Listening

Baby sleeping.
Husband reading.
Toddler questioning.
Child crying.
Parents instructing.
Infant fussing.
Piano unceasing.
Dinner cooking.
Dishes washing.
Grandpa snoring.
Grandma admiring.
Cousins squealing.
Uncles tickling.
Aunts laughing.
Sisters whispering.
Brothers teasing.
Nephews wrestling.
Nieces pointing.

Welcome home.

Can it get any better?

Long ago and far away, there lived a tiny ice cream parlor 2 blocks from my childhood home. Every millenia or two, Dad would take us to get a special treat. My favorite was the seemingly giant soft serve dipped cone. Yum. Yesterday, we discovered homemade hard shell chocolate: 3 part chocolate, one part coconut oil. Melt. Serve. Awesome.

Going bananas

I love them. Bananas that is. Not enough to marry them though. Just enough to feed them to myself and the Princess all the time. Thankfully her digestive system has accepted the offering fairly well.

Favorite new ways to eat them, an even old ways to eat them:

• Banana/watermelon crush - Frozen or unfrozen. Yum.
• Banana 'pancakes' - little rounds sauteed in coconut oil. It helps if it's not a mush banana, but it's super yummy even as a mushy mess
• Frozen Banana yogurt - freeze bananas, blend with plain yogurt. Acts like soft serve ice cream, tastes like heaven, or how I would imagine heaven could taste.

Next stop: Cook up a few 'pancakes.' drop them in the freezer, and then blend with yogurt. Homemade yogurt. I'm excited.

Any favorite recipes you want to share, for bananas, or for baby?

Put the yo in gurt

The modern dairy aisle assaults each passer-by with such a grand number of products, one may find it hard to believe each starts from a bucket of milk...excepting the non-dairy alternatives, of course. From the sheer magnitude of items, one also might wonder what is actually in each little package. I have. I made the switch to plain yogurt, for example, after enjoying it in the Netherlands on my mission. Since the Little Princess was born, I've had to avoid dairy, but she seems past the tummy upset at everything phase, which means I'm loading up on dairy. So guess what I tried? Homemade yogurt. Are you impressed? The recipe is ridiculously easy, though patience is key.

Are you ready?

Place milk, preferably whole, preferably as unadulterated as possible, ie not ultra-pasteurized, in crockpot. Heat to 180 F. This takes about 2-3 hours on low. Allow to cool for another 2-3 hours to 115 F. Stir in plain yogurt with live cultures, or yogurt starter, 1 cup for every gallon of milk. (Some places recommend tempering the yogurt a bit by mixing in some of the hot milk before stirring it all in.) Wrap the whole caboodle in a blanket or towel and pop it in the oven overnight or for 8-12 hours. If your home is cold, you can warm the oven a bit, or leave the light on (Welcome to Motel 6) in order to keep it warm. The goal is to cool the mixture slowly. The next morning you have breakfast. Just add fruit. Or jam. Or piles of sugar if you can't take the goodness.

Just as a warning, don't expect Greek gogurt here. It's not thick nor is it smooth, but it is really good!