What are we talking about today?

I'll get back to theme days once I find a groove of posting regularly. In the meantime, most of my posts are about some variation of books, bikes, buses, or Broadway. Plus bits about writing, nonprofits, and grief from time to time.

This blog is mostly lighthearted and pretty silly. It's not about the terrible things happening in the world, but please know that I'm not ignoring those things. I just generally don't write about them here.

14 January 2011

Making Things

A few days ago I dubbed myself an honorary Walton. I spent a few days making various things, a hobby I greatly enjoy, although I don't think I would enjoy a sudden reversal in time that would make it necessary for me to make things, instead of it being a mere hobby.

Remember my New Year resolution? To make my own yogurt? And my announcement last Saturday that I was going to do it? Well, it got delayed until Monday, but I am here to say that I have now joined the ranks of the yogurt-makers.

Ladies and gentlemen,
we have yogurt!
Finished product.
I'm not going to post a tutorial or anything, especially since I've only done it once, but if you are interested in trying it yourself, these three sites are the ones I consulted and then merged to get my procedure. I used the hot-water-in-a-cooler method, which worked great. The resulting product was tangier (and runnier) than the plain yogurt we generally buy at the store, but it was definitely yogurt!

Also in my week of making things, I made some cloth sandwich and snack bags (because using my own leftover fabric was MUCH cheaper than buying them on Etsy), granola, and peanut butter chocolate chip granola bars. It was a good week.

Next up: I have some canvas fabric that I'm going to turn into bags for the bulk bins at the store (where I buy millet, TVP, almonds, etc), because I'm not pleased about using plastic bags-- although, to give credit where credit is due, our local store does at least offer zip-top reusable bags, instead of those flimsy single-use things.

Crafters? Cooks? Assorted Artisans? What are you working on?

11 comments:

a runners' life said...

That's so great that you are making your own stuff. The peanut butter chocolate chip granola bars sound delicious!

Felicity Grace Terry said...

Now that is what I call dedicated, well done on all this.

erica and christy said...

Wow!! You're amazing!

A local company does take those plastic grocery bags to recycle into shingles, so I feel a tiny bit better about them (I have the canvas ones and ALWAYS forget them!!).
erica

Su said...

Runner: I guess I could have provided the link for the granola bars! Duh! :/ I've edited the post to add it.

@Petty: Thanks! It was fun. If it had been too complicated I'd probably have given it up! ;)

@erica: Shingles, really? Cool! Our local store has recycling for bags, but I've no idea what they do with them.

Anonymous said...

my wife and I have a difficult time getting our milk to not be runny - we want it thicker like the store kind. Keep me posted if you make any gains in this area - and great job giving it a shot!

Did you make Vanilla yogurt? If not I can tell you how, its yummy!

Su said...

Nope, just plain for now. One of the sites suggested adding powdered milk with the starter to make it thicker, but since it was my first go I didn't try it.

Brandon P said...

We make our own deodorant and what's funny is that it works a million times better than any of the natural stuff you can buy in the stores.

Got the recipe from passionatehomemaking.com. She's got a lot of great stuff there.

Denyce said...

I've made the same deodorant that Brandon mentioned, and it really, really does work very well. It's very simple and not expensive. Good work on the yogurt. I've made it various ways, and it's amazing how it always turns out a bit different, but it's always yogurt!

Su said...

I've seen the homemade deodorant, but we are currently well-supplied so I haven't needed to try it yet.

Grahame said...

One thing you can do to make it thicker is line a strainer with a coffee filter, put your yogurt in, and put it on top of a pitcher or bowl in the refrigerator. Liquid will drip out of the yogurt, making it thicker. The longer you leave it the thicker it gets.

Su said...

Cool, good idea!