yogurt

that's right! homemade yogurt!!

yogurt is one of those things that i never thought about making on my own, until my friend emily told me that she had made some.

so, i took it on. first attempt - not well enough insultated.. so i had runny stringy weird smelling milk. ick.

second attempt - better prepared. and.. SUCCESS.

so here you go:

you need either 2% or 3% milk
a large pot
mason jars
tea towels
heating pad (or hot water bottle)
cooler (not absolutely necessary, but i think it was a big help)

Pour the milk into the mason jars so that you know exactly how much milk you will need. Empty the jars into a large pot. Bring it to boiling (as soon as it foams up, you turn it off). make sure you are stirring constantly so that it doesn't burn on the bottom

pour the hot milk back into the mason jars and cover with lids.

put the pot you were using into the sink, and put the jars inside of the pot. then slowly add coolish water to the pot - you are wanting to cool down the milk, but you don't want the jar to crack from being really hot to really cold. as the jar gets used to the cool water you can make it colder. let the jar sit in the cool water for about 5 minutes
then test to see if the milk is cool enough, you want to be able to stick your finger in the milk for 10 seconds without it burning, still hot but not really hot as you don't want to kill the bacteria. when you are checking the temperature be sure to stir the milk to be sure that it's evenly cooled.
when its cool enough, put in about a tablespoon and a half of yogurt (plain yogurt, don't use any flavored kind). I put that amount into each jar that i had of milk. Mix it in really well so the bacteria are spread well throughout the milk.

then wrap the jars tightly in teatowels (one towel each) and place in a cooler. Put a heating pad on top and close the lid. make sure all the jars are well covered and warm and that no draft is able to get in.

let them sit undisturbed for 5 hours and ta da! yogurt.

you can stick a spoon into the jar at that point to see if it is set enough, and you can leave it longer if you'd like. just don't leave it too long!!

my friend emily told me not to stir it, as it takes away from the thickness of the yogurt, but i think that is really a trial and error thing, and more about personal preference! i stirred up one jar so far, so I'll see if i dislike that in the end.

for those of you who aren't used to eating plain yogurt.. you can add fruit to it each time you eat it. or mix some sugar with a small amount of vanilla and stir it in just before you eat it. i like to cut up apples & pour the yogurt on top. then sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. mmmm