Okay. I promised updates. I’m behind on some of them. So no revolutionizing today. No deep probes into the psyche. No snicker-snark over political follies. Just catching up.
Yogurt update: Two weeks ago I posted about making the first batch of yogurt in my new Yolife Yogurt Maker.
Well, I’ve made five batches since then and I’m tellin’ ya, this is something even I can do. (And when you’re talking things of the kitchen, that’s always a good a completely freaking amazing sign.) Not only is it easy. It’s so easy that I usually whip up a batch before I’ve had my morning tea. And believe me, I don’t do anything even mildly challenging before tea.
In the first batch I fermented different blends in six jars. Five turned out scrumptious, with the most delicious of all being the one with Karen’s locally made apricot syrup in the bottom. One learning experience: Pat was right and the instructions that came with the yogurt maker were wrong; you can’t stir fruit syrup directly into the activated milk. It won’t set properly. But pour it in the bottom and mmmmmmm.
I chose the Yolife partly because it has two hoods, one for use with its own small jars, one tall enough to fit one-quart canning jars.
Good theory. In practice, not so much. Turns out you can definitely make quart-sized batches of yogurt — as long as you do it in horizontal containers. But the heat doesn’t reach high enough to set the liquid in a quart-sized Mason jar.
No loss, though. It also turns out that even soupy yogurt can be turned into pretty decent Greek yogurt. To wit:
Just wrap a bowl in a piece of clean cloth (in this case, a flour-sack dishtowel), pour the soupy glop into it, cover and refrigerate overnight. Voila! Next morning large quantities of whey will have drained through the cloth into the bowl, leaving nice, firm, tasty yogurt on top.
Rifle raffle update: Uh. Yeah. I said I hoped to have sketches of proposed custom camo for you to v*te on in September and a painted rifle by mid-October. Well. Um. I’m not.
I will though. Eventually I will. Really.
Responsibilities of a citizen of the police state update: Part V. That ain’t gonna happen. I finally realized I’d said all I had to say. You’ll have to be content with the four parts already published and the (related) oldie-but-goodie Sustainable Freedom series.
Or write your own Part V. That’s a possibility.
Defective dog update: The boy with the birth defect is still here (his story is above, same link as the one about receiving the yogurt maker). That’s him in the photo up there, hoping a bowl of tasty stuff will fall on the floor.
None of our options for getting him to a teaching hospital or a clinic with experience in this rare defect panned out. So he goes under the knife locally on Tuesday. I totally trust our great vet to do the job.
More good news: once he recovers he’s probably headed for a prison-pet-partnership program, where he’ll be trained by an inmate and adopted out with some of his rough edges smoothed.
Belated book review: Thank heaven I’m not the only one who gets a little behind now and then. Jim Bovard calls this a belated review of Hardyville Tales. But in my book no review this good can ever be too late.
And speaking of belated … The tired, troublesome old world is finally going to end this week.
‘Bout darned time. We’ve been waiting five months. Or thousands of years depending on your perspective. Oh, and there’s good news for us skeptics. Apparently there are no lakes of hellfire, pitchfork prods, or putrid political promises in our future. At least not eternal ones. (Although what Deuteronomy 25 has to do with it I can’t be sure. If anybody’s future hangs on D25, I think everybody’s in trouble.)
But hey … does this mean that after this Friday we won’t have to worry any more about things we’ve gotten behind on? Or who wins the next presidential election? Or whether Lindsay Lohan has to go through rehab again?
Yeah, there are some huge plusses to this end-of-the-world thing.
Claire Wolfe is one of the finest libertarian writers around. Since this first statement just happens to be true in the review, and we all know it will not go to your head (to much anyway) congrats on the great review.
Were the hospital and clinic not prepared to foot the bill for the dog’s surgery? Hope your vet will be able to do it without complications. I’ll be thinking of them both tomorrow.
~~~
I think “Responsibilities” and “Sustainable Freedom” are enough to sustain us, if we are willing to apply the effort. I’ve found that some people in my life are too quick to misinterpret the meaning because they don’t want to believe — or are afraid of — what they’re hearing.
Pat, I think we simply ran into the effects of bureaucracy. After their initial interest and our applications, we just never heard back from either of them. If we had weeks to wait, it’s possible they both might have wanted him. But the foster situation was becoming difficult (the two boys are bloody antagonists) and we also need to get him repaired and healed quickly to get him accepted into the prison-pet-partnership program.
Mac the Knife, [blush]. Thank you. And no worries about that going to my head. If I ever had a moment of thinking of myself as among the “finest” or “greatest” at anything, I’d promptly kick myself in the ass and get over it.
Based on Claire’s earlier post I discovered the greatness that is Greek Yogurt! How this escaped my notice with a Greek wife is beyond me, but alas I have finally discovered it and like Claire, I ain’t ever going back 🙂
I noticed that the end of the world is going to occur while I am out of town, which I find very inconvenient. I was thinking of sending him an email and having him double check his figures. I would really like this occur next week when I will be back and not so busy.
Now you’re making me want to try making coconut milk yogurt in a crock pot when I get home…:-) I miss homemade yogurt. Nothing like it.
I really wish the “end of the world” guy would shut up and realize, like my friend says, “We’re all in our own personal ‘end times.'” 🙂
After reading that review, I will have to consider buying yet another book, after my self-imposed fast. Congrats!
LOL, Mic — As far as rescheduling the end of the world goes, it doesn’t seem to be much of a problem. Harold Camping does it regularly. So I think there’s a good shot he’ll do it for your convenience. Um … let us know how that turns out.
And Greek yogurt — YEP. I first learned about it from Winston (who — yay! — has just returned to commenting after a long and difficult adventure). Indeed, though, however you learn about it, it’s a whole different world. Definitely one of those “once you’ve tried it you’ll never go back” things.
Water Lily — I hope you will try the coconut milk yogurt and let us know how it turns out. I haven’t tried anything but whole milk or half-and-half yet. But one thing I like about making yogurt at home is that I can control the degree of tartness by varying the time. For eating out of the jar (something I’d never have done with any storebought yogurt), I like mild (e.g. shorter fermenting time). But for mixing with fruit, a little more tartness seems better.
As to the book … I’ll email you.
So, the world ends this Friday at 6 P.M., right when I get off work. I suppose the vast interstellar cloud of pickled eggs with block off sunlight to Earth…and every single toilet on the planet will overflow.
I’ll load my cat and books into the C57D(got it cheap as surplus)and just book on out. Get me a lakeside place on Naboo…
I’d suggest not letting that whey go to waste! Most of the water-solluble nutrients (such as calcium) get drained off with the whey. Add it to soups or milkshakes, feed it to the dogs, water the plants with it, something.
If you’re feeling patient, whey can be boiled down the same as when making maple syrup, to form a rich, flavorful, very expensive cheese that I’m not even going to try to spell, but I’ve only seen it once in the store and they wanted $18 for a 1.5 ounce package. It’s supposed to have a salty-carmelly-creamy flavor to it.
Ellendra — I’ve heard about salvaging the whey, but not a lot of specifics. Will have to look into that. But you know, it looks so … inedible.
Well, call me lazy, but I don’t think I would have done all that catching up until after the world didn’t end on schedule…….
just in case….
Damn, Danny. I shoulda thought of that …
Well, cool…if the world’s gonna end again then I don’t have to worry about planning anything else that I wouldn’t finish before or afterwards….I can also stop worrying/wondering why I procrastinate more the older I get, too…..
My luck would be I’ll be sent to another realm that requires me to finish what never got done on earth……
Thanks for the catch up. If the world ends, I’l rest in far more peace for the knowing about all this stuff!
*Congratulations on that great review, every word deserved.
*Your glowing praise for the Greek yogurt is finally urging me to try it. It looks like I should get some when I go shopping Friday. I’ll have to eat it fast though if that’s absolutely the end of the world. And I’m greatly pleased that the apricot syrup is turning out to be so versatile. Who knew?
*I’m sending prayers, positive energy, good thoughts and metta for that beautiful canine foster boy. Tell your vet that many many of us share your confidence in her ability to do this. I couldn’t do the amazing work you do with fosters. Every parting would tear me up, even knowing what an excellent opportunity he’s going to and what a huge sigh of relief Robbie will enjoy.
*And thanks for sharing your art website. I missed commenting that day but can only second the comments about how beautifully you capture the soul in the eyes. Even just the photo of foster boy in this post, wistfully gazing upon the yogurt is captivating. Couldn’t he please have some? Just a taste? The picture reminded me of this little story that was posted somewhere and had me laughing so hard my dogs thought I had lost my mind.
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/lounge/people-sweet-potato-dog-215956.html
Sweet Potato Dog. Oh, that’s hilarious. And soooooo believable.
Thank you, Karen, for your compliment on the art, your good wishes for our boy, and yes, the apricot syrup. It’s true; anything that can both be used as a dipping sauce for cold chicken and stirred into yogurt for sweet, fruity flavoring is some sort of miracle food. If you get that Greek yogurt, try it with apricot syrup. 🙂
Claire, simplest thing to do with that whey is put it in the fridge, until the next time you make biscuits, pancakes or bread. Replace some, or all, of the liquids called for in those recipes with the whey. That’s what I do with mine. When I don’t have any whey for bread, the family definitely notices the difference in flavor!
I know there are other things that can be done with the whey, but mine never makes it past the bread, pancake, biscuit triad. 😉
Hm. Theoretically, there are no biscuits, bread, or pancakes in my life these days, WolfSong. But what the heck. Theory … well, it’s just theory. 🙂 I love biscuits and good bread … Thank you for the tip.
Chris D. — Those are hysterical. I’ve seen the talking dog video before; I think Dave Duffy had it one his blog a few months back. But I can watch it over and over and over again and it’s just as funny as the first time. I’ve never seen the mastiff video before, but just watched it three times.
I just read about your new freind up there…best of luck getting him fixed up. After having two dogs go under the knife I know that it can be expensive, stressful, etc… wish I could give advice on his problem but all my dogs ever had were an eyeball and a leg removed respectively…I’d never even heard of his ailment. But surely he can be patched up to make a great freind for someone.
And I’ll say it again: greek yogurt is best yogurt!