The storm having come and more or less calmed down, about ten inches of snow, not much wind, but not the huge event we were promised, the Dollivers decided that the emergency was over, so they needed to get to work in the kitchen.
Yogurt on the menu here. Studying the thermometer to bring the milk up to close to boiling, before cooling it back down to lukewarm, and Call Me Michelle ready to add the starter, which in this case is a bit of Dannon left for the purpose. Usually it's just some of my homemade yogurt, but I wanted a change of texture.
Blondie Firstborn, not actually working, just supervising, is keeping track of the activities. The others are still sleeping, after the excitement of the emergency preparations.
And on the patio, the suet cake I hung yesterday for the hungry birds was yanked down and run away with by a squirrel this morning. I just happened to look out and see him making off with it towards the fence.
However, his plans fell down when he found it was too heavy to climb with and he couldn't get it under the snowbound fence. So he dropped it, and now there's a crowd of juncoes having a great feast back there.
Still snowing, but it's looking more and more like a big snowstorm rather than a historical event. I won't bore you with snow pix, everyone knows what snow looks like..
For the second time the Asian store was out of the yogurt I like, only had a bit of that Greek stuff, which tastes too much like candlewax for my taste. So I heaved a sigh and pulled out the thermometer, and here's a home batch of yogurt in the making.
Simple stuff: heat milk (I used lowfat here, since my usual skim doesn't make good yogurt) to 180F, see the thermometer clipped on, then move it off the heat, let it cool to 110F.
Ladle some warm milk into your starter -- in this case the bit I had left of my previous yogurt -- and stir in thoroughly. Then pour the now warmed starter into the pot of milk. Stir to mix in.
The foil stuff you see there is one of those people warming blankets, never used for a person, but it seemed like a good idea for this purpose, because yogurt needs to be maintained at a low steady warmth for about 7 hours or more, and my stove would be too hot.
So I wrapped the lidded pot warmly in its foil blanket, and set a timer for this evening, when it will go off and I'll be wondering wildly why, why, what have I forgotten, why are those bells chiming etc. Then I'll finally remember the yogurt, pour it into smaller containers, and they'll go into the fridge overnight. Tomorrow all being well, they'll be ready to eat. Or to make into yogurt cheese if I'm in the mood.
Another reason I didn't use the stove for the gentle warmth is that I was busy roasting veggies at that point, at 390F.
Asparagus, red bell pepper and zucchini sticks, with tons of spicy stuff shaken over, 30 minutes roasting did it nicely. With some left for tomorrow, to go with mashed potatoes.
Dessert was, what else, a tiny apple turnover. The turnover rate on these turnovers might be faster than planned.
