BLEU CHEESE REQUIRES ELF BREATH

Since we were gone for a few days, milk had piled up in the fridge again, so it was time to make cheese.  A couple years ago when i first started making cheese, i never did make bleu cheese and i wondered why, i mean the boys liked bleu, even if i think bleu cheese smells and tastes like toe jam, i could've made it for them, but i didn't.  So now that i have a whole new outlook on bleu cheese, because of being able to taste REAL bleu cheese, not the cheap stuff they sell in stores, but REAL BLEU, like Star Thrower Three Sheep's to the Wind Bleu cheese made at Star Thrower Farm in Glencoe, MN, I have a whole new appreciation for the stinky stuff. Now after having tasted such incredible Bleu cheese, i reminded myself that i could make my own!  How great would that be?  I mean my own Bleu had to taste better then anyone else's. This was a splendid idea until I asked Louie to look up the recipe in my book, Home Cheese Making, which has many curled edges from use, and it became evident why I hadn't made bleu cheese before.  Kudos to Star Thrower and all those other farms that do this. Tell me what you think. I have highlighted the most interesting parts.

Here is the VERY shortened version of the recipe:

1. Heat milk to 90 degrees (if using goat's milk make it 86 degrees)
2. add the mold, then starter, mix well
3. cover and let ripen for 60 minutes at 90 degrees (if using goat's milk make it 86 degrees)
4. add diluted rennet, stir gently with an up and down motion for 1 minute
5. cover, let set for 45 minutes at 90 degrees (if using goat's milk make it 86 degrees)
6. cut curds into 1/2 inch cubes. Let set for 5 minutes (if using goat milk - let set for 10)
7. gently stir the curds every 5 minutes for 60 minutes
8. let the curds set, undisturbed for 5 minutes
9. pour off whey
10. put the curds in a colander and drain for 5 minutes
11. out the curds back in the pot and gently mix them by hand
12. add salt and mix well
13. let set for 5 minutes
14. meanwhile, sterilize cheese mold, mats and cheese boards
15. place a mat on a cheese board and the mold on the mat
16. fill the mold with curds
17. cover with a mat and cheese board
18. turn over the mold every 15 minutes for the first 2 hours, then once an hour for the next two hours
19. let drain overnight
20. Meanwhile, find an elf
21. Let him breath on the cheese
22. return him to his home
23. remove the cheese from the mold sprinkle with more salt
24. shake off excess salt
25. let set at 60 degrees and 85% humidity
26. set the cheese on a board
27. turn it over each day for 3 days, salting it and shaking off the excess each time
28. using an ice pick, poke 40 holes from top to bottom
29. then age at 50 degrees and 95% humidity
30. store the cheese in a cradle
31. every 4 days give it a 1/4 turn
32. after 30 days, the cheese will be covered with bleu mold and reddish-brown smear, remove with a long-bladed knife
33. scrape off the mold and smear every 20 - 30 days 
34. OH NO! WE ARE NOT DONE YET!
35. after 90 days, scrape the cheese and wrap in foil
36. lower temp to between 34 - 38 degrees and age 60 days longer
37. Ideally, its ready to eat after only 6 months.

Gee, well, I think that this may never happen. I do have to actually take care of things like; feed my animals, feed myself, sleep, things like that.