Thanks for mentioning this - the instructions that I'd found for making cream cheese had suggested essentially making ricotta, and running it through a food pro

Thanks for mentioning this - the instructions that I'd found for making cream cheese had suggested essentially making ricotta, and running it through a food processor until creamy. While this did produce some sort of cheese, it wasn't what I was looking for. I did more research and just as you said, Cream cheese starts with a yogurt, drains the whey off and then is pressed. Some approaches combine yogurt (made with Milk) and sour cream. Anyway, it's obviously a complex and broad topic. You've gotten me pointed in the right(er) direction.