Snippets of Life

 Hello Folks. I’m currently at home, alone, bored to death. Well, not bored so much as lonely (*tear, tear), but my hubby should be back around 1 AM tomorrow. So goes the weekends of away games.

Yesterday, after my Mr. left, I watched a movie, Manhattan, with Woody Allen and Diane Keaton (love her). I thought it would be good, but instead, it was boring-ville. And, dufus that I am, I had a strong cuppa joe about an hour before bedtime. Sleep hindered.

Then, like a robot, I woke up at 8 AM on the dot (thanks, honey, for creating a routine that now prevents sleeping in). For breakfast, I had some of my delicious homemade yogurt that I would like to share with you. Well, not really, I’ll just share my recipe…

Homemade Yogurt (without a yogurt maker. From French Women Don’t Get Fat)

Yes, this is a pickle jar. Don't judge me.

 Ingredients:

• 1 small tub/125g/3tbsp of plain natural yogurt (with active cultures)
• 1 L or 1/3 gallon milk (I used whole milk, but I think I’ll use 2% next time)
• Small bowl
• Big bowl
• 2 mason jars

Method:

Sanitizing jars.

• Preheat oven to 100F/40C (probably your oven’s lowest temp).
• Heat the milk on med-low until bubbles form around the edge and steam rises from the surface
• Remove from the heat and pour the milk into the big bowl to cool. If you have a thermometer, let it cool to 110-115 degrees F. If you don’t have a thermometer, it is cool enough when you can stick your finger in the milk for 10 seconds.
• Put the yogurt starter into the small bowl. Add a little bit of the warm milk to the yogurt and stir until combined.
• Add the yogurt mixture to the milk a third at a time, stirring as you go.
• Pour into the jars (I covered the jars with aluminum foil for extra insulation because it’s a little chilly here. If your house is warm, no need).
• Turn off the oven and place the jars on the rack standing up. Let stand for 8 hours and then refrigerate.

Yumalicious!

Later, I went to check out an English-speaking church in town, which I liked. Small, but warm and welcoming. Lovely. Next week, I hope to check out another church and then make a decision on which one I will go to. After church, everyone went down to the café around the corner for some coffee, and I had the wonderful opportunity to meet a few nice tourists from the UK. What a shame that they are leaving tomorrow. It seems all the wonderful people I meet are always on their way out. *thumbs down* Oh well.

Another recipe that was successful this week was mayonnaise. Never buying it again. So ridiculously easy if you have a zoom-zoom (immersion blender). 

Homemade Mayo

Ingredients:

• 250ml/1 cup oil of choice. I used regular vegetable for the conventional mayo taste. You can use olive oil, that’s also very yummy.
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice (or a mixture of both)
• Salt to taste

 Method:

• Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature, otherwise, it won’t emulsify properly.
• Put all ingredients into a bowl or wide-mouthed cup.
• Put in the zoom-zoom and zoom away!

 That’s it. So easy, tastes like regular mayo, and has no chemicals in it.

So, family and friends, that’s a little snippet to keep you informed on what’s going on over here. Nothing much, sad to say, but a few slivers of interesting here and there. Hopefully, as time goes on, I will have more interesting things to report. Until then, I love you all and miss you dearly.