Comments on: Doing Mornings

By: megang

megang — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 19:57:12 +0000

Cecilia: You can subscribe via email by entering your email address in the box to the top left of the blog. Thank you! ~m

By: Cecilia

Cecilia — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 13:30:15 +0000

Please send e-mails by subscription. Make yogurt all the time. I am lactose intolerant, so I use lactose free milk and lactose free yogurt the first time. I now use my own yogurt as the starter. Am about to try the greek yogurt as I love the thicker texture.

By: megang

megang — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 23:50:17 +0000

Hi Meg! Thanks for the comment … yes, I’ve found the same thing with the starter. I’ve had success with 2 tbsp of yogurt for this recipe, but 3 works too and I know a few readers had trouble with just 2, so I decided to write it in stone with 3 tbsp. How wonderful that you have a wood oven at home … that would definitely qualify as a great warm place. Happy yogurt making to you, and have a great week!

By: Meg in VT

Meg in VT — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 19:07:11 +0000

Yay for home made yogurt! I’ve been making it for years. Once you get it going, you never have to buy yogurt again, and one’s own fresh yogurt is the best starter going. I only have to use 1 TBSP per quart for perfect yogurt. NB that using too much starter can also cause it to fail (too many organisms crowded together make too much acid, kill them off too soon…. or something. I know this is true from Harold McGee, the Joy of Cooking’s old edition, and trial and error). In the winter we have a warm wood stove to use for a warm place, but the rest of the year I fill up a stock pot with hot water from the tap, put the jar in, and that works just fine.

By: megang

megang — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 00:40:10 +0000

This is great, Drew. Thanks so much for saying hello and the feedback on the recipe — so glad you liked the amaranth; doesn’t it rock? And your yogurt tips are fantastic, too. I’ve heard about adding powdered milk to the mixture but haven’t tried it yet myself. Going to have to give it a go. Hope you’re having a wonderful week, ~m

By: Drew

Drew — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 23:47:30 +0000

I’ve just recently gotten into making my own yogurt, so I got excited when I read your suggestion for a unique yogurt topping. So I roasted some of the local strawberries that are just coming in around Seattle, popped some amaranth, and enjoyed a bowl this morning. I don’t think I’d ever eaten amaranth before, but it really made the dish. It adds a nice bit of dry and crunchy texture to the yogurt and strawberries. Thank you very much, Megan, for the yummy alternative to the usual granola topping. (Not that there’s anything wrong with adding granola to yogurt. [insert Marge Granola plug here])

To Elizabeth @ Coppertop Kitchen: I’ve had a few batches of yogurt that didn’t quite make it for one reason or another, but I’ve found a few tricks that have helped solidify my yogurt more regularly:
1. Make sure the temperature is below 118ºF before adding the starter, so the bacteria you’re adding doesn’t die off.
2. Mix the starter with just about a cup of the warmed milk before whisking it into the rest of the warmed milk to ensure it fully breaks up and mixes.
3. And for a more reliably solid yogurt, before warming the milk, add about 1/4 cup of powdered milk (for the amount of milk above). I’ve found Organic Valley non-fat powdered milk at a few local stores in the baking section.

By: megang

megang — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 00:58:34 +0000

Thanks, Peetu. Glad you enjoyed the post and the recipe — certainly always easier to make time for the “have to’s” in our day to day life (work), isn’t it? Hope you’re having a great weekend, ~m

By: Peetu

Peetu — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 02:00:18 +0000

Your post intro resonated with me! Just yesterday I was listening to Joy & Tracy’s podcast on HomeFries about getting/being in a rut. And as a part of that they spoke about relationship rut & it kind of stayed with me the entire day. My husband & I started talking about it on one of our rare us/couple-time together & we realized how we make time for work but have forgotten to reserve some time just for ourselves. Thanks for this thoughtful post and the wonderful recipe.

By: megang

megang — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 20:49:17 +0000

Elizabeth: Oh, no! Yogurt can be a little moody, and there are a few things that could’ve gone wrong: Are you sure the yogurt you used says “live and active cultures”? Some are more active than others (I haven’t had great luck with Greek yogurt, strangely). If so, I’d try a different brand of yogurt (Stonyfield or Nancy’s work well for me). Generally speaking I find you don’t need as much yogurt as a starter as most people think, and I’m usually o.k. with 1 tablespoon for every 2.5-3 cups of milk or so, but after reading your comment and thinking through home cook’s process I went ahead and raised the quantity of yogurt to 3 tablespoons in this recipe just to account for all types of yogurt out there … a little more of a weaker starter is much safer. So I’d say try it with a different yogurt and use 3 tablespoons. So sorry for the inconvenience … to be honest, I had to futz with the recipe three times before getting a successful batch and I think that had a lot to do with finding the right starter. So love to hear how it goes if you make it again. Happy weekend, and thanks for the feedback. ~m

By: Elizabeth @ Coppertop Kitchen

Elizabeth @ Coppertop Kitchen — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 14:23:18 +0000

I followed these exact same instructions last week for yogurt, and I used the same machine, and I left it for 12 hours, and it came out really watery and weird – some of the jars were almost half water when I took them out. And I used whole milk! Any idea what went wrong?