Some days it’s unavoidable, and we have a culture clash in the kitchen. No, I don’t mean that I want stir fry for dinner, but my husband insists on a curry. This is a more literal clash of cultures—sourdough vs. cheese culture. Either one can infect the other, with unsavoury results, and both take up large amounts of space in the kitchen, so we try to avoid making both on the same day.

Today, however, there was no getting around it. The neighbour gave me 50 litres of milk—I had to make cheese. And my husband already had the sourdough bulking up Friday—he had to make bread.

Timers were going off all morning, and it was a trick to know what each one was for—was that the bread, the parmesan or the cheddar? And what needed to be done to it? Then of course, I was standing over the hot oven, stirring cheese curds for hours. And all dishes had to be washed, dried and put away immediately, or they were in the way. And trying to keep the cheese-making stuff sterile? Forget it!

Glad that doesn’t happen often!