Making Yogurt Using a Cooler

I was so excited recently to find a different way to make yogurt. I have been making it in the oven for about 14 hrs at 110 deg. I really didn't want to use so much electricity and I had heard vaguely about the cooler method, so I searched it up online. So, I made the yogurt as usual. I brought 3 quarts of milk up to 180 deg. F., then I let it cool to 110 deg. F. At this point, I added 1/2 cup of starter yogurt and stirred it in. Then I poured it into 3 quart jars, sealed, and placed into my KFC take out cooler. I heated up some water to 55 deg. Celsius and filled up the cooler 3/4 of the way up. Shut the cooler so that all the hot air stays in and let sit 3 hours. Ta da! The yogurt is ready for the fridge.

It actually worked! It had kind of a mild taste to me, but using the oven method, I always added sugar because it was really tart. I added sugar this time and I think I won't next time. We like to eat our yogurt with sliced banana, canned peaches and sunflower seeds.

Making Soft Cheese - Queso Blanco

I was telling some friends how my cousin, Amy, had shown me how to make a soft, very mild, cheese, and they said, "Put it on your blog". So, here I go.

First, warm 1 gallon of milk to 200 deg. very slowly. Once it is warm, add 1/2 c vinegar and stir until it starts to separate the curds from the liquid.
Then strain through cheesecloth, (or I use a clean tea towel).

Then add 1 or 2 tsp of course salt and mix in.



Next, tie up cloth and hang to let drip with a bowl under.




After 2 hours or so, you can take your cheese out and enjoy. I cut it in chunks and mix it with sun dried tomato salad dressing for flavor. I use it like feta cheese in salads and pasta, or we just eat it on crackers.





When you are all done, you will have just under 1 gallon of what I call "buttermilk", but it is probably known as whey. Anyway, I use it like buttermilk. So I plan ahead with some ideas to use it up. Like, I make buttermilk pancakes, add it to my bread instead of water or make scones. I have even made buttermilk pancake syrup. It was yummy.

Christmas Crafts (A Little Late)

Happy New Year! God is so good to bring us through another year and I look forward to see where he guides us in 2011. I have been very busy the last few months. After Halloween, I had 3 weeks to make crafts to sell at the Lacombe Craft Show, which I would like to share with you now.

(Right)Chicken feeder lamps (on top of the wood box), old window, primitive snowman head ornies. (Above) Snowman head garland, bell garland, primitive grubby mini lights, wax dipped rag balls.

(Right)Barn star tree topper, gingerbread men ornies, snowman head garland, bead candy canes, bell garland. (Above) Painted wood signs

(Bottom)Raggedy Ann doll, "Noel" & "Joy" snowman signs, Gingerbread men ornies, baby Jesus tree clips.

So that's done for another year, but if I am not organized better this year, I probably won't do the craft show. It is a lot of work to do all in 3 weeks.

Halloween Fun

Becky pulling the candy. Ben and Jacob in their costumes.

We had a fun Halloween this year. Larry took the boys to town to go trick-or-treating and Rebekah and I stayed home for our own fun.

I couldn't believe how much candy the boys got! It's nice, because they are very kind to share with the rest of us.

Rebekah and I had a "Little House on the Prairie" night. We tried to make old fashioned treats, we dressed up old fashioned and then we watched a scary Little House on the Prairie episode.

We tried making Molasses Pulled Candy. It was so fun! We cooked it, then when it cooled a little, we pulled and folded and pulled and folded. Until we couldn't anymore. Then we put it on a platter and scored it for breaking later. It all worked great, but unfortunately, I burnt the candy somehow and it tasted yucky.
Then we make old fashioned popcorn balls. This recipe calls for kettle popped pop corn, which we did. Then the sugar coating to be cooked to hard ball stage and mixed with the pop corn and formed into balls. Now, these were good, but they nearly broke my teeth! Oh well, it was fun.

The boys came home at this point and we had a fire to roast wieners for supper. When everyone was off to bed, Rebekah and I watched the episode of Little House on the Prairie where Laura thinks Mr. Olsen cut off Mrs. Olsen's head. I've never let Becky watch the whole thing before, but I did that night and she laughed at how corny it was, but again, it was fun.

2010 Pumpkin Patch

Well, we have had our 3rd annual pumpkin patch here at our place. This year we only had a few kids come from our homeschooling group, but it was still lots of fun. We had a beautiful, sunny day. Which was a bit different from the blizzard we had last year. We started off with a wagon ride to the patch. Then everyone picked their pumpkins and then we went back to our house for snacks. We had pumpkin spiced doughnuts and pumpkin cookies with some of my homemade rhubarb lemon aide. After our snack, we took the kids out to our barn so that each one could look for an egg (which they got to take home) and they all got to pet our pig, "Aunt Bea". Jenny, the donkey, was tied up for pets too.

Great Buy of the Week

I wanted to pass on a great deal that is on at IGA this week. I know a lot of my friends don't look at flyers very closely, (or at all), but I take my time looking and note all the good sales. I try to be as frugal as I can in our grocery bill, because it can get very large if I don't. And because I don't work outside of the home, I feel it is my contribution to our finances. Anyway, Pork Roast is on sale this week, until Thursday, at IGA for $1.00/lb. These roasts cook up great if you season them, then sear them on all sides and throw it in a crock pot for the day. (Thanks to my brothers for this recipe.)

Fall is in full swing

Well, Fall is here early in Ponoka and I love it! This is my favorite time of year (next to Christmas). I love to decorate inside for this season and it's so nice to burn yummy scented candles again.