Sorry, mamajoseph, I just found this!

When you heat the lactic cheese, it turns into the curds more like cottage cheese.  THAT's the curd you need to make the rest of it work right…the original curd if you were to use vinegar in the first step like the original Quick Cheese recipe.  Drain it through the cheesecloth lined colander.  I squeeze out any excess whey.  Then proceed to the soda step.

It's cream, as in what is skimmed off of fresh milk, as opposed to "sour cream".  It's incredibly difficult to find cream that has not been 'ultra pasteurized' but if you possibly can that's always the best for cheese making endeavors. 

Mostly you have to go with whatever you can find in your dairy case, whipping cream of some sort, either light or heavy and see how things go.

Ultra pasteurizing is (and this is a loose explanation) a very high temp but fast process which makes it harder for cheese making and butter making and other uses we all like here, but it DOES extend the shelf life to weeks, (and I do mean WEEKS) which means that's what the big companies love to do to it. 

If you can find a company near you that does "low temp vat' pasteurization, which is still safe but easier for you to work with that's great.  There's a page on New England Cheesemaking Supply's site that explains all of this, but here's a quick and dirty explanation about creams. 

Half and half: half milk and half cream mixed together, with a fat content between 10-15%. It adds a richness milk does not, but is not thick enough to replace cream in recipes that call for cream. It will not whip like cream, either.

Light cream: fat content between 18-30%, also known as coffee cream. Light cream will not whip.

Whipping cream: made specifically for whipping, contains 30-36% milk fat. Often contains stabilizers and emulsifiers to ensure it keeps and holds its form when being whipped.

Heavy cream: also called heavy whipping cream, has a fat content between 36-40%.

Manufacturing cream: has a fat content over 40%, and is generally not available in retail stores. It is primarily used in professional food service.

Aerosol cream: comes in aerosol cans and contains cream, emulsifiers, stabilizers, and nitrous oxide, the propellant used to squirt it out of the cans. Although it has its uses in dessert preparation, it is not used in candy making.

“Whipped topping” or “dessert topping”: usually does not contain cream at all, but instead is a mixture of hydrogenated vegetable oils.

Here's a link with a LOT of info at NEC about milk in general, http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/pg/239-FAQ-Cheesemaking-and-Milk.html  They explain the "low temp" process pretty well there.

And here's a link to NEC's "Good milk List".  http://www.cheesemaking.com/goodmilklist.html In Ohio, errrr… mostly Northern Ohio I highly recommend Hartzler's Family Dairy which is on this list.