Blog #10 Food with Fermentation

Homemade Yoghurt by Crystal Miller

- 8 cups milk, cow or goat (I raise Nubian goats and use my own goat milk most often, but have made lots of yogurt with ordinary milk from the store)
- 1/3 cup powdered milk (this is optional but will make a thicker yogurt)
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, optional for sweetened yogurt
- 1/2 cup starter yogurt
Before you begin wash 2 quart-sized canning jars. If you want to use 4 pint-sized jars instead that would be fine too. Have the metal rings and lids ready to cover the jars when you are done.
Pour your milk into a large cooking pot. Heat the milk up to 185 degrees. Allow the milk to cool down to 110 degrees. The cooling can take a long time. If you want to speed the process up fill your sink with cold water and place the pot of hot milk in the water and stir and stir. The temperature drops fairly quickly this way, so make sure to have your thermometer handy to keep checking.
After you reach 110 degrees add the remaining ingredients and stir until everything is dissolved very well. Pour this mixture into your ready and waiting jars. Put the lids on and put them into what ever place you are planning to incubate and culture them. Leave them there for 10 to 12 hours. Try not to disturb the jars to much. When the yogurt is firm it is time to remove them and put them in the refrigerator to get nice and cold. Usually 12 to 24 hours. If you make and incubate the yogurt during the day it can refrigerate overnight and be ready for breakfast the next day.
If you would like flavored yogurt, just add fresh cut up fruit or a little bit of flavored jam when you are serving your yogurt.

http://www.allfreecrafts.com/giftinajar/homemade-yogurt.shtml

With yogurt, like cheese, the fermentation turns the milk into the thick form of curds we can flavor and eat. The fermentation process is important because fermenting milk thickens up into the gelatinous consistance that is yogurt after a certain period of time, (too much fermenting though will give you the hard cosistancy of cheese). Without the fermentation the milk would stay milk.

 

 

 

 

Blog #9 #9 #9 #9 #9 #9 #9....

How Far Should the Government Go?

     That question seems to be asked a lot, for more than one situation though. The situation I am talking about is how far should the government go when dealing with infectious diseases and the people infected.
I believe that major viruses, level four viruses such as ebola or marburgs, people should be isolated and confined to certain spaces. Those types of viruses cannot be killed by antibiotics, the only way to kill a virus like that is to eliminate any possiblity of it being spread to another person. And common logic says that it cannot spread if there is no one for it to go to. That is why isolation is a must.
Now the government chooses to use the military to carry out these types of isolation. I can see why the government uses military, they are trained in controlling hostile situation, and people surrounded by dying people will be hostile. But the problem with the military is when they control groups of people they give out limited information to the people they are controlling and the offten use excusive force. Now infected people are not enemies that must be controlled during war, they are still human beings that live in the country the military fights for. So they should be given as much information as possible and treated fairly. If the military can do those to things they should be used to control virus outbreaks.

Blog #8 IMing With A Disease!!

IM:
Me:Wuts dat pain n my head?
Disease:O dats jst me

Me:U? Who r u?

Disease:Old Meningitis

Me:Meningitis, wuts dat? N y r u hurtin my head so mch?

Disease:Im only a inflamation of da protective membranes round ur brain n spinal cord. im hrtin u cuz there iz to much pressure on ur brain

Me:How did u get n me?

Disease:Well there r many dif ways i can get n u. But i got n2 u by a contagious virus. Im suprised u rnt vomiting or hav a fever, usually dat virus causes dat too.

Me:Well im glad i dnt have either of those! How can i get rid of u n ur awful headache?

Disease:U can go 2 the dr. n get antibiotics, those shuld help. Im sorry im giving u a headache, its just n my nature.

Me:Its ok uv been helpfull, kinda. 

Translation:

Me:What is that pain in my head?
Disease:Oh, that's just me.
Me:You, who are you?
Disease:Old Meningitis.
Me:Meningitis, what is that? And why are you hurting my head so much?
Disease:I'm only an inflamation of the protective membrane around your brain and spinal cord. I am hurting you because there is too much pressure on your brain.
Me:How did you get in me?
Disease:Well there are many different ways I can get into you. But I got into you by way of a contagious virus. I'm suprised your not vomitting or have a fever, usually that virus causes that too.
Me:Well I'm glad I don't have either of those! How can I get rid of you and your awful headache?
Disease:You can go to the doctor and get antibiotics, those should help. I'm sorry I'm giving you a headache, its just in my nature.
Me:Its okay, you've been helpful, kind of.