I used to have an aversion to yogurt. I found many brands to be either too sour or too sweet.
Homemade yogurt, however, allows me to add my own flavoring and sweetness to suit my taste.
I use Organic milk and (usually) organic yogurt. I couldn’t find organic yogurt for this particular batch.
I will be shopping at our new local PCC for the organic plain yogurt with live cultures for my next batch. If money is an issue when buying organic, let me assure you, buying yogurt in separate small containers are still more costly than the yogurt you make at home, and usually they have a lot of unhealthy ingredients. I made 6 cups of yogurt at a cost of 25 cents each. Cost is less after you make your first batch because you take a few tablespoons from one of your homemade yogurts and no longer need to buy yogurt .
I add my own strawberry preserves, pecans, honey, maple syrup, etc. But these are very small amounts, and I make my own preserves, so it’s all good.
Yogurt with Honey
The texture of this yogurt is much smoother than store brands that may add gelatin and other fillers.
My yogurt is 4 cups of whole milk and 2Tbsp plain yogurt.
Heat it up to about 185 degrees
Yogurt with Live Cultures
Yogurt Maker
My understanding is that you do not need a machine to make yogurt. However, the ease of use makes it more likely that I will continue making it. I basically heat the milk, cook it down a little, add yogurt, stir, and place it in my yogurt maker.
I scored the Donvier above–unopened–at a thrift store. Check out Craig’s List or Ebay. So many people receive these for gifts and never use them.
The well-known health benefits of eating yogurt are the following:
• Enhanced lactose digestion,
• Prevention/treatment of acute rotavirus and antibiotic-induced diarrheas,
• Stimulation of intestinal immunity,
• Stabilization of Crohn’s disease,
• Improving the balance of microbial population in the intestines,
• Activity against Helicobacter Pylori,
• Improved immunity to disease,
• Inhibiting the growth of harmful bacteria. Yogurt’s fermenting agents produce some bacteriocins which, combined with their acidity, prove beneficial for the intestinal flora,
• Improving intestinal transit.
Yogurt also provides calcium, and some studies have shown it enhances your immune system and helps fight off pneumonia. If you’re one of those people who are prone to illness, you might consider adding live cultured yogurt to your diet.
I’ve been eating one everyday. Mmm, they’re so good!
After watching (and enjoying) the documentary, How to Cook Your Life featuring Zen Priest Edward Espe Brown, I couldn’t wait to buy the Tassajara Bread Book!
I found out it had been updated over the years, and I was lucky enough to find the latest edition.
I’m excited to bake some of the recipes, and since the weather is cooler this week in the Pacific Northwest, I may give it a whirl.
In case you haven’t heard of the film, here is the trailer:
Oh, and in keeping with my thrift shop nerdiness, I found this very cool retro Salton electric bread warmer, and I can hardly wait to use it. I’ve sold a few of these on Ebay, but I have never found one that had a blue and white checkered cover. Usually they have the God awful gold, orange, or brown colors.
This will be nice for keeping muffins, bread, and rolls warm on the buffet…
Be sure to click on “UPDATED SECOND LOAF” link on bottom of page to see how the second loaf turned out!
I’m still in a state of shock this morning. I found a book at a thrift store titled, “The Splendid Table“ by Lynne Rosetto Kasper. I had heard of the author on NPR. I was excited to find such a great book at a thrift store and I couldn’t wait to take it home and comb through it. I always go online and look up the books I buy and check out the author’s bio. I came across her web site which recommended a recipe for artison bread in five minutes. More research led to the book I will be purchasing today:
If you enjoy great bread–run to the bookstore NOW! The recipe allows you to mix flour, salt, yeast, and water to make a dough that rises for a few hours on the counter and then goes into the refrigerator to use at your leisure for up to two weeks. I have only made my first loaf, and there is plenty of dough leftover-I predict a few more loaves of bread and maybe a pizza in the next week or so.
When you’re ready for fresh baked bread –simply load your hands up with flour, cut off a grapefruit size piece of dough from your container of dough, form it (if you haven’t made rounds before, you may need to see a video for this part) and place it on a pizza peel you have covered in corn meal to rise for about 40 minutes (I allowed mine to rise 60 minutes in the warmest part of my home). Preheat your oven to 450 degrees for 20 minutes (or halfway through the rising time) with a pizza stone on the middle rack and a broiler pan on the bottom rack–to be filled with a cup of very hot water when you slide your risen bread dough into the oven onto the stone. Slit the top of your risen dough with a serrated knife (dip knife in flour to keep it from sticking), sprinkle some flour over top, and bake! 30 minutes later, you should get something that looks like the photo at the top of the page.
Adapted from “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day,” by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François (Thomas Dunne Books, 2007)
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
6 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, more for dusting dough
Cornmeal.
1. In a large bowl or plastic container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).
2. Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks. When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife. Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.
3. Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.
4. Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.
Yield: 4 loaves.
I made a sandwich today and the bread is just like the great artisan breads you buy at the bakery!
NOTES FROM ANGELNINA: Make sure you use the pizza stone and add the hot water right after you slide dough oven. I do not have a pizza peel, so I used a small flat edged cookie sheet which I practically piled cornmeal on to make sure it wouldn’t stick no matter what ( I mean heap it on!). Then I grabbed my baker’s scraper just in case it needed a shove–it didn’t and slid right off. Again, I had loads of flour and cornmeal on the bottom to ensure proper fast slip off pan. Some people use parchment paper, but I haven’t tried it yet.
I used Gold Medal Bread Flour–so far nothing beats this flour for me, so I didn’t want to take a risk.
From my experience with bread machines–I’ve owned three—this one works the best. I bought this Cuisnart Convection Bread Machine used for $14.99, and I’ve made french bread four times–successfully. The Amazon reviews made me nervous, but I had already bought it at the thrift shop, so I figured I just lost my fifteen bucks and I’ll get over it. Half of the reviews are more than positive, but the poor reviews are extremely negative.
This model uses convection baking which makes the crust cripsy, and I really prefer it. It is difficult to get out of the pan, but I’m working on a way to change that. The paddle can be removed before the last rise–which I believe is a plus.
It’s been a nice break when I don’t feel like baking my usual six loaves at a time.
Nothing looks sadder than bread machine bread, but this bread tastes surprisingly good.
I found another cool Pyrex Mixing Bowl. I need another old pyrex bowl like I need a hole in the head. I couldn’t just leave it sitting there on the shelf. I mean, for Chrissake it has polka dots!
I admit it, I’m addicted. I can’t leave a piece of old Pyrex well enough alone. My pink cabinets are filled with the stuff. I love to bake and prep in the retro pastel colored Pyrex bakeware. It’s a sickness, but there is not a 12-Step program, so here I sit.
I think there is a part of me that wants to believe I can somehow capture “the good old days”. The days when sweet little grandmas wore aprons with heart shaped pockets and baked pies filled with sweetened fruits and custards. Nevermind whether the good old days ever existed. Reality dictates that buying a pastel or polka dotted mixing bowl is not going to bring them back. I know that. I have common sense–most of the time. I still can’t part with my set of multi-colored Pyrex nested mixing bowls.
I once found a pink Pyrex nesting bowl and although a crazy man was following me around the store I couldn’t leave without that pink bowl. As he inched closer and closer to me–I started to walk faster and faster–finally breaking into a sprint holding my pink bowl in hand as I heard him shouting, “I love you!”. In spite of fearing for my life from the crazy man, I still waited for a cashier and paid for that damn pink bowl. Priorities.
I found an interesting set of six glasses at the thrift store. I am especially drawn to the fairies! The second section appears to have a genie on a magic carpet, and the third section looks like a magician or sorcerer. Culver makes these and I know they made a lot of other barware too.
The sweet babydoll nighties remind me of my Grandmother Violet. She did hair for a living and I thought she was the prettiest woman I’d ever seen. I suppose all of her six husbands must have agreed. I used to beg to wear her babydolls and she’d always give in. I started wearing sexy see throughs when I was three years old. I still love to wear them.
This set of sugar and creamer is Indiana Glass, but they are not from the depression era, they were made in 1982. Still beautiful.
I can’t resist a folk art doll. I didn’t have many dolls as a kid, so I’m making up for lost time.
I’ve been a seller on Ebay for several years now. Recently, Ebay has made some changes, which as a seller, has made me a little weary. Sellers can no longer give negative feedback–we can only give positive feedback. I’ve only left and received a negative feedback one time out of 1300+ items sold. I quickly told the lady to keep the item, I refunded all of her money including shipping, and she still gave me a negative. I read her feedback later and she had given everybody a negative and been removed from Ebay. I’ve had to make changes over the years because, let’s face it, plenty of people on this planet are not very conscious. Most of my buyers –I would say 99% have what I call “Auction Common Sense”, but there are a few people who think Ebay is like Nordstrom’s and if they have a change of heart about an item they’ve won, or if they decided they “overbid in the heat of the auction”-they believe they should receive a refund–one time it was a full refund–I ended up paying all of the fees plus the cost of shipping ($18 ) because the man who won an item said he had changed his mind and wanted to make a return. Of course I gave the refund, but I knew I’d lost quite a bit of money and time in the process. Now that gas is over $4 a gallon in my area, I’m not sure I can afford to sell on Ebay and make a profit. I might be able to sell as a hobby–as I enjoy the process of hunting for great vintage items, but the small profit I used to make may be gone. Selling on Ebay is physical and mental work. There are no two ways about it. Shipping day for me is rough. Often I have to cut down boxes to fit unusual shaped items. I have to carefully wrap and pack around 25 items–usually glass or pottery, and that requires time and energy. Taping up the boxes, wrapping n bubble wrap, writing and printing out the addresses, keeping track of every item, loading heavy items into the van, driving to the post office and unloading, waiting in line for international shipping (not to mention filling out the customs forms), etc. can take more than one work day-I usually work from morning until bedtime because it’s important to me to get my items out right away. People get impatient. I also have to report and pay taxes on my Ebay sales. It wasn’t a bad deal when a seller can profit, but when I’m breaking even–or worse yet, losing money–it doesn’t seem to make sense anymore.
I’m still considering going back in. We’ll see.
ABOVE: Yesterday, I took some photos of items I’d like to sell, and when I was finished I left a few things in the corner of the dining room. When my other woke up this morning he thought the manequin was me as he came around the corner–and having just seen me sound asleep he had a nice startle
Today it rained. Boy, did it rain! Rain, rain, rain!
What is a gal to do when it’s raining out? Well, I’ll tell ya– I found plenty to do:
First, I made some vanilla extract. I poured 3/4 cup of Everclear and 1/4 cup brandy (I didn’t have any dark rum) into a glass jar and dropped in 6 vanilla bean pods that I’d slit wide open and chopped in half. In about 8-12 weeks, as long as I shake the bottle up every now and again, I should have some pure vanilla.
I have had that Everclear for years! I bought it to make herbal tinctures, but I had quite a bit left over.
After I set my vanilla in a dark place (my pantry), I decided to try out the Excalibur Dehydrator I scored at the thrift shop a few days ago. For a little under six dollars, I can dry just about anything I want to. It has a heater and a fan, so I can make jerky with this too. I decided to give it a test run with the left over strawberries I had in a little sugar. I threw on the few blueberries I had left that were just about to shrivel too. I also sliced a Golden Delicious apple and sprinkled it with a bit of sugar and cinnamon. I had a few slices of canned pineapple from some other meal I’d prepared, and I decided the dehydrator is better than the garbage can.
These dried fruits will be excellent in sweet breads, cereal, or just all around snackin’.
Dehydrating takes a loooong time, so I knew it was bread baking time. I made my usual 6 loaf recipe for Italian bread, but I decided to keep one piece out for a nice homemade pizza. I whipped up some homemade pizza sauce, sliced the remaining fresh mozzarella, and covered it in sliced pepperoni. Oh, it was a great pizza too.
While the bread was rising, I cleaned out the pantry. I have a lot of rice and I need to think of some good ways to put the rice to use in a meal. I want to empty the pantry and freezer before I have to shop again. We’re on a tight budget this month, and I’m convinced I can get away with cutting way back on groceries this month if I can be more creative.
OH! Last night I scored a small truckload of canning jars for FREE! I believe I have at least 500 canning jars. A very kind family of 12 (yes, they have 10 kids! wow!) are moving, and answered my CraigsList ad and told me they would give them to me free of charge.
I may be canning for two months straight…or longer.
As a child, my family moved so often, I practically grew up in a car, stopping at roadside diners and truck stops to eat. The cups in the photo above remind me of those cafes. I remember my parents would sometimes try to drive straight through from the west coast back to New York. On a few moves they would stop at midnight–or later–to have coffee. I usually ordered a hot chocolate. Searching for my shoes in the dark and climbing out of a loaded car into an often freezing cold night, made sitting in a warm, well lit diner, feel like a special treat. I suppose my attraction to diner ware has something to do with those memories.
My mother and I sat down one day and wrote down every move we had ever made. I just looked at the list and see she forgot to add Houston, Texas.
The old photo below was taken on one of our 66 (possibly 67) moves.
I’m the girl standing up on the back seat holding something that resembles food in my hand. I have no idea what it is. I often stood while we drove. Remember when seat belts were just those hard metal things that hurt your bum when you sat on one? I just kept trying to shove them out of the way or stuff them under the back seat cushion. Times have changed.
ABOVE: I have taken at least 50 pictures of this train as it rounds the bend, but this is one of my favorites.
I have joined the ranks of folks who use IPods. I would never have bought one for myself, but I was given one for Christmas. They are great to have for exercising. Along with the IPod , I received a gift certificate to ITunes. SO, I downloaded a few songs to exercise to. I need music that gets me moving!
My top 10 for exercising are:
1. Bulls on Parade (Rage Against the Machine)
2. Free For All (Ted Nugent)
3. Children of the Sun (Billy Thorpe)
4. I Feel Love (Donna Summer)
5. Hey Man Nice Shot (Filter)
6. In the Evening (Led Zeppelin)
7. Rock With You (The Jacksons)
8. How Soon is Now (The Smiths)
9. Just What the Doctor Ordered (Ted Nugent)
10. Crazy Train (Ozzy, of course)
If anybody reads this and has their own exercise song ideas, I’d love to hear them. I need a larger selection.
2008 UPDATE: Now I watch The Food Network while exercising!
I’m starting my day with a fresh cup of French pressed coffee in one of my new Fiestaware cups. Being forever true to my redneck roots, I scored a multi-colored set of 6 from the thrift store last week. One of the reasons I love to shop thrift stores, other than the obvious, is that I can afford nice cheery kitchenware. I believe I saved close to $50 on these cups. I’ve always wanted a set, but i would never pay the actual cost at Macy’s. BTW, the press is also from Good Will. Recycling can be fun! I always drop off a donation before I shop.
The photo above is for LIZ (my thrift store competition). SEE? Aren’t they nice?
