SUCCESS FLOWS AT COUPLE'S GOAT MILK FARM.

Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer

The way Maureen Peters sees it, if God wanted her to milk cows she'd have four hands. So instead she milks goats.

``I thought it would be more fun to milk the goats,'' said the Acton woman who began milking the critters six years ago to regain use of her left hand, which she injured in a fall from a horse.

Now she and her husband, Bill, raise 30 Nubian goats, making cheese and other dairy products from their milk.

``It's really rewarding,'' said Peters who will teach a three-hour course on cheese-making Friday under the Common Ground Garden Program, part of the University of California Cooperative Extension.

About 35 students already have signed up for the $15 course which will cover how to make mozzarella, ricotta and feta cheese. It also will include information on milk, equipment, starter cultures and other ingredients.

Peters also teaches a food preservation course for local 4-H Club members. When she's not teaching, she's at home raising her goats by hand. She's slowly weaning them off their mothers' milk until they're able to eat alfafa and barley-mix hay.

This year, the Peterses have about 17 kids. Born in March, some will be kept by the couple who will breed and milk them. Others will be sold for their milk, as meat products and to 4-H Club members.

``It's relaxing compared to everyday work,'' said Bill Peters, a maintenance supervisor for United Airlines at Los Angeles International Airport. ``It's rewarding. You actually see babies born and grow up and have their kids.''

The average goat produces about one gallon of milk a day, which is higher in butterfat and more easily digestible than cow milk, Maureen Peters said.

``Babies who are intolerant of cow milk can drink goat milk,'' she said. ``It's very easily digestible and naturally homogenized.''

The Peterses pasteurize the goat milk, even for kids drinking their mothers' milk. The couple wants to ensure that the goats don't pass on illnesses, such as arthritis, to their young.

``It keeps everybody real healthy,'' Maureen Peters said.

Sometimes the Peterses barter their goat milk for fruits and vegetables and for services. They also use the goat milk to make ice cream, cottage cheese and soft cheeses such as mozzarella and feta.

Making cheese requires heating the milk to extreme temperatures - 240 degrees Fahrenheit in the case of ricotta - adding cultures and soaking it in a brine solution to give it firmness and taste.

Using goat milk gives the cheese and other dairy products a smoother, creamier taste than cow milk, Maureen Peters said.

``It has a really nice flavor,'' she said. ``It has a real sweet and creamy taste.''

Like ostrich meat, goat meat is becoming a gourmet delicacy at supermarkets and restaurants around Southern California. Peters said one Pasadena restaurant specializes in goat meat, which already is enjoyed by Caribbean, Cuban and Middle Eastern cultures.

This year, the couple hopes to begin marketing goat cheese under a label called Capriccio, a Latin term meaning a pure instrumental form that is fast and brilliant in style.

Peters said it suits her.

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Photo: (Color) Bill and Maureen Peters have raised goats on their Acton farm for six years. Maureen also teaches classes in making soft cheeses.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News