Lily's very own space

Almost every Friday, my sister and I head out to do a little shopping/garage sales, a bite of lunch and pickleball.

I've been looking for a crate for Lily because she seems to like lounging in Sophie's crate.  In my opinion, Sophie's bed/crate is hers and hers alone.  She shouldn't have to share it.

I came upon this and once I made a cushion, I picked her up and tucked her inside.  She really likes it a lot and I believe she likes having her very own space, too!

Best yogurt yet!

I eat yogurt nearly every day.  I was buying (and eating) Light & Fit (no sugar, but artificially sweetened) and my daughter kind of gave me heck because it's not really a "healthy" thing to eat.

I haven't made yogurt for a long time.  While visiting said daughter, she had made yogurt in her Instant Pot.  It was fabulous yogurt, but I don't have an InstantPot!  I hate to buy one JUST to make yogurt, and if we all know that I'm not cooking much for us.

Anyway, I've decided that come Christmas time (Black Friday) the InstantPot goes on sale for quite a discount.  I've thought about it and think I'll get one for myself.  I plan to purge my slow cookers (I have two), my yogurt maker, my electric soup pot along with a few other big cooking vessels.

One appliance to replace several sounds like a good thing for me.  I'm working on losing weight via Jenny Craig, and once my weight is off, I plan to cook from the Skinnytaste cookbooks.  The woman who writes the books embraces the InstantPot, so I think I'm going to invest.

ANYWAY, to tell you about my best yogurt yet...

When making yogurt, you are to heat the milk to 180F.  I've done a lot of reading and found a woman who "swears" that if you keep your milk at 180F for 30 minutes, your yogurt will be creamier.  Ok...I tried doing that with the last batch and it was good.

Yesterday I made yogurt again.  I usually purchase Fage plain Greek yogurt to use as my starter.  Instead of my "regular", I purchased Chobani plain Greek yogurt and used it as my starter.  I heated the milk to 180F and held it at that temperature for 30 minutes.  Ice bath to bring the milk to 115F and add 2 TBL of yogurt and mix well.  Poured into a glass bowl and put it to "cook" in my yogurt maker for nearly 11 hours.  Then I put it in the fridge till morning.

In the morning, I stirred the yogurt and tasted it.  Not bad.  I put it in a piece of muslin and hung it from the cupboard handle and let the whey drain into a bowl for several hours.  When I put it in my yogurt container to set in the fridge to be used, I tasted it.  OHMYGOSH!!!  This is FABULOUS!  It's smooth, it's not sharp in flavor and the consistency is just incredible.

My new friend AND a request

This  gargoyle has given me a lot of chuckles in the last two days!

He came to me via FedEx delivery on Thursday morning.  I was expecting a coffee delivery on Friday and thought to myself, "It can't be the coffee...not due to arrive until tomorrow".

I picked up the box and looked at the label...from Wayfair.com.  I opened the box and to my surprise, there he was, smiling up at me.  I first thought that one of my daughters must have sent him, so I texted both and nope...not from them.

One daughter suggested typing in the order number on the website, but since I don't have an account there, that wouldn't work.  So, I called the customer service phone number and found that they are not permitted to give out that information!!!  Seriously?!  LOL!  Dear husband says to me while I'm on the phone with CS...ask them if you can guess and they might tell you that way.  Yep, she could do that!

I asked if it was Bonnie and the customer service rep answered, "YES!  It was Bonnie,"!!  We both had a good laugh and I thanked her for her time.

I need a name for him!  Can you help?  Leave a comment with your idea of a name for my handsome garden protector.  It will be tons of fun and I'll post his name when I make my decision.