Make Me Some Yogurt. You Can Do That?

Yesterday was a busy kitchen day.  I worked on three projects, making a loaf of bread (bread maker), cookies, and making fresh yogurt.  Yes, I made yogurt at home.  I was fortunate that I didn't eat all the yogurt that was in the refrigerator because I needed a bit of that to start my own.  It's very important to stress the yogurt used to start your own needs to be free of any additives.  Just milk and enzymes as ingredients.  Most grocery stores offer this, but you may have to search for it in the yogurt section.  One brand that calls itself organic is Stonyfield.  I've never used this brand, but if you read the label you may find there are no additives.  After reading the label I used the yogurt I get from the milk man who delivers to my home every week.  The recipe is simple and the labor takes about 5 minutes.

Yogurt (This can be made in a larger batch using one gallon of milk and 2 tablespoons of yogurt.)

You will need
A crockpot, any size
A thermometer, Any type of kitchen thermometer works
A large towel
An oven with a light in it
2 C milk, any fat content (I used 1%)
1 t plain yogurt
A measuring cup
Measuring spoons

Place the crockpot on the 'high' setting.  Add the milk and bring up to 190 degrees (F.)  This took about 30 minutes in my crockpot.  Keep an eye on it as this may be different in yours.  Place the lid on.  It will be longer if you make a larger batch.

Turn off the crockpot when the milk heats to 190 degrees (F.)  Keep the lid on and allow the milk to cool to 110 degrees (F.)  This took about 40 minutes for my milk to cool.

Remove about 3/4 C of the milk in a small bowl and mix the yogurt in it until it dissolves.  Add this to the milk in the crockpot and gently stir it in.

Wrap the crockpot insert (lid on) in a large towel and place in the oven with the light on.  Leave over night  In the morning you will have delicious and pure yogurt.  A very small amount (1/3 C) of separation may occur, you can drain it off and use it in a baking project if you like.

Place in the refrigerator for an hour to firm it up.  Enjoy with fruit, nuts, honey, or what ever suits you.   Yummo!

From 2 cups of milk...

to delicious breakfast.  The yogurt and a slice of home made bread with peanut butter makes
a power packed breakfast.

The home made bread, sliced and ready to eat.  This loaf came out lighter and larger than those
in the past because I used the thermometer I had out for the yogurt
to bring the liquid up to 110 degrees (F).  In the past I used the touch of my finger. 
A lesson well learned.  I store this in the freezer because it has no preservatives in it.

I added walnuts and dried cranberries to the cookie mix to provide a bit of healthy
 ingredients.  I know these will be gone in a flash.  I only cooked 16 cookies
then froze the rest (3 dozen total from the batch) in preformed balls for easy
access and baking.  Pre forming them never occurred to me until a friend asked why I didn't do this.
Geez, I don't know.  It never occurred to me?  Thankfully, I have smart friends!

 

 



 

My Fall Starts on September 1st

The official first day of fall is September 21st.  My emotional first day of fall is September 1st.  A full twenty days before the calendar proclaims fall has arrived.  As my son in law tells me, I'm old, so I can do what I want.  I feel like a spoiled brat, but it is what it is.  You can join me to make this proclamation, too, if you'd like.

This is what my fall means to me. (Even though it's still hot outside.)  I start burning cinnamon candles.  I light them before I go upstairs and get the winter sofa pillows out of storage.  A quick change of the light colored pillows I use in the summer and the living room begins to look and feel cozy again.  The next thing I will do tomorrow is bring my warmer looking items out of storage.  Like the picture frames that are black -instead of light colored.  And the warm colored blanket I fold into a small square and place on top of the TV cabinet.  The blanket will be there for a few shot weeks because I ordered an electric fireplace to put in that spot for the winter.  The white cabinet will go in my bedroom to become the bill center.  That will open up the closet and complete my bedroom furnishings.

When all is put in place and I'm satisfied, I will begin baking.  Apple crisp is the first on the agenda.  Then strawberry bread and pumpkin bread.  When the baking is done, I will feel like it's fall.  Time to cozy up and start crocheting. 

I have new crochet patterns this year for headbands and flowers and a hat.  I learned to make a hat without a pattern, but this one is a different style.

Next will come wrapping gifts for Christmas and cooking for Thanksgiving.  One of my kids (daughters or son in laws) cooks the turkey, another one will make the sides, and I do desserts.  We feast on home made goodness.  I think the chef son in law is doing the turkey this year.  He loves it in the fryer.  He's the only one who knows how to fry a turkey. 

We'll gather at the house with the youngest grandchildren, relax, cook and laugh in between good conversation.  Maybe the females will carry on the tradition of going to K Mart after we clean up from dinner.  I'll have to bring that up to see what the others say.

When is your first day of fall?  Do you do things that make you feel like it's fall?  What do you do that makes you feel cozy?  Whatever it is, I hope you enjoy the simple times at home with your family.

As you can tell, the room is not large.  I captured the whole long wall in two shots.

I don't think it shows up, but the summer pillows have a delicate design on them that matches the color of the chairs.  These will be changed out with warmer colored pillows.

This is the TV cabinet that will go in the bedroom when the fireplace arrives.  The room is smallish so moving this and replacing the spot with the fireplace will open up the room to make it feel larger.

Morning Rolls, Right Out of the Oven

For at least thirty years I have been trying to make home made bread.  My family stood by my efforts, but I'm sure it was difficult for them.  I recall during one dinner I had to go to the kitchen for something.  When I came back to the dinner table, my entire family was making 'walls' with the biscuits, using mashed potatoes as the concrete that held them together.  This included dad.  He was probably the master mind behind the wall building.  What could I do.  I laughed.  I laughed and got the message.  Bread making was not one of my skills.

I have a bucket list.  Simple things are on it.  Nothing grand like traveling to the Far East.  (I would love to see Italy, though)  Learning how to make good bread at home is on that list, along with pie crust.  Neither of these skills come easy to me.  My current quest is learning to make bread.  About two months age I made French bread.  It was OK and my family ate it.  A couple months before that, I made white bread.  I didn't care for the recipe, it was too heavy.  There lies my problem.  Heavy bread.  I think I took care of that problem today.

I got a recipe from a blogger in Australia, Down to Earth. (link below)  She is my age and has been making bread for many years.  The recipe is for a bread maker, but I don't have one, so I kneaded the dough by hand.  I'm glad to do that because it helps maintain muscle tone in my upper body.  After she gave the recipe, she added a tip.  To be gentle with the risen dough.  That seemed to be the tip I needed.  I made the rolls she wrote about in her post.  They are so good it's difficult to keep away from them.  I did it.  I can now scratch off an item from my bucket list.

The dough is simple - made with flour, salt, yeast, and milk.

This is what the dough looked like after I kneaded it for 10 minutes.  If you have a bread maker, this , the rising, and the punch down is done by the machine.

After the dough is shaped like a large sausage, it's cut into 8 sections.

The finished product.  If you're counting the rolls, yes, I did snatch one up and slathered it with home made jam - right out of the oven.  Someone had to test them.



http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/