And thank you all for stopping by to make Winter feel welcome--you rock!
Today it's my pleasure to share an apron with a delightful author, mom, and military wife who "leans heavily" on her "mid-western roots" and her love of the Old West and rodeo. She's also quite a cook, and I'm excited that she's here today to share a recipe from her busy kitchen. Let's wave our wooden spoons (tap the toes of our cowboy boots) and give a big Authors' Galley howdy to Winter A. Peck!
I love my kitchen. When I’m not at my desk, or
locked away in the bedroom, killing or maiming my characters—oops I mean writing
and or editing, I’m in the kitchen cooking/ baking/experimenting. Sometimes I
feel like Dr. Frankenstein with food.
There’s six of us, and two are teenage boys and I can’t seem make enough food for them some days. My youngest son has a severe allergic reaction to chemical food preservatives, artificial flavors and colors, and refined everything. In other words, everything we eat must be homemade, even our bread. In the last four months I’ve taken to making—and failing—our yogurt, too. It’s simple and not as time consuming as you think. And in the end, you have something nourishing that gives you the control of deciding how much sweetener you add.
What You Need:
Slow cooker
Meat or candy thermometer
Wooden spoon
4-8 cups of whole milk
1 packet of yogurt cultures or ½ cup of plain
store-bought yogurt with live cultures
Whisk and ladle
4-6 clean glass jars with lids
And a cooler
Depending on how busy you are, set the slow cooker
to low or high, if you set it on high pay close attention to your milk. Pour
measured milk into the slow cooker and cover. Let it heat to 180 degrees, I
stir occasionally when I’m checking the temperature to even out the heated
milk. Once it’s reached 180 let it sit uncovered until the milk cools to
between 105-110 degrees. Remove the film that covers the top of the liquid. You
must let it cool or the heat will kill the cultures. Whisk in one packet of
cultures—I use this—or the ½ cup of yogurt until cultures are dissolved and
well incorporated with milk.
While you’re doing this heat water on the stove to
boiling, this will go in the cooler to help incubate the yogurt.
Then taking the jars, fill them until about ¼ from
the top, leaving room for the yogurt to grow. Screw on the lids, but not too
tight, just enough to keep the water from getting inside the jar. Place jars in
the cooler and pour boiling water around them. Close cooler and let the yogurt
incubate for 10-14 hours. I let mine set over night, usually about halfway
through the incubation process I add another large pot of boiling water to keep
the temps even.
When it’s done you should see a skim of whey on the
top and the yogurt should just pull away from the sides of the jar, looking
solid. Let it sit in the fridge for a few hours before eating.
I drizzle local honey over mine and eat it with
fruit or homemade granola. Or use the yogurt for topping on fruit cobbler. My
kids love it with raw sugar and cinnamon.
And if you’re looking at a tight budget, we save
quite a bit of money on making our yogurt, too.
Oh my, that looks wonderful, Winter!
And now, here's a charming excerpt from Winter's story, Stitched in Love, from the Threads of Love anthology:
***
Trace grinned at his niece as she
chatted with her rabbit like it was a close friend. Duchess munched on a carrot
and didn’t seem to care. Orange lined the rabbit’s mouth, making her look like
she wore lipstick. The whole scene was too cute.
“Misty, eat your pancake,”
Trace’s sister said as she passed the table.
“I’m
full, Mommy.”
Julia
sighed and set a stack of boxes on the kitchen counter. “Fine. Put your plate
in the sink and go wash the syrup off your hands.”
“Okay.” Misty hurried the plate
to the sink then rushed back to her rabbit.
“Don’t pick up. . .” Julia
groaned when Misty grabbed the poor thing in her sticky grasp.
Trace chuckled. “Too late.”
His sister scowled at him. “Now
you can clean it.” She extracted the squirming ball of fuzz from a protesting
Misty and plopped it in Trace’s lap.
He winced as its claws dug into
his thighs. “Ow.”
A wide smile on her lips, Julia
scooted Misty out of the kitchen. “Don’t give her a bath. A wet washcloth will
do.”
Eyeing the matted fur, Trace
looked at his departing sister. “Why not a bath?”
“ ’Cause then you’ll need
stitches,” Julia called from down the hall.
“Come on, Duchess.” He scooped up
the rabbit and gingerly carried it to the sink.
Soft footfalls brought his
attention to the doorway. Danni entered the kitchen, a bemused expression on
her face. Trace did a double take. Was she wearing makeup?
“
What are you doing?” she asked.
He glanced at Duchess. “Cleaning
syrup out of her fur.”
***
As one last treat, Winter has graciously offered TWO copies of Threads of Love in a giveaway.
Simply leave a comment below (including an e-mail address) and your name will be entered for a drawing (via Random.Org). I'll choose the winning names on Wednesday, May 15th and notify folks via e-mail. This giveaway is limited to US entries only.
Thank you so much for joining us today, Winter.
Bon Appetit . . . and happy reading!
18 comments:
Thanks so much for having me, Candace.
That sounds like a fun read! I want to hear more about the rabbit. ;) I'll have to check the book out even if I don't win. ;) Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Kellijo23@gmail.com
Hi Winter! I cannot wait to read your book, what I read so far is great. Thank you for the recipe for the homemade yogurt. My kids love yogurt and I am trying to find recipes to make stuff at home. My kids don't have allergies like your little one, but I want them to eat better and cut out the preservatives. Congratulations on your book.
Best wishes!
stardustindy@yahoo.com
I'm delighted to host you here, Winter--and I'm eager for new readers to discover your work. Plus, I've got a bit of country girl in me, too. We may have to put on some music and do some Boot Scootin' Boogie. :-)
Yes, Kelli Jo, I keep thinking of that sticky rabbit--what a cute scene! Why do I think there may be some truth to these childish antics . . . eh, Winter?
I'm totally with you on the "cut out the preservatives," Kelly. I made "from scratch" meals for my kids when they were little and now--with grands-I'm even more careful. Too many unhealthful foods out there!
This yogurt looks awesome.
Thanks for stopping by, Kelly.
*Snicker* Candace, the sticky rabbit has come close, and Duchess is the first rabbit we got, she's such a doll. Much sweeter than the 2 other females we got.
Yup, country girl all the way, even redneck!
And to Kelli and Kelly, yes, I found cutting out all the bad stuff has really helped us out health-wise too. I've lost quite a bit of weight and have kept it off without having to workout too much. And my kids are more alert and their grades in school have soared. Even more incentive to cut out the bad and stick with what we call Real Food.
Ooo, Candace, I might have to plug my alter-ego's books at some point. Since you do make a guest appearance and all ;)
My sister has made her own yogurt but I've never tried any... last year when I was losing weight I cut out all of the frozen/microwave meals I always ate for lunch and started cooking for myself. What a concept=) Real food!
Pattymh2000(at)Yahoo(dot)com
Winter,
Thanks for sharing this recipe w/ us...it sounds great! (Your book sounds fabulous, too).
Candace,
Thanks for inviting Winter to your kitchen.
karenk
kmkuka at yahoo dot com
talyyouThanks for the recipe Winter. I like the way your book is sounding. I had rabbits too and can imagine sticky fur and clean up. I never tried to bath my rabbits but I have bathed cats. Got to be close. Would love to have your book to read and then pass on to my church library.
Connie Brown
imabrassy1@yahoo.com
Looks yummy!
streetcrew@comcast.net
One thing I like about these books is that they are set in different parts of the USA. And the story about the rabbit :) Looks like a fun read.
Jen
jking23(at)kent(dot)edu
WOW not sure if I can try the yogurt not too good at things from scratch, but I guess if you have to you can make anything happen. Books sounds great
Lourdes11743[at]gmail[dot]com
Thank you for sharing your recipes with us. I love when you do that!
Schumanns1@verizon.net
Nice, two of my favorite things - a story and a recipe. Thanks.
I love cooking from scratch and trying out new recipes, and reading good books. This book sound right up my alley.
gmfuhlman27@gmail.com
Congratulations to our book winners" Connie Brown and Lana!
Post a Comment