Butter, yogurt, ricotta, and other fresh dairy products have been made in home kitchens around the world for centuries. They are not difficult to make, require no complicated aging techniques, and offer the home cook a wonderful range of tart, sweet, nutty, silky, creamy, melty textures and flavors. With the growing availability of local, organic milk and the soaring popularity of raw milk, now is the perfect time to bring fresh dairy products back to the home kitchen.

Author Kathy Farrell-Kingsley begins with simple, step-by-step instructions for making sour cream, buttermilk, créme fraîche, mozzarella, fresh goat cheese, and 10 other fresh milk products. Home cooks will be thrilled with the simple but magical process of turning milk or cream into cultured dairy products and soft, unripened cheeses. There's nothing quite like watching cream turn into butter or tasting the slightly chewy tang of homemade mozzarella.

Following the dairy instructions are 75 delicious cooking and baking recipes developed to showcase products from The Home Creamery. Cheese Blintzes, Herbed Goat Cheese Bites, Mozzarella Panini, Spinach Ricotta Pie, Coleslaw with Buttermilk Dressing, Chocolate Sour Cream Cake, and Tiramisu are that much sweeter when made with the rich creamy goodness of homemade dairy items.