We are eating late, late, late these nights. That is the only disadvantage to Pino’s goat cheese-making. He milks five of our 27 goats each morning and then again each evening during the last light of day when it is cooler.

The goats give us about three liters of milk per day and Pino makes cheese and ricotta every other evening after milking. That means dinner is close to 10 p.m. It is a small sacrifice for the goodness.

The cheeses are turning out better than ever nowadays, thanks to Pino’s early July birthday gift from our son Keegan and his wife, Francesca, and our daughter Giulia and her Gugliemo. They gave him all the equipment he needs for cheese-making and a booklet of instructions and recipes. Pino’s cheeses are superb and ah, that goats’ milk ricotta!  Buonissima!

In the mornings, I enjoy the goats’ milk ricotta on bread spread with chestnut honey. And, the ricotta highlights many a lunch these days as I make pasta alla ricotta the way Pino’s mamma Signora Vincenza taught me: Simply cream the ricotta with a bit of the boiling pasta water and add black pepper and a touch of extra-virgin olive oil. I add a touch of our grated goats’ milk cheese before serving. Buon appetito!