The White House

The White House

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Girl Time

(Bonnie asked about making yogurt. Recipe at the bottom of this post).

 

“You are under my control”.

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“Now lay down”.

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Homer and I took Emily out to dinner. She had a virgin strawberry daiquiri and a taco. Then Dad went home and we had a some girl time out shopping.

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Emily picked up a couple of shirts at Valu Village (pretty picked through). She had a fun time modeling outrageous heels for me.

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When I uploaded this photo I had to laugh. I bet it is most people’s natural reaction to look up… as if the colors are any different at the top then they are right in front of their face!

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She picked out six shirts and a new pair of pants before they started turning lights out and telling us to leave! We also got Olivia a few things and when we got home she like 3 out of 4…not too bad.

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We decided to head home and at the intersection was a very small and young moose eating on the trees. We couldn’t see the mother anywhere so they were either separated in the traffic or she has been hit by a car. In that case the calf is on its own and will have a tough time surviving. When we drove away it crossed the road and was heading to Lowe’s!

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Do you wonder what my husband does when he leaves me at home with five kids and too many animals? Well, this time he was moving buildings on the frozen tundra of Prudhoe Bay.

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He takes a big camp apart in sections boarding up the ends.

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Blocks it up.

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The units were trucked about 40 miles, unloaded and then he put the buildings back together where another company will be remodeling them before they are moved to another location. He’s pretty handy, don’t you think? There is nothing that man can’t do!

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Time to jump in the shower and get moving. Elijah needs a ride to town to do some work. Em and I are going shopping again…bookstore and food. Then it will be time to clean another “space”. Yesterday Em cleaned the top of the fridge. It was full and stacked high… now it is empty as it should be. Oh, and of course, planting!!

And here’s how I make yogurt:

Heat 1 gallon of milk to 180* (use a candy thermometer clipped to the side of the pan)  in a double boiler so it doesn’t scald.

Pour into glass bowls.

Cool milk to 110*.

Whisk in 6 tablespoons of plain active yogurt culture. (Read the side of a container and find where it says it contains active cultures. I actually use vanilla as I cannot find plain active at my store). The next time you make it you can just save some of what you made as your starter.

Transfer to glass jars (no lids) and wrap in towels. I set my jars in a baking dish for easier handling.

I turn on my oven for about a minute just to warm it up inside. Set the wrapped jars in the oven and walk away. Twelve hours later you’ll have yogurt. (I leave the light on inside… I don’t know if it really helps keep it “warmer”, but it makes me feel better).  If it has a lot of whey (watery stuff on top) you can strain it through cheesecloth for thicker yogurt, but I haven’t had that problem. You can also add flavoring like vanilla when you add the active cultures, but we just leave it plain because it is going into smoothies. You can also add flavor later when you dish yourself a bowl… honey, jelly, fruit… all kinds of things.

It really is that simple. The hands on time is very little. It’s more of a leave it and wait project.

4 comments:

Sandy said...

Outragous heels,,,no no no,,,Emily needs one of each color !!! Thank you for the yogurt info,,i will try to make it again,,,tried once and it was really runny,,Homer takes after his Grandpa,,did he ever tell you that his Grandpa Elmer was the first to mine with a dredge in the Bering Sea,,,way before Bering Sea Gold ??? People to be proud of thats for sure !!

Kim@Snug Harbor said...

Em is really turning into a beautiful young lady! So pretty. Love the heels.

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Gayle ~ I look forward to trying this yogurt recipe of yours.

Will let you know how it does for me when I do.

Emily is a good model. I wouldn't be able to wear shoes like that these days.

Your DH does some interesting work.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Tonight is popcorn/survivor night. :-)

FlowerLady

Humble wife said...

ok-laugh out loud post on the shoes. Yes I looked up-even in the photo!!

Love the shoe modeling-cracked up on that too.

And wow-your husband is pretty awesome!!

Love visiting and always love to see the differences we have in where we live!!

Jennifer