Yesterday, my daughters had a day off from school (day between 1st and 2nd quarters). We used the day to drive into downtown Seattle, to tour the campus of the university they hope to attend next year.
While the girls were on the official tour, I wandered into the mini mart on campus to get some oj (blood sugar problems, could not wait until lunch). $2.18 for a small container of juice!
I parked myself on a bench in the sunshine and people watched, while I sipped my juice. What I noticed is what was in the hands of the students. Ipods, iphones, Starbuck's drinks, Odwalla juices, Apple laptops, ipads -- since when did university students get rich?
When I began university, my father made sure to point out to me that he was still well-off, but I was now poor. That's just the way it was, we were all poor in university.
After my daughters' campus tour, we decided to get a bite to eat in the student cafeteria. It was a flat charge of $9 and change per person. Yikes! $27 for the 3 of us to have burgers, fries, pizza, fruit and cookies. And the cafeteria was packed with students. How do they afford this, is my question?
I did the math in my head, and for one year of lunches, for both daughters, it would be about $3500. I do admit, the beverages in the cafeteria were excellent. The coffee was fantastic, they had real half and half creamer, and in the drink machines they had vitamin-enhanced water, something I'd never bought for myself, but was glad to drink this one time. But not for $3500!
So, all these university extras cost money. But they needn't break the bank.
Obviously, the answer is I'll pack lunches and drinks for them every day. They'll have pre-paid, cheapo, no-frills phones, no ipods, and a decent-enough laptop, but skip the ipad. Even so, this is going to be expensive! But this is an expense we're more than willing to take on.
(One other advantage to packing their lunches at home, they'll likely eat better than in the cafeteria. One daughter noticed that a student there, was lunching on fries and ketchup! That makes a nutrition-conscious mother quiver in terror!)
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Yogurting updates
Update on making yogurt at home
I got spooked about my own yogurt-making, after reading of others' unfavorable results in their forays into home yogurt production.
The last two times that I've made yogurt, I have felt very sure that something was going to go wrong, and that my yogurt would turn out runny or stringy or something else that I know I couldn't get even my good-sport family members to eat.
Silly of me, really, to let someone else's experience make me think mine would also fail. I'm still doing everything the way I have up until now, and still with success.
These last two batches? They turned out thick and creamy as always.
Info that I'd like to add to my original post, though, is that freezing yogurt for starter works incredibly well. Every 4 or 5 batches, I scoop out into 4-ounce containers, some of the 2nd day of freshly made yogurt. I freeze this.
Then if I just go through a period of feeling blah on making my yogurt, it's not a big deal. When I'm in the mood to make more, I thaw a small container of the set aside yogurt for my starter. Just a note, the thawed yogurt will look yucky and runny, but it will still set new yogurt. This freezing of my own starter has been working out very well for several months now. I have not bought any new starter at all, since my first batch.
As for other bloggers' problems with making their yogurt, well I can only speculate as I don't have all the details. But this is what I learned in my research before my own first attempt.
Temperature is key!
I got spooked about my own yogurt-making, after reading of others' unfavorable results in their forays into home yogurt production.
The last two times that I've made yogurt, I have felt very sure that something was going to go wrong, and that my yogurt would turn out runny or stringy or something else that I know I couldn't get even my good-sport family members to eat.
Silly of me, really, to let someone else's experience make me think mine would also fail. I'm still doing everything the way I have up until now, and still with success.
These last two batches? They turned out thick and creamy as always.
Info that I'd like to add to my original post, though, is that freezing yogurt for starter works incredibly well. Every 4 or 5 batches, I scoop out into 4-ounce containers, some of the 2nd day of freshly made yogurt. I freeze this.
Then if I just go through a period of feeling blah on making my yogurt, it's not a big deal. When I'm in the mood to make more, I thaw a small container of the set aside yogurt for my starter. Just a note, the thawed yogurt will look yucky and runny, but it will still set new yogurt. This freezing of my own starter has been working out very well for several months now. I have not bought any new starter at all, since my first batch.
As for other bloggers' problems with making their yogurt, well I can only speculate as I don't have all the details. But this is what I learned in my research before my own first attempt.
Temperature is key!
- commercial home yogurt machines don't always heat to the correct temperature, and can result in poor set (this is a lot like what I've recently heard about some crock pots, some don't heat to proper temps)
- getting the temperature in the correct range for each phase is critical. Heat milk to about 190 degrees F to kill competing bacteria, cool to about 120 degrees F, so as not to kill the yogurt culture, but still provide the happy temp for the yogurt cultures to proliferate. And keep at roughly 110 to 120 degrees F, for the duration of the incubation period.
- a picnic cooler filled with 120 degree F water is an excellent incubator. Other incubation methods have a hit or miss quality when keeping the temp at a steady 110-120 degrees F (these methods include: blanket wrapping, crock pots, thermoses). Incubation temperature is very important.
- one really does need a thermometer to determine the correct temperature. Use the thermometer for the heated and cooled milk as well as the warm water in the picnic cooler.
Fresh, live active cultures is the other big component to successful yogurt-making
- the right yogurt starter makes a difference. I've heard reports of store brand yogurts not performing as well. The brands with successful track records are Yoplait, Dannon and Stoneyfield. The yogurt should be plain or vanilla, no fruit added stuff.
- if chain-yogurting with your own yogurt as starter, use yogurt that has either been frozen, or is no more than 5-6 days old. The bacterial population begins to decline significantly after that time period.
Sterilize just to be sure
- sterilize your jars thoroughly. There could be bacteria in the jar itself that could compete with the yogurt culture. I know not every one sterilizes their jars. I do. I want to provide controls for as many of the variables as possible. And it doesn't take all that much extra work.
Take your time
- don't rush the milk to it's proper temperature. I plan for about 45 minutes for the milk to reach 190 degrees F. I just work that into my schedule for the morning. I'll usually be doing other things in the kitchen, so I can stir the milk regularly.
I really want to encourage those who may be interested in trying yogurt for the first time, or retrying after a less than successful attempt, to give it a go. There's something very satisfying about making something that I once thought "had" to be bought.
To see my original post on making yogurt, you can read it here.
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