Yummy (and inexpensive!) homemade yogurt

This post is especially for Hannah at the request of Sunny; however, even if you're neither of them but you do like yogurt and would like to learn to make your own thick, inexpensive, filler-free yogurt, read on...

Anyway, I shall now share with the entire internet the secrets of my superb (if I do say so myself, ha!) homemade yogurt.

Step one is to select your favorite active culture yogurt. We like the taste of Dannon so that's the brand I buy for the starter. Make sure it says "active culture" or this won't work. There are also commercial yogurt starters available but I've never used them.

Step two is to make sure that whatever you are going to let your yogurt culture (or grow) in is splickety clean--you want to grow yogurt in your milk, not some weird, unknown germs...

Step three is one of my "secret" tricks; use double-strength milk. I whisk together water and double the recommended amount of powdered milk. I also add 1/4 cup of sugar per quart of milk mixture.

In a thick-bottomed pan on low heat (so you won't scorch it), bring the milk almost to a boil to kill the little germies that are growing in there.

Next, I set the pan of hot milk into cold water to start the cooling process and splash in a dollop of good vanilla. Once the milk has cooled down to "warm" but not "hot" or around 110 degrees F, whisk in a heaping tablespoonful of your purchased yogurt.

Now pour the mixture into your clean container(s), cover and let sit in a very warm place for at least 8 hours so the culture can grow and turn your milk into a lovely, thick yogurt. The longer the mixture cultures, the stronger "yogurt flavor" it will have.

I am currently using a 70's era Salton yogurt maker that has five little glass cups, but I've also grown yogurt in the top of a double boiler set over a stove pilot light and have even heard of people using the top of a water heater for a source of steady warmth.

And that's it; chill and enjoy! I like to stir in blueberries or top with chocolate sauce and pecans, while the OC sometimes likes a bit of strawberry or cherry jam with his and Grammie has been known to top hers with a drizzle of real maple syrup.