Tightwad Tuesday: Make Your Own Yogurt

Back in the early 70's, my Aunt Cindy published a book full of recipes, tips and anecdotes called Out of the Molasses Jug. She is a very talented artist, and the whole book was hand printed and illustrated. It is difficult to find these days, but I have my old copy up with all my cookbooks. If you can find it, it's a really charming how-to book - how to live off the land, how to reduce your footprint, how to live naturally - quite ahead of its time, really.
I was thumbing through it the other day and ran across a total tightwad tip.
Did you know you can make your own yogurt?
To start, you'll need 1/2 cup plain commercial yogurt. From there, you can keep using the yogurt you've cultured from that starter batch to make your own. You just need to reserve a bit from each batch.

Here's the recipe:

Warm a quart of milk in a saucepan (whole, skim, whatever you like). When milk comes to almost a boil, remove from heat and allow to cool till lukewarm - about 110 degrees - where you can stick your finger in it and it feels hot but endurable). Add 1/2 cup commercial yogurt, or yogurt from an earlier batch. Stir well with a wooden spoon.
Pour into preheated jars or earthenware containers. Wrap snugly with a couple of kitchen towels and place somewhere where the yogurt will not be disturbed.
In three to six hours, a firm custard like curd should form. When this happens, refrigerate.
When you're ready to eat it, combine the culture with three cups milk and one large can of evaporated milk premixed with 1/2 cup powdered milk.
This will keep in the fridge three to five days.
I like mine sweetened with a bit of honey. This is also good in place of sour cream or in lieu of mayonnaise in dips.

For more tightwad tips, head on over to Being Frugal. And stay tuned for more fun stuff from Out of the Molasses Jug. It's a gem!