Homemade Yogurt

January 12, 2020 – Homemade Yogurt

         It only took me 30 years to finally decide to get a yogurt maker.  YUP – it arrived today.  As soon as it arrived, I dashed out and bought fresh milk and read the directions and proceeded with my first batch.

         Right now it is chilling in the refrigerator – there is always a bit of mystery surrounding how it will custard and then how when chilled it has a different texture.

         Today, I splurged – yes, splurged.  I was cleaning my spice cabinet a week or so ago and noticed I had a brand new bottle of real vanilla beans.  It has been so long since I actually used a real vanilla bean – so I purposely made vanilla yogurt.  It will have little specks in it – how cool is that?

         Why make yogurt?  Why make muffins or raspberry jam or pickles or anything else homemade?  [I make wicked almond macaroons – just ask my friend Becky-Pooh.]

         The answer is because I can, because it is “home making,” because it brings you back to the basics.  You know what is in it when you make it yourself.  It is a cross between a little bit of pride and self-esteem rolled into that first spoonful that you savor and say, “YUM”.

         Before I used to make yogurt in a gallon jar and wrap it in beach towels and put a hot water bottle under it.  Now, it is easier to regulate the time and temperature and I have eight nifty little jars with tops.

         You will laugh at me – how did I transport the eight little jars to the spare refrigerator?  I grabbed an empty shoebox, plunked them in it, and ferried them all to the mudroom refrigerator in one trip.  Talk about “homemade” and home handling – of course, they still reside in the shoebox on the bottom shelf of the fridge – the shoebox will make me smile in the morning.

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         Lately I have been adding quotations to my blogs.  Recently, a dear friend said to me that she hated all the nasty hate on the internet and wanted to know why no one was sending out anything uplifting.  I mentally vowed to make certain I added a thought provoking or uplifting quote to the end of all my blogs for the year 2020.

         A recent fancy catalog came in and it was loaded with some new ones, here they are.

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A good friend knows all your stories;

A best friend helped write them.

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So many of my smiles begin with you.

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Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.

– Maya Angalou

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Promise me you’ll always remember that

you’re braver than you believe,

stronger than you seem,

and smarter than you think.

– Christopher Robin