Yiya and Yogurt

One of the hardest things to deal with in Atka is getting the food I want. I have some experience in dealing with that problem from my time in China. Some things, like cheese, were hard to get and rather expensive when found. Other things, like "ethnic" foods, just weren't available. As a result, while in China I did *not* learn to cook Chinese food; I could buy it everywhere. Instead, I learned to make Italian sausage and bagels!

There's a decent grocery store here, but it has a limited inventory--and it's even more expensive than China! And there's little in the way of dairy or produce. I'm having to learn a new set of cooking skills. My first venture was making yogurt.

The process is pretty simple. Heat the milk to 185º. Cool the milk to 110º. Add yogurt. Keep it at 110º until it's yogurt. Except, I don't have a thermometer. I was heating and stirring the milk, figuring that 185º would be just short of boiling. I think I got that ok. Then I was trying to figure out how to know when it was 110º. I remembered that Yiya used to make yogurt. I couldn't imagine Yiya standing at the stove with a thermometer. She would have relied on her common sense and experience to figure it out.

Channeling Yiya must have worked, because I ended up with a batch of thick, tangy yogurt. I even started with powdered milk! I'm really proud of myself.

Thanks, Yiya!