
Or maybe I would dress up in 1850s attire and work in an historical museum. Last year when I visited Sovereign Hill with my daughter and some of her friends, I watched a volunteer (yes, she was in period costume) demonstrate cheese making.
The tiny cottage kitchen where she set up her bowls and milk tins, hardly fit the small crowd which squeezed in. Her demonstration was very popular, drawing other volunteers away from their posts in the general store and apothecary's shop.
Using only the fire behind her to warm the milk, her fingers to test the temperature and the few utensils you see on the pine table before her, she processed milk and turned it into fresh cottage cheese.
My 1870s Australian Colonial Cookbook tells me this type of cheese was perfect for baked cheesecakes when a little sugar, butter, nutmeg, lemon peel and eggs were added. Yum.
I think I might have to experiment with cheese making now. At the very least, and in honor of our current school-holiday winter feasting, I think I need to bake a cheesecake.
