• Bring milk, cream and salt to the point of just beginning to boil in a large, heavy bottomed pot. When just one bubble comes up to the top, add vinegar, give it a stir, and turn off the heat. The addition of vinegar should create a disturbance and the whey and cream begin to separate into curds and whey. (the magical part!)
• While you wait, line a sieve with cheesecloth or two layers of paper towel and place over a large bowl.
• Leave the mixture for 5 minutes, then stir to separate completely. There should be two distinct parts of the mixture, the cheesy chunk and the watery yellowish whey. If some of it is still milky, stir it a bit and then leave it to sit for a few more minutes.
• Pour your ricotta mixture into the cheese-cloth-lined sieve with the bowl underneath to catch the whey. Leave for half an hour to drain. (You can save the whey to use in soups instead of broth.)
• The cheese cloth will be full of a crumbly white cheese. That's your ricotta! Taste it and add more salt if you think it needs it, or add herbs or any spices you'd like to flavour it with.
• Eat immediately, or pack it into an airtight container and store in the fridge.
• Now spread it on your toasts and get creative with vegetable and fruit toppings like the ideas above!

Ideas for Toppings

• Ricotta topped with chopped, roasted brussels sprouts.
  
• Ricotta topped with roasted cauliflower from Good and Cheap.
  
• Ricotta topped with sliced, roasted carrots with black pepper.
  
• Ricotta topped with Grated roasted beets and fresh dill (raw would work as well!)
  
• Ricotta topped with clementine slices and a little honey. Looks weird, but this was way better than I expected. Any little oranges would work I'm sure!
  
• Ricotta topped with chopped tomato. Not so seasonal, but I had some drab, out of season tomatoes leftover and this livened them up!
  
• Ricotta topped with sliced grapes.
  
• Ricotta topped with candied walnuts. Super good and very holiday. I made these by coating them with simple syrup, (equal parts water and sugar boiled until sugar dissolves), salt and a little cayenne pepper powder. Then spread them on a baking tray and baked at 350F for 10 minutes.