Whey

When it comes to misguided efforts of average people wishing to pack on muscle, protein supplements are way up there. A 2004 study of exercisers at a Long Island commercial gym that was published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition revealed that more than 40% of regular exercisers take protein supplements more than five times a week. For people looking to get as huge as professional bodybuilders, protein powders do make sense. But for us regular folks who merely want to look good for the beach, bar or bed partner, these probably are unnecessary.

SACRAMENTO - California dairy farmers and cheese processors are fighting again over milk prices. It's not Grade A, homogenized, pasteurized milk that's at issue in the state Capitol. Rather, agriculture lobbyists are focused on the price of whey, a milk byproduct probably best known to consumers who've read the Mother Goose nursery rhyme about little Miss Muffet eating her "curds and whey. " Once thrown away as waste, whey has become a valuable commodity, left over from processing cheese and then used in hundreds of foods, including baby formula and protein powder.

The 5-inch round of cheese was slightly orange, as it should have been, I guess. I cut it in half and, hoping I wouldn't end up in the hospital, I spread the creamy cheese on some bread. Hey, this was good! It tasted like … Camembert? This was the first cheese I'd ever made from scratch. I basically had no idea what I was doing. Not only did I not kill anyone, but I also actually made something that tasted pretty good, which is a testament either to how easy it is to make cheese or to my dumb luck.

The shards of old pottery are poked with little holes, remnants of vessels that would have looked a lot like colanders. Now scientists have determined that the fragments -- more than 7,000 years old -- are most likely from ancient cheese-making implements, used for separating curds from whey. Collected from sites along a river in present-day Poland, the pottery pieces are the oldest direct evidence for cheese-making anywhere in the world, the researchers reported Wednesday in the journal Nature.

  Homemade ricotta Total time: About 45 minutes Servings: About 1 pound, or 2 cups Note: This recipe requires the use of a thermometer. 9 cups whole milk 1 cup buttermilk 1 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 tablespoons distilled vinegar 1. Heat the milk and buttermilk in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat to a temperature of about 185 degrees. Stir in the salt and vinegar and remove from the heat. Let stand until curds have formed, 5 to 10 minutes.

  Total time: 25 minutes, plus 1½ to 2 days setting and draining times Servings: This makes a generous cup of quark. 2 cups whole milk 1/2 cup cultured buttermilk 1. In a stainless steel, heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and set aside until the milk is cooled. Whisk in the buttermilk. 2. Transfer the mixture to a glass, ceramic or plastic container, and set aside at room temperature until the mixture is thickened, with a consistency similar to yogurt or crème fraîche, about 1 day. 3. Transfer the mixture to a cheesecloth-lined strainer set over a bowl.

Emily Zaler's business card should probably read "mad scientist. " When the personal trainer is not putting clients through their paces up and down the famed Santa Monica stairs or working out herself, she's making a mess in her Los Angeles kitchen. There, she modifies recipes that are normally filled with unhealthy fat, sugar and carbs using her favorite secret ingredient: Whey protein powder. Her recipe catalog includes fudge, blueberry crepes, almond butter cookies, sweet potato muffins and more.

The shards of old pottery are poked with little holes, remnants of vessels that would have looked a lot like colanders. Now scientists have determined that the fragments -- more than 7,000 years old -- are most likely from ancient cheese-making implements, used for separating curds from whey. Collected from sites along a river in present-day Poland, the pottery pieces are the oldest direct evidence for cheese-making anywhere in the world, the researchers reported Wednesday in the journal Nature.

The tech industry has been buzzing in recent weeks about the sudden burst of announcements about wearable computing, and in particular about rumors that Apple is working on some kind of iWatch. But in the view of some Apple fans, such a gadget wouldn't be Apple's first watch. As far as they're concerned, Apple already released -- and then withdrew -- its first watch when it introduced the 6 th generation of its iPod Nano in 2010. STORY: Waiting for Apple's iWatch As part of a larger story about Apple's iWatch plans, I spoke with Scott Wilson, a Chicago-based designer who has been involved in various ways with smartwatch efforts over the years.

SACRAMENTO - California dairy farmers and cheese processors are fighting again over milk prices. It's not Grade A, homogenized, pasteurized milk that's at issue in the state Capitol. Rather, agriculture lobbyists are focused on the price of whey, a milk byproduct probably best known to consumers who've read the Mother Goose nursery rhyme about little Miss Muffet eating her "curds and whey. " Once thrown away as waste, whey has become a valuable commodity, left over from processing cheese and then used in hundreds of foods, including baby formula and protein powder.

  Total time: 25 minutes, plus 1½ to 2 days setting and draining times Servings: This makes a generous cup of quark. 2 cups whole milk 1/2 cup cultured buttermilk 1. In a stainless steel, heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and set aside until the milk is cooled. Whisk in the buttermilk. 2. Transfer the mixture to a glass, ceramic or plastic container, and set aside at room temperature until the mixture is thickened, with a consistency similar to yogurt or crème fraîche, about 1 day. 3. Transfer the mixture to a cheesecloth-lined strainer set over a bowl.

The 5-inch round of cheese was slightly orange, as it should have been, I guess. I cut it in half and, hoping I wouldn't end up in the hospital, I spread the creamy cheese on some bread. Hey, this was good! It tasted like … Camembert? This was the first cheese I'd ever made from scratch. I basically had no idea what I was doing. Not only did I not kill anyone, but I also actually made something that tasted pretty good, which is a testament either to how easy it is to make cheese or to my dumb luck.

Emily Zaler's business card should probably read "mad scientist. " When the personal trainer is not putting clients through their paces up and down the famed Santa Monica stairs or working out herself, she's making a mess in her Los Angeles kitchen. There, she modifies recipes that are normally filled with unhealthy fat, sugar and carbs using her favorite secret ingredient: Whey protein powder. Her recipe catalog includes fudge, blueberry crepes, almond butter cookies, sweet potato muffins and more.

  Homemade ricotta Total time: About 45 minutes Servings: About 1 pound, or 2 cups Note: This recipe requires the use of a thermometer. 9 cups whole milk 1 cup buttermilk 1 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 tablespoons distilled vinegar 1. Heat the milk and buttermilk in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat to a temperature of about 185 degrees. Stir in the salt and vinegar and remove from the heat. Let stand until curds have formed, 5 to 10 minutes.

When it comes to misguided efforts of average people wishing to pack on muscle, protein supplements are way up there. A 2004 study of exercisers at a Long Island commercial gym that was published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition revealed that more than 40% of regular exercisers take protein supplements more than five times a week. For people looking to get as huge as professional bodybuilders, protein powders do make sense. But for us regular folks who merely want to look good for the beach, bar or bed partner, these probably are unnecessary.

If Leo Tolstoy had seen the cartoons of Chas. Addams, he would have had to rethink his famous dictum, "All happy families are alike." Gomez and Morticia's misbegotten brood may have been creepy and kooky, but they were also happy, as the cartoons in the delightful anthology "The Addams Family: An Evilution" attest. Addams, born in 1912, sold his first cartoon to the New Yorker in 1932, while he was still a student at the Grand Central School of Art in Manhattan. Six years later, he began the Addams Family saga with a drawing of a cheerfully oblivious door-to-door salesman demonstrating a vacuum cleaner to early versions of Morticia and Lurch: "Vibrationless, noiseless, and a great time and back saver.

Although the recession drove many businesses into bankruptcy, times have been particularly hard for the state's dairy farmers. Almost 400 California dairies have closed in the last five years - 105 in 2012 alone - plagued by soaring prices for feed and an antiquated regulatory system that keeps their prices artificially low, at least in the farmers' view. The right solution for the long term would be to scrap the current approach in favor of a market-based one, but there's little political will to take such a disruptive step.

The sizzle of bacon. The crunch of an apple. The mellifluous sound of ... cheese? Unlike other foods, cheese is generally not thought of as noisy, but on Sunday an Echo Park art group will be taking Angelenos through the process of making cheese, from cows to curds, using the sounds of cheese as a guide. By recording natural sounds from each stage of the process and combining the sounds with music, L.A. art collective Machine Project has created an unusual backdrop for a cheese-tasting and lecture by a Northern California cheese-maker.