It's a Yogurt and Granola Day

It looked like it had rained overnight.  The ground was damp, but from the clouds and drizzle, it was clear that this was just a wet, wet night with no real rain.  The damp grass meant that it was worthless to try and whack wet weeds, so the focus was indoors right away.

I sent the rest of the granola with Becca to school, so making another batch was on the agenda for the day.  I added cinnamon to this batch, and it smelled and tasted even better.

The next Make the Bread, Buy the Butter challenge was yogurt.  I've made yogurt in the past, using a crock pot method.  It was really good, but always a bit too thin.  I am hopeful that Jennifer Reese's recipe will provide different results.

One of the things I really enjoy about Jennifer's book is that she tells stories throughout, and adds comments in the recipe and instructions.  It's like having a friend in the kitchen with you while you're making these.  Well, okay.  An imaginary friend, since I don't really know her and she's not here.  At least I don't answer the voices in my head.

She says that you can either "stir the milk constantly to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan, or spend five minutes scrubbing when you're through.  Your call."  I'm lazy.  I don't want to do either.  I also make cajeta (caramel sauce) every week, so I know how to heat milk to the verge of a boil without burning it, so I set the pan on the stove and turned the dial to the "cajeta setting," stirring occasionally when I thought to check it.

One minor complaint here.  If a temperature can be given for when to add the culture, why can't a temperature be given (or at least a range) for when to stop heating the milk?  "On the verge of a boil" is probably a different feel for everyone, and I don't know if my "on the verge" was the same as Jennifer's.

The milk took its sweet time cooling because I didn't bother to put it in an ice bath.  There was plenty to do while waiting for it to cool to the right temperature, like go out to the garden and dig weeds out of the now-moist garden beds to get them ready to plant.  If the weather is right, we should be able to get tomatoes, radishes, and corn in this week.  Those seedlings, especially, are rarin' to go.

Larry took care of some burn piles so the snakes won't have easy places to hide.  Traz stayed in the box.  All in all, it was a pretty darn good day.

Oh.  Did I say previously that the cinnamon cajeta was a guaranteed success?  It. Was. Not.  Problems happen when you step outside those last minutes of simmering cajeta, because the water line got busted and you saw a rattlesnake.  It tastes fine, but is more like a thick candy than a sauce.  At least I didn't burn it.