ICE CREAM
2.5 C sugar
1/4 C flour
1/2 t salt
5 C milk
2 eggs, beaten
Mix in saucepan and bring to full boil. Take off heat and chill fully. Mix in 3 T vanilla and 4 C cream and run through your ice cream maker. Makes half gallon.
YOGURT
In the morning, combine in a large saucepan on medium-low heat:
1/2 gallon milk
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup powdered milk (optional, makes it thicker)
1 envelope unflavored gelatin (optional, makes it firmer)
Bring it up to 140-150 F, stirring every 5 minutes. If you have time, keep it at 140-150 for an hour, stirring every 5 minutes. It will evaporate the milk and make a thicker, richer yogurt. Turn heat off and let cool to 110 F, stirring every 5 minutes. Mix in single-serving of your favorite plain or vanilla yogurt. Add a little vanilla if you want.
Pour into two 4-cup yogurt containers. Half-fill a wide crock-pot with warm water. Place containers into water and put a thermometer in water. Turn crock-pot onto “low” until temperature is 110 F, then turn off. In 2-3 hours, turn “low” on again until it’s back up to 110. In 6-8 hours, take yogurt out, put lids on and refrigerate overnight. Next morning, take out 1/2 to 1 cup and keep in freezer to use as your next start. The rest is ready to eat!
COTTAGE CHEESE
Cottage cheese takes an hour-and-a-half of stirring, so I begin about five or six hours before I'll have that time. Pour two gallons of milk (we use skimmed milk but whole milk would be fine) into a kettle. Heat to 72F. As it's warming, add four cubes of fresh starter so it's all 72F when you're done (you can substitute a cup of cultured buttermilk for the starter). Dissolve 1/8t rennet in a quarter cup of cool water and mix into the warmed milk. Be sure to stir with up and down motion. Cover and come back in 4-8 hours.
Cut the curd into 1/2" cubes by cutting in both directions straight down and then at an angle. Leave it alone for 10 minutes. Turn the heat on and gently warm it to 80F, increasing two degrees every five minutes. Stir very gently to keep the curds from matting, which they do easily. If you discover any big curds, cut them up. Set one timer for the total time you'll need and another one to run every five minutes so you can ensure it's heating up at a steady rate. After you reach 80F, heat it a little faster, three degrees every five minutes, to 90F in 16 minutes. Then heat it a little faster to 110 in 20 minutes, five degrees every five minutes. Hold it at 110F for 20 more minutes. You can stir only every two or three minutes during this holding time, whereas before it needed constant stirring. Take it off the heat and leave it alone for 5 minutes. Pour the whole thing into a colander lined with cheese-cloth. Tie up the corners to make a bag and rinse the curds well in cold running water. Hang to dry a while. Pour the curds into a bowl and mix in 1-1/2t salt (or to taste). Put it in a tuperware and it's done. I think it tastes better after it's thoroughly chilled.
CHOCOLATE SAUCE
1 C cream
1 C milk
1 C baking cocoa — fair trade is better :-)
1 C sugar
dash of salt
Mix in saucepan and bring to boil. If it seems a little too thick to you, add more milk and cream. Let cool and add 1 T vanilla. Store in frig. Use this sauce in milk for chocolate milk, in hot milk for hot chocolate, or on ice cream.
TAPIOCA
1/2 gallon of milk
4 eggs, beaten
1 C sugar
3/4 C tapioca
1/2 t salt
Mix in saucepan and bring to full boil. Cool, add 1 T vanilla. Chill well.
