Homemade Yogurt

I've been wanting to try this for years. And yesterday we finally did it. We made yogurt at home! We did it in the mini crock pot. Well, first I scalded the milk on the stove then I added the starter and poured it all into the preheated crock pot. I had a little instant-read thermometer tucked in there since I wasn't sure how warm the pot would get. As it turns out, it gets pretty hot. I left it off most of the time, just turning it on occasionally when it looked like it was starting to cool off. Eight hours later we had yummy fresh yogurt! The flavor is really nice. And it is about the right thickness. My only complaint is that it's not perfectly smooth. It has very, very tiny soft curds. I don't know if that means I left it too long or not long enough. Or maybe the temperature wasn't quite right. Still, for a first try I thought it turned out great. And so did the girls. Matt, on the other hand, refused to try it until he was sure it was safe. He said he was going to wait a couple of days to see if anything happened to us. I guess my microbiology talk during the yogurt making freaked him out a bit. Ooops!

Here is C about to enjoy her third(?) bowl. We topped it with some homemade strawberry syrup from last year's strawberry picking. Although she did say it was good enough to eat plain.

We are almost finished with this first quart. I have just about enough to start another batch. I guess I know one thing I'll be doing tomorrow.

Spring has Sprung!

It's been pretty warm for a couple of days now. Low 60's! Yesterday we still had one little patch of snow left in our front yard. This morning when I looked outside, it was gone. The weather was gorgeous. Sunny, warm, and a slight cool breeze. We played hooky from school and spent the day riding bikes and scooters, drawing on the driveway with pieces of pine bark, and picnicking outside. Yes, I used my new flatware roll, even though we were only in the front yard. I even got a little crocheting in. It was warmer even than this picture suggests. All the kids eventually peeled down to just tee-shirts.

What a beautiful day. Welcome Spring!

Although, if you notice in this next picture... the snow may be gone from our yard, but there is still a pretty good pile of it at the end of the cul-de-sac. And the kids actually played in it for a while in their short-sleeves. Fun!