The Best Raspberry Jam Ever

I have been making jams for 20 years, but until today I had never heard of not using pectin to make it jell.  Well, I found a recipe on Epicurious that has made me a believer (at least for raspberry jam).  It jelled just great and has the most intense raspberry flavor I have ever encountered outside of a pie.  I varied the recipe only slightly, using 5 cups of raspberries and 3 cups of sugar.  I used the water bath method of processing and processed for 12 minutes due to the altitude.  Here is the link to the recipe.

Old Fashioned Raspberry Jam

Making Yogurt

My whole family loves yogurt and once I found out how easy it is to make I quit buying it (unless I have to for new starter).  You don't have to have any special equipment and there are instructions on the web for making it with things you probably have in your house already, but I went ahead and purchased a 2 liter capacity yogurt maker by Yogourmet. Here is a link to Amazon where you can purchase one for a reasonable price.   
Yogourmet Electric Yogurt Maker

What you need:
1/2 gallon milk (I use 2%)
1/2 Cup nonfat dry milk (only because I don't use whole milk)
1/4 Cup starter yogurt (use a good one until you have your own, like Brown Cow)

In a heavy saucepan stir the dry milk into the other milk and heat to 180 degrees F. Maintain this heat for a couple of minutes.  You will need to use a thermometer that clips on the side of the pan.  The Yogourmet comes with one.  I keep stirring so it doesn't burn to the bottom.  Living at high altitude, this takes a long time to bring it to this heat.  
Cool the milk to 110 degrees F.  I put about 1" of water and ice cubes in my sink and put the pan in it to cool it more quickly.  Take about 1/4 C. of the cooled milk and stir it into the starter.  Any hotter than 110 deg. and it will kill the yogurt cultures.  Pour this mixture into the inner container of the yogurt maker and then pour the rest of the milk into it.  Put the cover on securely.  Put lukewarm water into the outer container of the yogurt maker up to the indicator line.  Insert the inner container into the outer one and plug it in.  I "process" it for about 7 hours.  Put the yogurt into container - I use quart canning jars and refrigerate.  

That's all there is to it.

My First Blog Entry

Well, here goes nothin'.  I've never considered making a blog.  I didn't even consider making this one.  All I wanted to do was create an account so I could view my friend's cooking blog.  It's called Breakfast at Tiffany's.  The next thing I know I am selecting a layout and thinking about what I could do with this. 

So, maybe I'll write a little about home schooling, a little about cooking ( I do love to collect recipes), a little about traveling, and a little about my kids.  They would undoubtedly have ended up as unwilling subjects anyway, so I'll just admit that I'll be writing about them from the beginning.  Not that that will make them any happier.