Yogurt

Happy New Year fellow bloggers and readers! I am sincerely looking forward to 2010... this year is going to be the start of the biggest adventure of my life. I don't mean just because of a baby, but I am also looking into expanding my culinary abilities.. I will tell you all about this when it comes to fruition.

I will try my hardest not to link this to anything Pregnancy related, but really its going to be quite difficult. My entire food schedule is a balance on what is healthy for me, what I crave the most and how fast I can whip something up. So where does Yogurt fall into this category? Well, since breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I crave nothing more than a simple bowl of yogurt mixed with nuts, raspberries and honey. Yes, EVERY MORNING, same routine. So, I realized that I spend way too much money on buying those Yogurt containers, and every day my mother tells me "Resh, just make your own Yogurt like I do, I promise it is so easy!" After a few months of coaxing, I realized that she might be onto something.

Mind you, I am still perfecting this yogurt, though it comes out just tasty and sweet, it sometimes has a tendency to be on the runnier end of things. My next step would be to strain it using a cheesecloth to make it thicker, but for now it works!

I promise you, it is easy.

Yogurt

1/2 gallon organic whole milk

Ceramic pot

1 tablespoon yogurt

Heat the whole milk till it comes to a boil. Pour out about a 1/4 of a cup of that milk in a small bowl and let that bowl cool COMPLETELY. The milk remaining in the pot, let that cool till you dip your finger in it and its warm, and its not scorching your finger. The bowl that has the "cool milk" add the tablespoon of yogurt and whisk till all is integrated. After you have done the finger test, add the cool yogurt mix to the pot. Mix all together. Pour into the ceramic pot. Wrap the ceramic pot in a towel so no heat escapes. Place the ceramic pot in a very "hot" area (my mother puts it in the laundry room, on top of the dryer) I put it on top of my radiator. Leave enclosed for about 6-8 hours.

Remember:

1. make sure the yogurt and the cool milk is intergrated completely and its not chunky, otherwise your yogurt will not come out smooth.

2. make sure you cover it well with a towel, so absolutely no heat escapes and do not open the towel to check on the yogurt. Trust me it will work

3. make sure that its in a relatively hot area. When its summer time you shouldnt have a a problem. You can leave it out in your front porch if need be.