Making Yogurt

My plans for today include learning how to make yogurt. It seems that the company which makes my favorite yogurt, the one I eat almost daily with my muesli, has 20 tons of melamine-contaminated milk powder imported from China in their warehouse. I’m not averse to another food I make at home if it will be safer that way.

A number of other Chinese-made products have already been pulled from store shelves pending tests by the Thai FDA. They are actually pretty good, and work closely with the US and EU FDAs. Thais are very concerned with food safety and contamination -not that you could tell by the average Thai kitchen- and prefer organic products whenever possible. 

Anybody got a good yogurt recipe? I’ll be heading into town to get milk and a different brand of plain yogurt for my starter.

Laundry Woes

My washing machine is broken. The repairman came yesterday to fix it and, after doing all the things I had already done, plus opening it up and checking the electronics, said the switch was faulty. He had to take it back to the shop for repair by the more experienced and trained repair guy. They were supposed to call me today, but didn’t. It is Sunday, and since the more experienced guy had Saturday off, I expect he has Sunday off as well.  I expect a call tomorrow, not that any actual communication will take place during that call.

So I’m back to doing laundry by hand, just like my first trip here, and my first two months here once I arrived permanently. I really dislike doing laundry by hand. It’s not the washing part, that’s easy. It’s the repeated rinsing and the wringing. At least my dryer works, so I won’t get mildew smell in everything from it souring before it dries.

I Sew a Jumper

I finished a new jumper today. It took me three days. The first day I cut it out and sewed it; that took several hours. the next day I did the hand-finishing where the bodice lining attaches to the skirt. I could have simply attached the skirt to the bodice and lining at one time, but I wanted the smooth inside that finishing the bodice lining by hand provides. Today I did the hem. So it took one day, plus an hour or less on two other days.

It’s made of 100% cotton quilting fabric, in a soft pink with white and darker pink in a tiny design. I have a matching hair clip and at least two t-shirts I can wear with it. So my wardrobe expands a little. All the clothes I brought with me are wearing out, being at least 5 years old. I guess I can’t complain.