Brinner Party

Last weekend we hosted a Brinner Party with some friends. It is part of our monthly commitment as friends to gather for a meal without our children. Originally billed as the Second Saturday Supper Club we've hit each month on some Saturday together with at least some members of our friends.

Syrup lineup

Maggie and I thought that having a theme party would be unique. Who doesn't love breakfast for dinner?

Rather than go the typical eggs, bacon, toast route that we so often have, we opted for some unique but easy to prepare foods.

Appetizers
Cereal Treat Kabobs with Fruit Loops and Cocoa Puffs
Homemade Granola and Yogurt
Mimosas

Main Course
Ham and Egg Pies
Bacon
Homemade Sausage (ohhh, this is a secret recipe)
Waffle bar

Dessert
Cinnamon Roll Cake

Like all these parties it is an informal gathering and since we're long time friends people mill about, chat, and enjoy themselves regardless of spaces, people, or festivities. We've got a pretty small house but we make room for everyone.

Card table in the living room

Dining room crowd

Typically, with the Second Saturday Supper Club we would pick a restaurant for July to gather in but given that other folks are in the same boat as us with house size and Summer is a terrific time to gather, next month is going to another couple to host a party. We'll pick up in the Fall after Nathan comes into the World with a good dinner spot somewhere in town. It also gives us more time to think about where to go. Any ideas?

Olivia felt a little left out that we had a party at the house without her but we were able to save a few leftovers for her. She also got to spend the night at Papa and Grandma's house which always means eating junk, staying up late, and doing all the things Mom and Dad don't allow. The next day Olivia got to enjoy a special glass for her orange juice which also helped cure the don't have a party without me blues.

Fancy OJ

Yogurt WIN!

Olivia and I got the time on Sunday to try yogurt making again. After the last attempt we were hesitant about getting going but that wasn't going to stop us. We've also been quite busy with various activities so the time for yogurt making needed to fit into a busy schedule.

Maggie and I reflected on the last attempt and decided that the failure might have been two-fold. One, the temperature might have been too high. Two, that the culture we used was either too old, didn't have enough live and active cultures, or both. In any case, we went back to the original recipe and proceeded by making a few changes.

1. We changed from Fage to Chobani for the starter. We couldn't find the very popular Stonyfield Farms of Dannon with dates as far out as Chobani. Fage, while we love this yogurt, has mixed reviews.
2. We measured the temperature lower in the milk to make sure we got a more accurate temperature than measuring at the top of the milk where the thermometer reaches when clipped to the side of the pan.

 Olivia, we think based on the failed attempt last time and the lengthy time commitment, was in and out of the process but was there for the important learnings. She also kept tabs on my progress by asking questions. Do you remember the process? Olivia did remember most of the steps without prompting.

Step 1: Heat the milk to 185 - 195 Degrees

Step 2: Cool the milk to 110 Degrees

Step 3: Create the slurry starter
(1C Warmed & Cooled Milk + enough yogurt starter to reach 2C)

Step 4a: Pour the slurry into the milk

Step 4b: Mix the slurry in very well

Step 5: Fill the jars/containers with the mixture

Step 6: Incubate at 110 Degrees

We waited the prescribed 3 hours from Dr. Fankhauser's recipe and directions. I know in the last post I wrote that the 3 hours seemed contrary to the other recipes calling for ten to twelve hours of incubation. So, Olivia and I agreed that we'd check at three hours and I would see it out from there. At our checkpoint we were thrilled to see that the yogurt mixture had gelled as Dr. Fankhauser suggested. We let it sit for another seven hours in the incubation and checked it periodically to see if the yogurt thickened more. It did thicken and I would recommend letting the mixture sit at least ten hours in incubation. 

Thrilled that our yogurt has thickened.

After that, I transferred the yogurt to the refrigerator eagerly awaiting the morning so we could give it a try. I can't say we dreamed yogurt dreams but I was very excited to have breakfast.

Olivia, Maggie (an admitted Yogurt-hater), and I got to try it out for breakfast. The reviews were in. Yogurt WIN! Here's what everyone had to say.

Olivia - "It's very yummy and now we can add some flavors"

Maggie - "I'm very proud of you both for making a good batch of yogurt" (haters gonna hate...haha)

Mike - "This is delicious. Goodbye store-bought yogurt"

In terms of learning we covered a few important areas that we will continue to use and build upon throughout the cheese making curriculum.

• Math
• Reading measurements and increments
• Reading temperatures
• Telling time
• Science
• Reading volumes and displacement
• Reading and recognizing temperatures
• Measuring time
• Concepts of mixing, inoculating, and incubating
• Recall and comprehension
• Procedures and processes

I'm sure there is a lot more that we included but at this early stage of learning we are more concerned with experiencing the process, building tacit knowledge of the process, and enjoying the act of learning together as a family.