Highlights from my week in Birmingham:
!. Dad playing with Nora. She was staunchly refusing to go to bed on Monday night ~ I realize now that our great heavenly father knew that Pop Pop would have to go out of town and wouldn't get as much time with her as either of us had hoped for. He had to go to Louisiana on business on Wednesday morning.
2. Lindsay and Clara. My dear friend Lindsay made the trek down from Chatty with her sweet girl. Love her, and I love that my friends confide in me and feel that they are safe. I pray that I will always be a safe and comforting friend and that the Lord will give me the capacity to open my heart to new friends!
3. Afternoons with Charlotte. Mom picks up Charlotte from daycare in the afternoon, and by the end of the week, she was excited to see me too! She would actually crawl on over to me to play! Melts my heart, that one!
4. The Deucecast. I had so much fun being a special guest on my brother's podcast~ those guys are the best!
5. Meeting Campbell Dollar. My dear old friends David and Stephanie (they aren't old, I've just known them for 10+ years) welcomed baby Campbell into their lives back in December. Nora and I got to go and meet him ~ such a sweet little one with such sweet parents. The Dollars are good for my soul.
6. Melora and Evelyn. Another friend drove from Atlanta with her sweet girl! I love friends that you can just pick up with, as if you'd seen them and hung out with them yesterday. Can't wait for Nora and EV to play together again soon!
7. Missing my man. Matt and I have been married for close to 7 years now, and after a very long, yet fulfilling day today, it dawned on me how much I miss him! I was texting him a picture of Nora (which he DEMANDED by the way), and I started tearing up thinking about him! I love you so much Matt, you have no idea how proud I am of you.
8. Pottery Barn Kids. Sigh. I love that place. I do not love their prices :(
9. My momma.
10. My happy girl. Nora is growing up so fast and she is just such a precious girl! We ran all over the place today, and she just smiled and was so good wherever we went. I don't sit back and appreciate how blessed we are to have her often enough.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Yogurt!
Making yogurt is so simple! I started making yogurt about 2 years ago when Matt bought me a yogurt maker as a gift. I hadn't consistently made it in a while, and the aforementioned yogurt maker is in a box somewhere that hasn't yet been unpacked (and probably won't be, until we buy a house!) But, I've found a new method that ANYONE can do, and I think it's even easier than using the yogurt maker! It does take some patience and time...so be ready for that. I would start about 4 hours before you plan on going to bed.
Tools:
Crock Pot
Candy Thermometer
Bath Towel
Cheesecloth or Muslin towel (if making it Greek-we'll get to that!)
Large bowl
Ingredients:
Skim milk (or whatever you like)
plain yogurt (I used Fage Total 0)
Method:
Step 1: Pour 2 quarts of milk into your crock pot. Cover with lid and set on high. Set a kitchen timer for 2 hours.
Step 2: Check the temperature with your thermometer! You're looking for between 175 and 185. Too warm will ruin your consistency later.
Step 3: Turn off your crock pot. Set your kitchen time for 2 hours.
Step 4: Check the temperature. Needs to be around 120.
Step 5: Take 1/4 c. of your plain yogurt and put it in a pyrex. Add about a cup of milk from your crock pot and mix it together. Add the whole thing back to the crock pot and stir, stir, stir!
Step 6: Turn the light on in your oven. Take your crock pot and place it inside of your oven. Cover the top with the bath towel, folded over a few times, to keep it nice and toasty!
Step 7: Go to bed.
Step 8: After a lovely 8-10 hours of sleep (yeah right!), it's time to check on your yogurt! It will have an inch or so of clearish, yellowish liquid on the top. This is called whey, and it's not tasty. Very carefully drain the whey off into the sink. Your yogurt will slip out if your not careful! And now, you have 2 quarts of beautiful, homemade plain yogurt. Store it in the fridge in a Tupperware container. It will thicken slightly in the fridge.
Step 9: Remember to save 1/4 c. for your next batch of yogurt!
GOING GREEK
If you prefer a thicker, greek style yogurt, you can easily transform your beautiful plain yogurt with a couple of extra steps (and more time, of course). Be forewarned though, it will greatly decrease the volume of yogurt you end up with. This is why Greek yogurt is more expensive and has twice the protein.
Method:
Step 1: Line a large bowl with cheese cloth or a muslin cloth (I used one of Nora's old muslin swaddling blankets and are too small now!).
Step 2: Pour in your beautiful plain yogurt.
Step 3: Gather up the edges to make a little yogurt bag. It will need to be suspended several inches over your bowl so that the whey can drain out. There are a couple of ways to do this. One thing you could do, is tie it to your faucet over your kitchen sink. I tied it to the wire shelves inside my fridge over the bowl. The bottom line is: it has to drain out - so be creative - and it's best for it to hang out (ha!) in the fridge.
Step 4: Wait. Depending how thick you want your yogurt to be. I'd recommend at least 2 hours. Once I left it draining all night in the fridge, the finished product was magnificent, but there was only about 2 cups of it!
Step 5: Scrape your yogurt off the towel with a spatula a store it in the fridge!
NOTE: You can achieve some thickness by adding non-fat powdered milk to the milk in the crock pot during the initial heating process. You'll have to play with the amount though, I haven't done this in a while! It won't be as thick as it would be if you strain it.
So there you have it! Homemade Yogurt! You should try it at least once, and may the Schwartz be with you. (Little Spaceballs joke...did you get it?)
Tools:
Crock Pot
Candy Thermometer
Bath Towel
Cheesecloth or Muslin towel (if making it Greek-we'll get to that!)
Large bowl
Ingredients:
Skim milk (or whatever you like)
plain yogurt (I used Fage Total 0)
Method:
Step 1: Pour 2 quarts of milk into your crock pot. Cover with lid and set on high. Set a kitchen timer for 2 hours.
Step 2: Check the temperature with your thermometer! You're looking for between 175 and 185. Too warm will ruin your consistency later.
Step 3: Turn off your crock pot. Set your kitchen time for 2 hours.
Step 4: Check the temperature. Needs to be around 120.
Step 5: Take 1/4 c. of your plain yogurt and put it in a pyrex. Add about a cup of milk from your crock pot and mix it together. Add the whole thing back to the crock pot and stir, stir, stir!
Step 6: Turn the light on in your oven. Take your crock pot and place it inside of your oven. Cover the top with the bath towel, folded over a few times, to keep it nice and toasty!
Step 7: Go to bed.
Step 8: After a lovely 8-10 hours of sleep (yeah right!), it's time to check on your yogurt! It will have an inch or so of clearish, yellowish liquid on the top. This is called whey, and it's not tasty. Very carefully drain the whey off into the sink. Your yogurt will slip out if your not careful! And now, you have 2 quarts of beautiful, homemade plain yogurt. Store it in the fridge in a Tupperware container. It will thicken slightly in the fridge.
Step 9: Remember to save 1/4 c. for your next batch of yogurt!
GOING GREEK
If you prefer a thicker, greek style yogurt, you can easily transform your beautiful plain yogurt with a couple of extra steps (and more time, of course). Be forewarned though, it will greatly decrease the volume of yogurt you end up with. This is why Greek yogurt is more expensive and has twice the protein.
Method:
Step 1: Line a large bowl with cheese cloth or a muslin cloth (I used one of Nora's old muslin swaddling blankets and are too small now!).
Step 2: Pour in your beautiful plain yogurt.
Step 3: Gather up the edges to make a little yogurt bag. It will need to be suspended several inches over your bowl so that the whey can drain out. There are a couple of ways to do this. One thing you could do, is tie it to your faucet over your kitchen sink. I tied it to the wire shelves inside my fridge over the bowl. The bottom line is: it has to drain out - so be creative - and it's best for it to hang out (ha!) in the fridge.
Step 4: Wait. Depending how thick you want your yogurt to be. I'd recommend at least 2 hours. Once I left it draining all night in the fridge, the finished product was magnificent, but there was only about 2 cups of it!
Step 5: Scrape your yogurt off the towel with a spatula a store it in the fridge!
NOTE: You can achieve some thickness by adding non-fat powdered milk to the milk in the crock pot during the initial heating process. You'll have to play with the amount though, I haven't done this in a while! It won't be as thick as it would be if you strain it.
So there you have it! Homemade Yogurt! You should try it at least once, and may the Schwartz be with you. (Little Spaceballs joke...did you get it?)
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