Pennsic Granola and Yogurt

[LadyTevar]

Granola

1/2 c oil
1/2 c honey
1/2 c molasses

Heat until thin. Add to:

1 Tbs vanilla
1/4 c powdered milk
2 Tbs yeast
Zest of 1 small orange or 1 lemon
1 c wheat germ
1 large canisters (~12 c) rolled oats
1 c unsweetened coconut

Bake at 250° for 1-1/2 to 2 hrs. Stir in:

2 c dried fruit (I like sweetened cranberries & raisins, but dried
cherries are wonderful!)
1 c nuts
1 c sunflower or pumpkin seeds, toasted

Cool. Put a plastic bag into the original oatmeal box (to protect it
frmo the oil in the granola), and use it to carry most of it to war.
There will be about 4-6 cups left over, of course.

Eat with yogurt poured over it.


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Yogurt

1 jug of milk*
1 small container yogurt**

* The higher the fat content, the thicker the yogurt it will make -
and the tastier. But even 1% can make decent yogurt. Homogenized,
pasteurized, or none of the above - it doesn't matter.

** The cheapest you can find, in any flavor. It doesn't matter if it
says "CONTAINS LIVE MACROBIOTIC CULTURES! ACTIVIA WIL LMAKE YOU
REGULAR!!!". With the exception of some ethnic yogurts, they all have
the same living cultures inside. You're only using about 1/4 the
container, so flavor isn't too important.


Pour a quarter-cup or so of milk from a fresh, unopened gallon,
half-gallon, or quart plastic jug of milk into a measuring cup with a
pouring lip. Add 2 heaping tablespoons of the yogurt, stir it up to
break up chunks, and set it aside.

Put the lid loosely back on the milk jug, and place the jug in a pot
that is at least 2/3 as high as the container (higher is better).

Put the pot into the oven. Fill the pot as high as possible with hot
tap water (but not higher than the milk in the jug, so it doesn't
float). Turn the oven on to its lowest setting, usually 175-200° F,
and set a timer.

Every 10 minutes, check the temperature of the water. Since the
heating time will depend on the amount of water + milk you are
heating, I can't tell you how long this will be, except it should be
under an hour.

When the water reaches 140° F, turn the oven off. If it gets up to
150-160°, don't panic; it will still work fine. If it gets much higher
than that, wait until it cools to 150° before adding the yogurt.

Pour the milky-yogurt into the milk jug, and reseal. Close the oven
door, and let the mixture slowly return to room temperature. This
recipe is a great late-evening procedure, since you can just leave it
overnight.

When you open the jug, the completed yogurt should be thicker, smell
slightly sweet and tart, and of course taste like yogurt.

This will keep for 1 week in the shade at Pennsic. I'm not kidding.
Sometimes longer. When it starts to go, it will become kumiss from
yeast, and is still drinkable (but less tasty). If you keep it tightly
capped, yeast outgasses, but yogurt bacteria do not; so if the jug
doesn't phbhpht when you open it, it's fine. Some green-blue or
blackish mold may develop on drying yogurt near the top; it won't ruin
the yogurt. Merely wipe it off with a dry towel. (These molds are
cousins of those that produce the flavor & colored streaks in bleu
cheese & morbier cheese.)

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IF YOU DECIDE TO FLAVOR IT WITH PUREED FRUIT, wait until the yogurt is
thick & tangy. The cultures seem to eat the tasty esters out of the
fruit first, leaving it oddly flavored, if you mix the fruit in first.
But I prefer my morning yogurt-over-cereal plain.

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I FORGOT TO MAKE IT, AND WE'RE LEAVING FOR PENNSIC NOW!!!...

No problem. Buy a gallon of milk, and the cheapest yogurt you can
find. Stick them somewhere in your super-tight car where they won't
get poked. Drive to Pennsic.

WHEN YOU GET TO PENNSIC, take the milk jug out (it will be warm now).
Open the yogurt up, and coax a couple tablespoons into the milk (pour
out some milk onto the ground first, if there's no headroom). Yogurt
doesn't outgass, so you can fill to the rim if you like. Recap the
milk, shake well, and leave it in the sun all day. At night, check to
see if you have yogurt yet. If not, repeat the sun-baking the next
day. Yogurt bacteria are thermophilic - they loves them a hot meal!
After it is thickened, keep in the shade. This slows down their
eating. Since they are established, and the milk acidity is higher,
bad-tasting bacteria will have a hard time getting a foothold, so it
will keep... basically until the yogurt bacteria run out of food.
Then, yeast will move in... as I mentioned before