Spring is in the air! (Jump!)
I say that today, which is a delightfully sunny day, but cool at 39 degrees here in Michigan. Spring is a good name for this season of emergence from winter, because it behaves a little bit like a spring, doesn’t it? The temperature goes way up, hovers for a moment, then dives to an extreme low. Then the clouds come, and the next thing you know, it’s clear!
We have been busy this week working on the new Dr. Dumb comic. Beau designed the new main character (no peeking!), and then we struggled for a story. When it gets like this, there is no point in banging our heads against the wall. We always have multiple projects going, so we put it aside for a little and tried something new to get the creative juices flowing. (That’s another way of saying that we were waiting for the Lord’s inspiration!)
On Monday, the whole world shared the full “ice” moon. But it was far from icy! What a beautiful day it was on Tuesday; here we hit 70 degrees! Then it snowed today. Lots of ups and downs, but have you noticed the beautiful skies? (But I digress.)
Here in Michigan we voted the primary on Tuesday, so that was out of the ordinary. We went as a family and found a good turnout.
This week’s new things came in pairs: We made homemade yogurt for the first time, and we also made some papaya jam for the first time. Bonus! They go great together!
Here’s how the homemade yogurt happened: Last weekend we visited a little dairy in Indiana called the Crystal Springs Creamery. If you have ever been to Shipshewana, you may have seen some of their products there. We were charmed by the little store, which had lots of gifts, lots of interesting dairy products, and hand-dipped ice cream made right there.
The flavors I tasted were yummy. We had “peppermint stick,” “heifer tracks,” and “espresso almond fudge swirl.” I claimed a little taste of the first two, which were creamy and so delicious! They also had lots of flavored milk, and other unique treats. If you ever find yourself a little south of South Bend (Osceola, IN), it is worth a stop!
This is where the yogurt comes in: While I was looking around, I notice a small cup of yogurt in one of the coolers. I have been meaning to try making a batch of my own, but haven’t had any yogurt to get started. So I got that small cup of family-owned, small dairy yogurt, and decided to use some to start a batch of my own.
How, you ask, did I accomplish this feat without a yogurt maker?
Simple. Here are the steps:
1) Decide how much you want to make. I started with a quart of milk. Bring the milk to a boil (stirring so it won’t scorch), then turn off the heat, cover it and let it cool to 80 degrees. (This step kills off any bacteria the milk might be harboring so that you only grow the strains of bacteria you want.)
2) Put a tablespoon of yogurt into the bottom of the container (I used a quart jar), and stir in a little of the warm milk to break up the yogurt so it’s not in a clump. Make sure the temperature of the milk is around 80. If it’s too hot (over 100 degrees), it might kill off the active cultures in the yogurt.
3) Pour the rest of the milk in. Stir. Cover. Let it sit in a warm place (not hot) like a cold oven, a closed microwave, or just on the counter under a towel. The idea is to give the bacteria the ideal conditions in which to multiply. Do not refrigerate, or it won’t develop.
If your resting place is fairly warm, the yogurt will develop quickly. You can control the tangy flavor by the amount of time you let it go. It will be firm and have a slight tang at first, but if you let it go longer, it will become more sour. Mine was resting in a little cooler conditions, so it took about 24 hours. In warmer places, it could take as little as 6 – 8 hours.
4) When it is firm and tastes like you want it to, eat it all up! Or you could put it in the fridge and eat it in smaller portions. Ahem. We loved it by itself, but when we added a little bit of papaya jam–Shazam! It was really good! We have to make another batch now, but that’s the drill.
If you are at all interested, give it a try. It really is as easy as falling off a bike, except for the part where you boil the milk. You do have to stand there and stir so it doesn’t scorch, but after that, it does it all on its own. Now that I know how easy it is, we will just keep doing this using my own yogurt as the starter. And the best part is that I know exactly what’s in it, because I made it! (And so can you!)
Fermented foods like yogurt are so good for your body, and also taste yummy. Just be sure to use plain yogurt with active cultures. Greek yogurt should work well, too. (What do I know, I’ve only made it once!)
My sister, who met us at the Creamery–first time for both of us–brought us fruit. She had been gifted with some very ripe papaya and so we were blessed! I had very little experience with papaya, though, so when I got home, I looked up some recipes.
Apparently, papaya lends itself well to different genres, so while it works with other tropical fruits like banana and pineapple, it also works well in a stir fry, or marinated and grilled like a steak!
We decided to try a simple jam, and it was easy and delicious! We made a regular version, and also a pancreas-friendly version. Both were very good.
The jam is super simple: Crush 8 cups of papaya and add powdered pectin. Bring it to a boil, then add 3 cups of sugar OR 1 c. sugar plus 3/4 c. of honey (for the pancreas – friendlier version). I added a cup of pineapple juice and the zest of a lemon to the regular jam, but that part isn’t necessary. I just prefer a little tang in my jam; without it, it is very sweet.
Bring to a boil and let it go for about 5 minutes. It will be done when it begins to foam or looks like it is thickening. Skim foam with a metal spoon, and pour into sterilized jars. Close with canning lids and bands. Now you can either store directly in the fridge or can in a water bath for 15 minutes to make it shelf-stable.
But either way, consider trying a tablespoon in your homemade yogurt. (You are going to try it, right?) Amazing yumminess!
The papaya jam would also be very good as a glaze for ham or roasted chicken.
It is truly amazing to me how blessed we are by having taste buds! You know that feeling you get when you imagine eating a delicious meal–anticipating it? Then you taste it and it’s everything you imagined and just a little bit more? All of that is just a pure blessing from God, both the blessing of the food, and the ability to taste and enjoy it. God didn’t have to make us with taste buds. It’s a gift!
The first miracle of Jesus Christ was to make delicious wine for a wedding feast. And now we remember him by drinking the wine of communion. (Tony makes a beautiful communion wine from wild grapes.)
We are meant to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8) He “satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles.” (Psalm 103:5)
There are so many amazing ways to prepare and enjoy the food we have, and it is all part of the gift from God of our taste buds and our sense of smell. For they go together, don’t they? The gift of sight is a wonderful thing as well. The colors of the sunrise, for example! (But you knew I was going to say that!)
And after all that, remember how we prayed for inspiration for Beau’s comic? Well, in the middle of all of this food preparation, it came. We were putting some bread in a bag and joking around and suddenly, the ideas started to flow. We hashed out a good start, and now he is drawing as I write this. Another gift is on the way, and we will soon be sharing this one, too!
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17
The Fullers Four 