It worked! Here is my successful first attempt at homemade greek yogurt.
It's empowering to know how to make basic foods like this. In college, I studied up on bread-making and learned all about yeasts, starters and grains while relaxing at the pool on weekends. Making yogurt gave me that same earthy, homey feeling as baking freshly-ground-whole-wheat bread with honey. I could hear Bob Dylan singing Mr. Tambourine Man in my mind as I tied the yogurt up in several layers of cheese cloth to let the whey strain out into a wooden bowl. Hippy-dippy happiness.
To enjoy the results more fully, I picked up some fresh raspberries.
Last night, I discovered that a sprinkling of brown sugar along with the raspberries hits the bullseye. I like a lightly-sweetened vanilla yogurt (nearly plain) with a swirl of honey or brown sugar—so there are bursts of sweetness to contrast with the natural flavor of the yogurt. Prepared this way, yogurt can serve as a sophisticated, healthy dessert.
Another favorite way to enjoy yogurt is with a drizzle of honey and a scoop of muesli. I swirl everything together and then wait a few minutes for the muesli to absorb a slight bit of moisture from the yogurt.
I thought about donning my Birkenstocks and loading up my VW Bus with yogurt samples to share at the next Grateful Dead concert. But then the fog cleared and I realized that I don’t have Birkenstocks, nor a VW bus, and The Grateful Dead are long-gone.
