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| Sunny and Warm! |
Make that a sunny and warm Sunday! We went up to 102F this afternoon. That's when I decided to switch on the stand fan. Our humidity level was 20%, so the heat didn't feel too bad, plus there was a nice breeze, too.
I had a fairly quiet, relaxed day, today. I had a brunch of peanut butter and peach jam on toast because I didn't feel like making a cooked breakfast. Afterwards, I decided to make a batch of yogurt to use up the rest of the half a gallon of milk I had in the fridge. I brought the milk to a boil and simmered it for 20 minutes, stirring it constantly (it is my belief that doing this reduces some of the water content from the milk). Then, let it cool and added the last bit of yogurt left in the container of yogurt that M had given me, last month, as the starter. Then, I covered the dish and let it sit out on the stove top all afternoon. By evening, it had set and become yogurt:
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| Freshly Made Yogurt |
I put it in the fridge after it had set to get cold. Later, after dinner (rice, chicken curry, cucumber salad, zucchini chutney), I tried some of the yogurt with palm treacle. It turned out well, with a silky texture. I told M he'll get to try it on Wednesday when he comes to tend to the garden. I plan to offer some to neighbor S, tomorrow.
The power went out while I was writing this post! But, it has come back on, again. I am glad for that! But, I had better finish this post and publish it before there is another power outage!
Today, I am grateful for:
- Electricity!
- Homemade yogurt
- Relaxed, warm summer days
- Friends I email and chat with on a daily basis
- Video chats with my daughter
- Homemade yogurt
- Relaxed, warm summer days
- Friends I email and chat with on a daily basis
- Video chats with my daughter
Today's joyful activity was making yogurt!
Meanwhile, my daughter took a trip to San Francisco to meet up with some friends (she wore an N95 mask the whole time) and on her way home, she stopped at a French-Algerian bakery and treated herself to a mini fruit tart:
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| Mini Fruit Tart |
She said there was another slice of strawberry, but, she ate it before she remembered to share a picture with me! Doesn't that look delicious? She said she bought a piece of opera cake, as well, but, she didn't share a picture of it, yet.
Plans for tomorrow include:
- Change the bed sheets
- Do a load of laundry
- Dust the living room and dining area
- Clean the fridge
- Meal plan
- Take the trash cans to the curb for pick up on Tuesday
- Water the front garden
- Do a load of laundry
- Dust the living room and dining area
- Clean the fridge
- Meal plan
- Take the trash cans to the curb for pick up on Tuesday
- Water the front garden
How was your Sunday? What are your plans for Monday? Is it hot where you are? Are you managing to stay cool?
We enhance our A/C on low with ceiling fans also on low - it seems to work, along with keeping blinds, drapes & shutters closed during the day. I know several people that run their A/C on full blast & then put a sweater on because they are chilled indoors - crazy. Oh yes indeed that fruit tart looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteThat was me when I was at the office, back when I was working - always with a sweater on because the office A/C was on!
DeleteI don't have central air in my house and the small window unit in the bedroom has not been put in place, yet. The fans are enough for me.
A/C on low with the fans on low seems to be a good combination, along with keeping the drapes closed, etc. :)
That's a nice simple way of making yogurt. It seems that every recipe I check out has so many steps. I made it in the crockpot once and it turned out good but I will try your way next time.
ReplyDeleteOh gosh Bless, those temperatures would have me sitting inside in the a/c that's for sure. Although, you are right, with the humidity that low it does really make things more comfortable. Is that typical for LA?
Is it a dry heat? I just checked and our humidity currently is 97% so as it gets warmer it will become uncomfortable today.
The tart your daughter bought looks so good. I'm assuming there is some pastry cream under the fruit?
It's the way I always make my yogurt. If I'm making it in winter, I will preheat the oven at the lowest setting, then, turn it off, and leave the yogurt to set in the warmed up oven until set. I showed this way of making yogurt to one of my cousins when she was visiting from Australia and she told me that since then, she always makes her own yogurt.
DeleteIt's the humidity that makes the heat worse. Yes, it is a dry heat and that's usually typical for LA. Today's high is 91F (88F, right now, at just before noon) and our humidity is 45% (there were some scattered showers late last night/early this morning in some areas). I don't have my window a/c unit up, yet - must ask M to set it up for me, towards the end of the month.
The fruit tart does have some pastry cream under the fruit and the fruit has a sugar syrup glaze, my daughter said.
Stay cool when it warms up, Debra.
I guess I'll have to take your word for it that it didn't feel too bad at 102. Our heat always comes with humidity and it's not pleasant. :)
ReplyDeleteOur high today will be only 91F according to the forecast, so much cooler. It is 88F, right now at noon, and 45% humidity because there were some scattered showers around 3:00 a.m. Of course, the house stays a bit cooler than that until late afternoon, when it heats up. High heat and humidity tend to be very uncomfortable, I think. Stay cool and dry, June!
DeleteOoo that tart looks tempting. I had no idea that yogurt was so easily made at home -- don't they have fancy machines that do that as well?
ReplyDeleteStay cool -- our weekend was very wet but I suspect we are going to dry out in a hurry this week with very high temps too.
My daughter assured me that the tart tasted as good as it looked! :D
DeleteYes, they do have fancy machines to make yogurt, but, you don't really need one. In the winter, I preheat the oven at the lowest setting and turn it off, then, put the dish of boiled milk mixed with the starter in the warmed oven to set.
Glad you had some rain! Hope you stay cool when the temperature heats up!
That is hot! I've put towels in the freezer as your suggestion and think I will be using the first one very soon... it's starting to heat up now.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed that you make your own yoghurt. I don't eat enough of if so apologies, but this won't be going in my Cooking With Bless folder! It does look nice though. I'm assuming that also works out cheaper than buying the same amount from the store?
Your daughter's mini fruit tart looks good. They sell something very similar in Sainsburys... which I sometimes buy as a treat.
I feel quite tired today, more to do with overdoing things emptying the dining room than the heat, so am taking it easy. I'll spend the rest of the day sitting in front of the fan, reading and napping. I was supposed to be going out tonight but have cancelled so will find something to watch on TV instead.
Your heatwave made it to our news, yesterday, with the forecasters saying it was expected to go up to 41C over there. Do take it easy and try to stay cool!
DeleteNo need to apologize that my yogurt recipe will not go in your Cooking with Bless folder! :D If I buy yogurt on sale, especially from the ethnic stores, then, I could get it for about the same cost as homemade, but, I prefer the taste of homemade - it's not quite as tart, I think. And it's just milk and the tablespoon or so of the commercial yogurt I used as the starter - no other additives. Yogurt is considered to be a "cooling" food, in Sri Lanka.
I'm not surprised that you are feeling tired, today; you did a lot the past couple of days, getting the dining room ready for the new units. I hope you will have a restful day, today. Stay cool!
You are always so kind when you share foods you made with your friends and relatives.
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you, Anne. Sadly, neither neighbor S nor neighbor T accepted my offer of yogurt; S saying she had 2 kinds of yogurt in the fridge and T saying she doesn't much care for it. But, that's OK, more for me! :D
DeleteWow 102F and that's warm! It's almost as high as that here and we have never had temperatures as high as this in the UK before. Your yoghurt looks good but I've never made it myself before, seems easy enough to make and that mini fruit tart looks delicious. I hope your electricity doesn't go off again.
ReplyDeleteIt regularly goes up above 102F, here, later in the summer, Eileen. August, September, and even early October can be very hot. I love the heat, which is why I'm always freezing in winter!
DeleteYogurt making is not too difficult, you just have to continue to stir the milk to make sure it doesn't boil over and wait until it has cooled enough before adding the starter.
The mini tart does look delicious, doesn't it?
The electricity has stayed on, since it came back on. I, too, hope it doesn't go off again!
Hope you are managing to keep cool, Eileen. Hope the heatwave passes, quickly!
Bet your yoghurt would go down well with some of that peach topping! Or even that fruit tartlet! Would your yoghurt making method work with skimmed milk, or only one with a higher fat content?
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know, where I am we reached 38C today. My curtains have remained closed all day, but two windows on the shadier side are open in the hope of a breeze. I hung some washing out early and went to check on it late morning, and it was like walking into a wall of heat. My computer and other appliances have been behaving (touch wood) and I feel fine, but have gradually felt a lot hotter the past hour or so. Drinking plenty and keeping as still as possible! The "low" tonight is 25C which doesn't please me, but I have a fan I can try to plug in if necessary. (If it doesn't help I will spare the electricity cost and turn it off.)
I, too, think the yogurt will go well with the peach topping! :D My daughter would disagree about it going with the fruit tartlet as she doesn't like yogurt! I have not tried making yogurt with skimmed or low fat milk; I think it would work, but, I'm not sure what the consistency would be; you might get quite a bit of whey as a result.
DeleteSounds like you are doing all you can to keep your home and yourself cool. Hope your parents are doing OK, too. I suggested keeping a couple of small, dampened towels in the freezer to Eileen and then using one to apply to the back of the neck and on pulse points to help cool off and alternating the towels; maybe something like that might help you stay cool, too.
Hope your heatwave passes, quickly!
Thank you for asking about my parents. I haven't heard from them today but I am not too worried as their house stays cool. I hope they have been sensible and stayed inside. (Mum might even have taken her cardigan off for once!)
DeleteI think I will buy some full fat fresh milk and have a go at making yoghurt some time. I usually have some natural, live yoghurt in the fridge. The pot I have open at the moment has added honey! First time I've tried it but it's quite nice.
He, he, I wanted to say (write) something about your mum might not need her cardigan, but, I thought it might sound too cheeky! I think, once you make the yogurt with full fat milk, you might be able to tweak it and try with lower fat milk. :)
DeleteI've just made the yoghurt. I found some instructions online which mirrored yours but included temperatures so I followed those, being a novice and feeling insecure! (It said not to allow the milk to boil? I heated it to 200F/93C as specified and quite a bit of steam came off.) I decided that the warmest place in the house would be the loft so I transferred the mixture into canning jars with screw-on lids as it's dusty up there and there may be spiders - I didn't want to rely on cling film or anything that might easily be breached by creepy-crawlies! Let's see what happens. The temperature up there is 30C whereas the online instructions say to keep the mixture around 41C ... but that's the best I can do for now. It's going to be hotter again in a few days but the yoghurt and/or milk would probably have spoiled by then so it was now or never. Either it will incubate or it won't! Watch this space...
DeleteElla
Well done, making the yogurt! I do hope that it will set well for you. My very first attempt didn't set and I was told to heat the oven at the lowest temperature, put the yogurt in the heated oven, turn off the oven, and leave the yogurt in there for several hours and it will set.
DeleteSuccess! I went up in the loft this morning and it was quite cool so I wondered what the result would be. The two jars looked exactly the same as they did yesterday (well, they would, wouldn't they?). But when I tipped them up, the mixture didn't move. Hooray! I have had a small taste of one and it is very nice. Quite smooth and creamy. I will try to do it again before the summer ends (maybe even using some of this batch as the starter). If I do it in the winter I will keep in mind the oven tip - maybe I could put a batch of yoghurt in after baking. Just need to have forethought and remember to buy fresh milk in advance. Another tip I have read online is to leave the jars in a slow cooker set on low; I could easily do that. It would be easier to keep an eye on, and energy-wise I think it is the equivalent of leaving a light on. As for today's, I will take one of the jars over to parents as we are having curry. If Mum hasn't made the raita yet, maybe she will use my yoghurt!
DeleteYay! That's great that it set and you are happy with it. I'm sure your parents will enjoy trying your homemade yogurt. :)
DeleteYour yogurt turned out well. I've only ever made it with a unit that has 8 jars and a timer, and I sometimes use up the last of a pot of yogurt to make some. But I admit to being lazy and buying another pot usually.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly have hot weather. We had 90°F yesterday with a clear sky and people were flocking to the river beach. I only went for a walk as I hate to be in the hot sun on sand, and it was hard going back up the hill with not too much shade. So a pleasant nap followed. Meanwhile DH stayed down by the river for a swim and even had a short sail.
Yes, the yogurt turned out really well and it is what I'm having for my brunch, this morning (with peach sauce!) I, too, tend to buy yogurt, but, I had some milk that needed to get used before it went bad and some leftover yogurt. I really like the taste of this batch (not too acidic), so, I might save a little of the yogurt to make another batch, later (will need to buy more milk).
DeleteYou are almost as hot as we are (92F currently at 2:00 p.m.)! Glad you were able to have a nap after going down to the river and back. Sounds like DH had a fun time, too! :) I've done a load of laundry and hung it up to dry. Still need to dust the living room, etc.
Hope you are having a pleasant day, Bushlady, and staying cool!
I ve thought about making yogurt, but the recipes I see are complicated. Yours looks much easier. I am lactose intolerant, and it's hard to find good lactose free yogurt here. I wonder if I can use lactose free milk. Ill try it sometime. Thanks for the method information!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you'll be able to make yogurt with lactose free milk, Celie. Worth a try! Hope it works out well. :)
DeleteI just enjoyed a nice cold glass of elderflower with sparkling water. It is very hot here at the moment, so I have all the curtains closed to keep the house cool.
ReplyDeleteI've never tried making my own yoghurt before. You make it sound so straightforward. X
Your elderflower drink sounds very refreshing, Jules. I made some lemonade, last night, to sip when I want a change from plain water. :)
DeleteMaking yogurt is probably like making bread - once you've got the hang of it, it's easy. I'm not very good at making bread, yet, though! :D
I would normally say that 102F is incredibly hot and it would kill me but I don't feel like I can talk at the moment lol. The yogurt looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteYou are stronger than you think! Now you know that you can survive even hotter temperatures! :D
DeleteThank you; the yogurt turned out well and I'm enjoying it!