It's scary and it's awesome all at the same time... my baby turns 16 today! Holy hell, I wondered if he'd ever make it this far. Being the youngest of course he has always given me the most grief, ya know, cuz he was the one that God chose to send to me to fix all the mistakes I made with the other 3!
I admit though, the man child has come a long way in the last couple of years. He went form a person no one ever wanted to be around because of the crying, yelling and complete disrespect of every human being there is on earth to someone who is a loving human being, rather lazy at times and a tolerable amount of annoying.
There is no big to-do for his birthday, he was cursed with a summer birthday and has never really gotten the "party" experience. I often feel bad for him because of it. When he was younger we tried to have the party experience, but when you pass out invitations at the end of school in June they get forgotten about by the middle of July. I decided just to save him the disappointment of not having his friends show up to his party by just not even having one after the first failed attempt. He is however going to get his eyebrow pierced today. I am unsure WHY he wants it done, other than to draw attention to himself, but he does, so be it. He also knows that in our home it doesn't go any further than the eyebrow and ears for him. He wants more, well, he can have it done when he grows up and moves out.
I just can't believe my baby boy is now 16! Where has all the time gone?
This morning while taking lil doggie out for her morning constitution I was greeted with sad news from the landlord... weasels ate all the chickens. This is horrible! I won't go into detail, because what the weasel or weasels did to these poor chickens is like something out of a horror movie... My poor landlord was in tears, as was I! I am actually really angry, and even though I understand it is a matter of nature and the food chain and all that, it is still so unfair.....
Ok, on for today's real reason to blog... A review!! This one is a bit different than past reviews because I will be reviewing a recipe from another blog, not a shop... complete with pictures of the finished product!
Homemade Yogurt
I made my first attempt at making homemade yogurt last night at 1 in the morning. This morning when I woke up at 6 (don't judge, I went to sleep at 2.. this is my sleep pattern, I cannot change it, nor do I want to!) it was a pretty good consistence. I set it back into the oven though as I want to see if will get just a bit thicker. So thus far it LOOKS like yogurt, and it SMELLS like yogurt.. we shall see if it tastes like yogurt!
A couple of things, I seriously turned the burner off and moved the pan exactly when I first seen the first few bubbles. Then I let it cool, but I was worried about the cooling process, so I used a thermometer to make sure that it was cooled to 115 degrees. I had read on other blogs with more complicated methods that the heating needed to be 180 and the cooling needed to be 115. That is where that came from. I am unsure why we have to heat the milk that is already pasteurized, but I did as I was told and will be happy with the results I am sure! I was never any good at science anyway, so I can't explain why things happen the way they happen other than they just happen that way. (Hence why I will never be a nurse because there is too much science involved!)
I don't own a glass bowl with a lid, but I own a smaller crock-pot with a removable pot, so that is what I used. I use the crockpot pot for other things like the making scalloped potatoes, because the size is perfect for us so i felt safe in using it here. And I just used a bath towel to cover it with.
I am keeping my yogurt in a canning jar, the container the original yogurt came in and another plastic container I had handy (someone "organized" the storage room to make it impossible for me to get to my other canning jars!) I love the idea that I just use some of the yogurt I made to make the next batch.
If you do not have an oven with a light I have read elsewhere that you can put it on top of the fridge, or the hot water tank, someplace that has a warm enviroment. I have also read that you can use a heating pad on low and place the container on that then cover it with a larger pan. seems legit to me, specially when I pulled the pot out this morning and the oven was way warmer than I expected it to be. I had to check to see if the oven had somehow been turned onto warm! I just rarely use the light, so I never knew it heated up quite so much.
So, on with the show... the taste is perfect! tastes just like what I bought at the store, only better I'd say! I am impressed.. and I will have saved money in the end. The initial costs were more, only because I had to buy the container of yogurt and the store didn't have a small container of plain yogurt, so I had to buy a large one. I plan on just stirring it into the yogurt I made just so I know it gets used. But after that the only costs will be the the price of a 1/2 gallon of milk.
One finally thing, Chick's Passions on Etsy is having a Christmas in July sale until July 26, 2012! The ENTIRE SHOP is 20% off the original prices and is reflected directly in the price! Go have a shop around and choose your favorite item as a gift to yourself or someone special!
All my love
~Sherry
