Homemade Crockpot Yogurt

I've made crockpot yogurt a few times following this tutorial on A Year of Slow Cooking. Both times it was sour... really sour. I ate it okay in oatmeal and with granola and fruit but even with adding honey or sugar my kiddos wouldn't go for it. It seemed like it should have tasted better so I tried again and I found this little post . Wah-la! It turned out delicious.

HERE's what I used:
1/2 gallon whole milk
slow-cooker (mine is 3-quarts I think)
1/2 cup plain yogurt with cultures (I used Mountain High)
cooking thermometer (I used a meat thermometer)
TO make it GREEK:
coffee filters
colander
large bowl
space in the fridge for bowl and colander

HERE's What I did:
Put 1/2 gallon of whole milk in slow cooker on a day when I'd be mostly home so I could babysit it a bit. (I believe in fat, so I've never tried lower fat milk). Turn on low for 2 1/2 hours. I checked the temperature and found that it wasn't to 180 degrees so I turned it on high and checked it 30-40 minutes later (hoping it wouldn't burn). It didn't burn and it came up to 180 degrees. (If you don't get it to 180, it doesn't kill any extra bacteria your milk might have and I think that's why mine was so sour. The low setting only got it to about 140 in 2 1/2 hours).
I unpluged my cooker. Then I let it sit for about 3 hours and checked the temperature again, it was down around 115 (the other post said you want it to be 115-120). I dished up 1/2 cup plain yogurt in a container where I could add more volume and added about a 1/2 cup of the warm milk (being grateful the whole time I'm not pregnant because that warm milk smell... ugh!). I mixed those together and then stirred them back into the crock. I covered it in some towels and let it sit 6 -7 hours. To thicken it to "Greek" yogurt I lined a colander with coffee filters (purchased at the dollar store) and put it over a big bowl then I stuck it in the refrigerator overnight. All the whey drains out and you are left with deliciously thick, creamy yogurt. This time it wasn't sour! Hooray. If you want it to be thinner I imagine you could just stir some of the whey back in. Save the whey and replace it for liquid in bread recipes. I've done this and it makes really tender bread, though it seems to dry out even faster than my regular bread.
Yeild- about 32 oz. greek yogurt or 64 oz. regular plain yogurt

So here's a condensed recap without all my comments:
1/2 gallon milk
1/2 cup yogurt

Warm milk until 180 degrees.
Turn off crockpot.
Let cool until 115-120 degrees.
Stir in 1/2 cup plain yogurt with cultures.
Cover in thick towel to keep warm.
Let sit 6-8 hours.
Take out and either put in containers to store in fridge or put in lined colander to drain whey and put in fridge.

Baby Blankets

Here are a few flannel receiving blankets I've made to give to my friends. They're a yard and an eighth by the 42-45 inch wide fabric. I sewed a square in the middle so they'd stay together a little better. Not too crafty, but I did use my sewing machine so it counts, right?

Nursing Cover

Here is my most recent attempt at "craftiness". I used the two tutorials found here and here to create this nursing cover in hopes that I can use it in a few months when baby #2 arrives. There are a few modifications from the tutorials (I bought the wrong length of boning and was unwilling to pay an extra $1.60 to get the right amount so I used a 1/4 yard instead of a half). It only took about 4 hours to put the whole thing together. It felt pretty slow, but I watched the newer BBC Sense and Sensibility and some Martha Stewart while working on it so it was fun!

Project #1- Tote Bag

I found a tutorial for tote bags here and roughly followed it (since I purchased the fabric before I found the tutorial). Then I made the small bag for Matilda. It's full of Domino's here, so she's used it at least once.

I learned a few things about sewing while sewing the larger bag. First, I bent my first needle and jammed my machine. I actually had to take a three weeks off from the project because I was so traumatized by the bending Ü. Now, it doesn't seem like such a big deal and I bought a set of denim needles on Black Friday, so hopefully there will be no more bending. Second, I realized I need to relax and remember basic sewing machine functions- like the wheel on the end that I could have turned to raise the needle back up- how silly we can be when stressed...

I'm excited to sew more tote bags and got some home decor clearance fabric so stay tuned!

Project #2- Fabric baskets

I found a tutorial for these little fabric baskets here. I love 'em. I'd like to experiment and make some bigger ones. As you can see two of them are for miscellaneous cords and ipod accessories that have been cluttering our book shelf. The third is housing Bernard's hat for now. This is where the larger ones could come into play... a larger basket could house a hat, gloves, ear pops, and head gator Ü

Here, I'm showing you the nice looking side. I did pretty well and only one of the three has some really bad patchwork. These are actually second generation baskets. I made some pink print ones for Christmas Gifts and sent them away before I took pictures. Matilda was really sad when I said the pink basket was for Grandma and not her so after I wash some more fabric the next thing on my list will be to make one just for her. I think I'll put the handles on the side and perhaps make them longer for her.


P.S. I watched BBC's Wives and Daughter's while making these... Fun!

A New Blog...

I wanted to start a new blog to chronicle my attempts at entering the crafty world. So far in life I've made a few minor ventures into card making and a simple attempt at sewing flannel receiving blankets. Now, I've got the sewing bug. I'd like to become a quilter. We'll see how it goes. I'll post the pics of my first and second sewing project and hope they aren't the last!