A Dangerous Secret

I admire secret keepers.  Probably because I'm not one.  Don't get me wrong, if you tell me something in confidence, you can trust me not to pass it on, especially if it's personal and private.  That's different though.  I don't consider closed conversations the same as "telling a secret".  Neither are hurtful stories about someone else "secrets".  That's gossip, which I make sincere efforts to stay away from.  I'm also not referring to crucial information that endangers others if shared.  That falls under the category of "Top Secret".

A secret is something that isn't completely secret.  It's "I know something that you don't", said with a sparkle in your eye, a little wink, sly smile, or silly snicker.  The first thing someone does with a true secret, is spread around word that she has it.  A secret is something that can be shared, and wants to be shared, but wont be.

Examples of Secrets 

surprise parties

delicious recipes

special gifts

magicians tricks

the ending of a movie or book

There are more I'm sure, but those are a few that come to mind right now.  Secrets are fun.  They don't hurt anybody, and are light at heart.  I can't be trusted with them.  Secrets burn inside me, like little rays of sunshine ready to burst out at any second.  I just don't like keeping great things to myself!  I probably wont give away the ending of a book or movie, because I don't want to ruin the reading or viewing experience, but I'll be dying to talk to you about it, and will let you know that under no uncertain terms.  I also wont spoil a surprise party (assuming I can get there on time- always a risk for me!) but I'll be very excited, and will probably have to keep my distance from the surprise-ee for a week or so prior, knowing I'm not cool enough to keep from grinning ear to ear everytime I see her, or asking stupid questions, such as:

"So, I heard it's your birthday on Friday, I forget where I heard that.  Have any big plans that night?  Why do I ask?  Oh, no reason.  [more silly grinning] Just . . . wonderin' . . ." 

I know.  Nerd.  Can't help it- it's in the blood.  Acting cool has and never will be something I do.

Another reason I struggle with secrets, is I love good news!  I love it, and I have to share it!!!  Everything great and wonderful I know and love, I want everyone else to know and love too!!  That's one reason why I keep this blog.  I have things I want to share, but don't have much opportunity to as a busy stay-at-home-mom.  My circle of day-to-day contacts is pretty small.  My blog is my outlet, where I can practice my composition skills, and remind myself that I know things worthy to contribute to the outside world.  Truly, I have no secrets.  Everything that makes me happy and has formed my life, I want the world to know.  I want everyone to know, so anyone can have the same happiness.

So- what's my secret tonight, you ask?  The chocolate chip cookie- perfected.  If I was cool, I'd just bring a plate of these to various church functions and friendly gatherings, and allow people to marvel at how amazing my cookies are.  When asked what I do to make them so incredible, I'd just smile, wink, and say, "It's a secret!"

Of course that will never happen.  I'm an uncool person with no secrets, and a desire to share the wealth!  (My wealth anyway, at my own will and discretion.  Not to be confused with crazy liberals currently in office who want to share everyone else's wealth, unwisely and without their permission! Vote for Romney in November!!!)    

I have already shared this once.  As soon as I made my first batch, I posted a picture on facebook.  Sometimes life is too sweet not to share- and this was literally the case.  So now I'm adding this to my blog, and then to Pinterest!  The world can and should know about these cookies; these yummy, addicting, dangerously delicious, cookies.

      
 

Homemade Chocolate-Toffee Cookies

For this first batch shown in the picture, I chopped up a bar of Belgian chocolate, but that was a bit labor intensive, so since then I've used dark chocolate chips.  Truly, this is your basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, with a bag of Heath bits dumped in with the chocolate chips.  But to be thorough, here's my exact recipe.  

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter flavored shortening

1/2 cup softened butter (1 stick)

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 1/4 cups flour

1 bag Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Chips

1 bag Heath Bits 'O Brickle Toffee Bits

Preheat oven at 375 deg. F.  Cream shortening, butter, and sugars together in mixer.  Add vanilla, and eggs, one at a time.  Add salt and baking soda.  Add  flour, in approximately half cup increments, mixing until smooth each time.  Dump in toffee bits and chocolate chips, and stir with a spoon or spatula.  Spoon heaping tablespoons onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper***, (I have one of those cool cookie-dough scoops, that looks like a mini-ice cream scoop spoon) and bake for 9-11 minutes, depending on your oven.  Cool for 1-2 minutes on cookie sheet, then move to cooling rack with spatula.

***I know the parchment paper thing seems a tad persnickety, but the melted toffee bits will stick to your cookie sheet, you'll be grateful you used the paper, trust me.  

The toffee bits for the most part melt into the cookie, giving it a very satisfying, chewy texture, and extra sweetness, countered by the bitterness in the dark chocolate.  I love them.  If I wasn't already married, yes, I would, indeed, marry them.  But I am married.  So I eat them with my husband, and if we're feeling especially generous, we share them with our kids.  Sometimes, however, I will admit when they have asked, we have let slip the phrase, "Much too good for children."

10 points if you can guess that movie quote.  It's one of our favorites.  If no one can guess I'll have to post it.  I just can't keep a secret.

Today, I'm Wonder Woman!

Why am I'm I giving myself this super-human title?  Because I made my own Greek Yogurt!  I can't even eat it, (I have a dairy allergy) and yet I managed to make that thick, creamy white stuff that has become so popular lately.  There are lots of blog entries about how to make your own Greek Yogurt from scratch.  I read a lot of them, and after a couple batches, found I don't agree with any of them completely.  I took bits and pieces from many, and came up with my own preferred method, which I now feel inclined to share.

Let me begin with a little motivation!  There are many impressive women out there, who make homemade everything in their kitchens.  Homemade bread, homemade butter, homegrown herbs, canned soup, vegetables, fruit . . . and the list goes on.  I even have a friend who makes her own honey!  While I am slowly learning a few new skills, I am not one of those extraordinary women.  I'd like to think I'm pretty average when it comes to my homemaking skills in the kitchen.  I make satisfactory cookies from scratch, I google for new recipes, I've made freezer jam.  However I also buy frozen dinner rolls, canned pie filling, cake and brownie mixes, and I've never grown my own vegetable garden.  I am not the type to make my own dairy products.  So if I can manage this, so you can you!

Another point of motivation- the price of Greek Yogurt.  Unless money ain't nothin' but a thang, you've noticed it's pricey.  Typically a 6 oz cup is just over a dollar.  With 3 kids eating 1 cup each a day with breakfast or lunch, that adds up quickly!  When I make my own, it breaks down to $0.32 for a 6oz cup.  My DH is actually quite proud of me for doing that math.  Not that he doubted my computation skills, more my interest in a budgeting detail like that.  Let's just say he's the "saver" in our family.  I got major brownie points for this new frugal discovery!!  

Have I convinced you to try?  Excellent.  Scroll on for my very first "how to" entry on my nerdy blog.  Please forgive the lack of "cuteness" in my pictures.  Unlike seemingly everyone on Pinterest, I'm not a food photographer.

How To Make Your Own Greek Yogurt

You can half this recipe easily if you want less yogurt, but we go through it so quickly, that I need to make the larger amount.  If you want your milk to incubate overnight, begin the process approximately 2 hours before you want to go to bed.  After giving it 10-12 hours to incubate (I do 12) you need about 20 minutes prep in the morning, and then can leave it for 6+ hours to strain in the fridge. 

Ingredients/Tools

1 gal of milk
6 oz of plain yogurt, with live cultures
crockpot
crockpot liner
2 thick bath towels
meat thermometer
large strainer
big bowl, large enough to fit under your strainer
thin cotton/linen dish towel
rubber band
toppings of choice

Step 1: Heat your Milk to 180 degrees

To break down the milk particles so it can become yogurt, you first need to heat the milk.  I first tried this in a crockpot.  What a waste of time!  I heated it on "low" for 3 hours, and then cooled it for 3 hours.  Silly.  The second time I heated it on the stove.  That only took 20 minutes.  Despite careful efforts and keeping the heat on medium, I still ended up scorching my milk a little.  It didn't seem to effect the process, but still next time I think I will try the microwave.  However you choose to heat your milk, make sure it just reaches 180 degrees.  While my milk was heating, I preheated my crockpot on low, and added the plastic liner.  
Update: I tried the  microwave, and it worked well.  It took approx. 17 min. for the milk to reach 180 deg.

Step 2: Cool Milk

Allow your milk to cool to somewhere between 110-120 degrees.  I set my pot on a cooling rack, and it took just under an hour to cool.  If the milk is too hot, it will kill the cultures in the yogurt, so I do recommend you use a thermometer to check.  While milk is cooling, unplug your crockpot, but wrap it in your two thick bath towels to keep it warm.  At this point, I also measured out 6 oz of yogurt, and put it in a medium sized bowl.  I let it sit at room temperature while the milk was cooling.  This allows the cultures to warm a bit.  

Step 3: Pour Milk into Crockpot, and Check Temp. 

Remove the towels, and pour the milk into the warm crockpot.  After a couple minutes, check the temperature again, making sure it hasn't risen above 120.  If it has, let it cool a bit until it's in that 110-120 range again.

Step 4: Add the Yogurt

Take 2 cups of your milk, and add it to your bowl of yogurt.  Stir together, and then pour mixture into crockpot.  Stir to spread the cultures.  Replace lid on crockpot, and wrap with bath towels.  Allow to incubate for 10-12 hours.  During this time, that healthy, live bacteria from the yogurt you added is turning the rest of your milk into yogurt.  You don't need to check on it.  Removing the towels will also remove heat, and you want to keep the milk warm so those cultures can spread and do their thing.

Step 5: Wow, I made Yogurt!

Some blogs claim 8 hours is enough to wake up to thick, smooth, yogurt, but I always need the full 12.  After just 8 my mixture is still kind of runny.  Anyway, you should find your milk is now thick and smooth, the consistency of regular, all American yogurt.  It may have a clear, runny fluid on top, that's ok.  That's whey, we'll talk about that in the next step.  All you have left is changing your yogurt's ethnicity from American to Greek!

Step 6: Pour Yogurt into your Strainer

This is where you'll thank me for using a crockpot liner!  Line your strainer with your towel, and set it in the sink.  Gently lift the bag out of your crockpot, and hold it over the strainer.  Cut a hole in your bag with kitchen sheers, and the yogurt will pour into the strainer, virtually mess free.  You wont even have to wash your crockpot, which is awesome, because I hate washing my crockpot.

Step 7: Straining

The towel, before I added the yogurt

This step gave me the most difficulty the first time I gave this a try.  This is what makes the yogurt "Greek", and is why it's so expensive.  Greek Yogurt is just regular yogurt, strained of the "whey".  The whey is a cloudy-clear liquid, that gives yogurt it's tangy flavor.  Without it you have a more mild tasting, thicker, creamier product.  The straining makes the yogurt condense to half it's original volume, so what you're buying has twice the calories, protein, and nutrients of regular yogurt.  It took me some time to decide my favorite method of straining.  Some use a few layers of cheese cloth in a strainer, others prefer to line it with paper towels.  One lady recommended a fancy $70 industrial fine mesh strainer.  I'm sure it's a very cool strainer, but my goal is to save $.  I found one blog where someone used a thin cotton towel.  I actually have one very similar to hers, it was from a sweet friend who decorated it with fabric markers, and presented it to me as my very first "dishwasher".  I think of her every time I see it.  If you don't have a thin linen or cotton towel like this, you can use cotton fabric, or even a pillowcase or cut sheet with a low thread count should work.  Just make sure it's been washed, and isn't so old/used that it's fuzzy, and will get lint in your yogurt!

I gather the ends of my towel, and make a sort of yogurt "pouch".  I twist them at the top, and try to squeeze out some of the whey. 

Then I fasten off the ends with a rubber band, place my "pouch" back in the strainer, put the strainer over a big bowl, and place the whole thing in the fridge.  I like my yogurt very thick, because adding toppings thins it out again just a bit.  I let it strain for up to 6 hours.  You wont hurt it letting it sit longer than that, so feel free to leave it while you're at work, out doing errands, etc.  If you are at home though, I would recommend periodically emptying the bowl of the collected whey.

whey that has collected in my bowl during straining

Step 8: Pat Yourself on the Back, and add tasty toppings!

Once your yogurt has reached a thick consistency you're happy with, you're done!  Just scrape it into a bowl or jar.  My yogurt tends to be thick enough, that most of it just rolls right out of the towel and into my bowl.  I scrape off the little bit that is left behind with a spatula, and then toss my towel into the washing machine.  The yogurt should be good for 7-10 days in your refrigerator.  Some recommend stirring it a bit to make it smooth.  I've never felt like it needed that, but go for it if you want to.  As for flavorings, you're limited only by your imagination.  We like honey, strawberry syrup, caramel, and cream of coconut.  My husband has requested a little homemade granola with his when he comes home and gives my new concoction a try!

 For your next batch, if you remember to save 6 oz, then you do not need to keep buying regular yogurt from the store.  You can continue to use 6 oz from each previous batch for the new one.  I would recommend saving this separately from the start, because too often all the yogurt disappears before I remember to set some aside!

Anny and Merrylee enjoying my latest batch, with cream of coconut!   

Please let me know if you have any frustrations or questions.  It's been a learning process for me, and it's possible I might be able to help you figure out what didn't work if you're having trouble.  Good luck!  If you try it and it works well, please leave a comment and tell me about it!    

menu, shopping list, plus some tips and tricks I've gathered in the last 7 years

My first semester in college and away from home, my mom emailed me her Thanksgiving menu and shopping list.  I thought that was so cool.  I have an exceptional mother.  I copy her a lot - hence this post.

Thanksgiving is my DH's very favorite holiday.  He spent last years' big day overseas with a bunch of dudes, not ideal, to say the least.  So the pressure is on to get it right for him this year!  He's gettin' the boys from church ready for some flag football, and then later no doubt he'll watch some games with Ben on TV, while I'm prepping up for some serious kitchen time.  I'm making my list, checking it twice, and the kiddos and I are making the trip to walmart after music lessons today!!  Wish me luck!  

The Florida Andrews Family 

Thanksgiving Day Menu

Oven Roasted Turkey with Stuffing

Mushroom Gravy

Dairy Free Mashed Potatoes

Candied Yams with Marshmallows

Baked Asparagus

Relish Tray

Oranged Cranberry Sauce

Crescent Rolls

Pumpkin Pie

Apple Pie

Lemon Meringue Pie

Sparkling Cider

The Shopping List

I read a few years ago a great tip for making your shopping lists.  The tip was to divide your list into four categories (I quarter my handwritten list by making a line down the middle top to bottom, and then one left to right).  The categories are Produce, Cold Items, Dry/Canned or Bottled Items, and Non-Food Items.  I simplify with Pro, Cold, Dry, and Non.  This has saved me so much time while shopping.  I don't have to do a lot of back and forth around the store while going through my list!  

So, thus categorized, here it is:

Pro

Oranges

2 lbs Cranberries 

baby carrots

celery

mushrooms

1 bag apples

2-3 lemons

asparagus

cherry tomatoes

Cold

orange juice

turkey

unsalted butter

Pillsbury crescent rolls

cream cheese

1 pre-made pie crust

heavy cream

whipped cream

egg nog

Dry

Sparkling Cider

Artichokes

baby dill pickles

baby sweet pickles

smoked oysters

hearts of palm

canned yams

graham cracker crumb pie crust

16 oz can pumpkin puree

dark brown sugar

turkey gravy packet

Stovetop stuffing mix

marshmallows

Non

candlesticks

dishwasher soap

Last year I discovered this recipe for Oranged Cranberry Sauce.  It's amazingly tasty.  It's a Jamaican recipe, and includes cinnamon.  It's my latest change to my evolving menu.  I'd also like to note that my dairy free mashed potatoes are my own recipe, and they're fabulous.  I bet if you did a blind test with mine and the dairy version, you wouldn't know which is which!

I still don't feel like I've mastered turkey roasting.  If you have tips to share, please pass them on!!  

I'll save a gratitude post for another time, but at the top of my list is having a husband home to cook for.  His favorite holiday just isn't as fun without him.  

Hippie Night

Monday evenings are in a way just as sacred as the sabbath to LDS families.  However instead of forgetting all worldly cares, and dedicating ourselves to a day of rest and worship as we do on Sundays, we set all else aside, and focus on our families.  Church buildings are locked and dark, and our temples are closed.  We are discouraged from holding parties, receptions, showers, and other get togethers that would distract from family time, or pull someone away from home.  We're even discouraged from signing up our children with sports teams, music groups, or anything else that would regularly meet on a Monday evening.  Monday nights are for the family, and what could possibly be more important than a consistent, regular family meeting time?

We call these special weekly meetings Family Home Evening, or FHE for short.  I was privileged to grow up in a family that never missed a single FHE.  Occasionally my dad's job would keep him working late or out of town, but my mom then directed our family evenings herself.  We sang songs, read from the scriptures, had gospel lessons, ate treats, and enjoyed being together.  Sometimes we'd go out to the movies as a family, or play flashlight games outside.  Parents, brothers, and sisters became an audience to preform dance routines, a new song learned on a musical instrument, or a poem memorized at school.  We also used that time to discuss important events, and make family decisions.  Some of my most treasured childhood memories are from a common Monday night practice in our home, where during "treat time" at the end of FHE, my Dad read aloud stories or chapters from funny books.  We'd laugh until we were at risk of choking or spitting out chocolate brownie, and were always sad when the story or chapter was over, and we had to get ready for bed.  Even as a moody teenager, I looked forward to Monday nights.  It was an oasis of happiness, strategically placed at the start of a long and difficult week of high school. 

I remember when I was twelve, I had an opportunity to join an elite children's orchestra.  My violin teacher highly recommended the group, and my mother, being a music teacher herself, knew the experience would be a good opportunity for me.  However when we learned the group met on Monday evenings, there was no argument or pause.  I didn't have to fight with my mother, I simply knew, this wasn't something I would participate in.  She really wanted me to be a part of this group, but despite this disappointment, she didn't hesitate for a second, or rationalize that maybe we could switch the nights for family night.  We both knew right away, Monday nights are family nights, and being a great musician comes second to being together as a family. I didn't join the group. 

At the time that experience wasn't significant, because it was consistent with training I'd had all my life.  It didn't stand out as extraordinary to me.  I see now that it was.  I've realized it's my parents unfailing attitude and dedication to our family that has taught me where my priorities should be, and how to run my own family now.  The confidence I have in my family relationships has so much to do with that family night.  Our schedule of activities molded around family night, and not the reverse.  Tuesday through Saturday the world had claim on our time.  Nothing touched Monday nights, because there never was something else more important.   

I do not think there is a better way to demonstrate love to your family.  There are naturally other important things not to be neglected, such as kind words, patience, hard work, a listening ear, providing for essential needs, teaching discipline and moderation, keeping a clean and healthy home, the list goes on.  However I have witnessed the blessings of a regular family time that comes second to nothing else.  I was reminded every single Monday of the first eighteen years of my life that I was loved, and that being together as a family mattered.  Nothing shook our resolve.  Come what may, we'd be together that night.  I was never bitter or unhappy about that.  No one in my family was.  We wanted to be together.  What more could you want from life than to be together with your family? 

After that lengthy and slightly heavy description of a topic of obvious importance to me, you're probably wondering what on earth gave me the inclination to name this entry "hippie night"?  Well I can answer that!!!  My husband and I do hold FHE with our family.  After a perfect legacy and example set by my parents, how can we not?!!!  With Daddy's frequent deployments, its obvious to anyone how important a regular family meeting time would be.  Now, admittedly while Daddy is away and the girls are so little, holding FHE does feel a bit redundant, since we're together all day anyway.  However routine and memories start early, and I don't really have an excuse not to do something special on Mondays with my little sweeties.  Last night the girls and I had a "hippie night" together for our FHE.  Not really, but we did make homemade granola.  Then we formed a drum circle, sang "kum bi ya" . . . just kidding.  I'm much too conservative, and would probably offend most hippies by applying the term to myself.  We did make the granola though, and it was fun!!! 

We'd had a late lunch, and not having a hungry Daddy coming home from work to cook for makes our dinner routine a little more flexible.  Emma, my fabulous friend, who is a great mom, and a former professional chef, recommended this recipe for homemade granola.  As our "optional ingredients" we added dried cranberries and mini chocolate chips, half a cup each, and enjoyed bowls of freshly made granola for supper.  Both my girls, who are picky eaters, especially at supper time, gobbled it right up!!  It's of course tasty with fruit, or on ice cream or yogurt (so I hear anyway) but we ate it by itself like dry cereal.  We had so much fun making it and of course eating it together, I had to share both the experience and recipe.  A healthy, kid-friendly snack, that contains whole grains, fruit, protein, and no preservatives (since we made it at home ourselves!) is a rare find!! 

So- go start up a family night, and make some granola!!!  If you ever need ideas on what to do together, I'm your girl, as I've had a lifetime of experience on the subject.  Don't feel intimidated or tell yourself it's too late, your kids are too old, your lives too busy... because the way to make something like this work, is to set aside all excuses, get started, and don't stop.  You'll never truly have something better to do in place of this time, and you'll never miss what you sacrificed to be together.  Think about what in your heart is most important to you, and you'll know I'm right.  Not that I can take credit.  FHE wasn't my idea after all...