Loose Ends

I'm really hot-and-cold at this blogging thing. You think I'd have some sort of a routine after almost 6 years of blogging!

I set up a new blog for homeschooling. If you are interested in following our adventures, it's here. I left it more anonymous for some unknown reason...I kinda had the idea I'd be sharing it more publicly so thought I'd leave the kids' names out of things.

We went to an Amish farm on Tuesday evening to get raw milk. This is our second experience drinking it, but our first time getting it (we went together with a friend of mine, so we can split the travel in half. Makes the cost more reasonable). It was such a fun thing to see! The kids have been using Amish readers for awhile now, so it was fun to tell Jasmine on the way out that we were going to a farm like where Peter and Rachel live. I think it made the books more understandable for them both!

I spent yesterday morning making a serious mess in the kitchen. I separated out most of the cream from the milk when it had settled, and made butter. It's now in the freezer. I'm so proud!

I used 2 of the quarts to make Turkish-style yogurt. I've made it in the past, but the third or fourth time I tried to make it, I must not have let it boil long enough, so it never set. I was scared to try again!
But I decided I could do it, and eventually ended up with beautiful yogurt with far more flavor than the plain yogurt you get in the store.
I've gotten requests for the recipe, so here it is!

Turkish Yogurt
("starter" for yogurt is plain yogurt, either from the store or from a previous batch. Yogurt with more fat, and milk with more fat, will make thicker, creamier yogurt)
Boil milk on the stove, mixing frequently. (use 1 quart of milk with 1 tbsp "starter" yogurt; I doubled it). Take off the burner and let it cool until you can put your finger in and count to 10.

Put starter yogurt in a large bowl and blend it until smooth (I used a whisk). Slowly strain in a small amount of cooled milk and stir well. Gradually add in the rest of the milk (straining as you go; I just took off the skin on top and dumped it, but I'm sure there are more exact ways to do it. I went for "easy") and continue stirring.

Cover with plastic wrap or a plate, and wrap in a blanket or warm towel. Put someplace warm (I put it in the oven) and leave for 6 hours or overnight, until it has begun to ferment and thicken.
Put in the fridge and let it continue to thicken.

And you're done! That's it!

CharlaArts update: I got business cards yesterday! I love the way they came out.

And we just bought the domain charlaarts.com. There's nothing there yet so don't bother looking ;) But hopefully I can get something there soon! I've done another few AlphaKids gigs and am almost at the point where I can start offering to do custom names for people. I'm very excited about the possibilities!