Happy New Year everyone! Adam and I are back in Nashville now, after spending the holidays with family out in Oregon. We had a lovely time together, and the fun included a visit to the Mill Ends park in Portland, which is one of the world's smallest!
Every year I make an effort to try a couple of things that I have never done before. If anyone remembers, last year that meant making a sweet potato pie and doing tye-dye. This year, I decided to make yogurt. I have a few friends here in Nashville who are from India, and they all like to make their own yogurt, which is where I originally got the idea to try this project. After getting the down-low on the how-to from these friends, and looking up more details online, I was ready to go. Eugene is the perfect place to attempt this feat, because it seems that making yogurt is popular among hippies as well as Indians!
I should mention that I realize that making yogurt isn't exactly the same as sprouting a plant, but it is similar in the sense that it is growing something. And come on, it's winter, so I hope you will give me a break. :) The first step to making yogurt is to get some (not skim) milk, and bring it to around 185 degrees. We did this carefully in a saucepan. Next, you let it cool down to around 110, and then add a bit of yogurt. We had Nancy's for our starter, which is a really good Oregon-based brand. Then comes the tricky part. You need to keep it warm overnight. I had heard from my friends in Nashville that you can just wrap a scarf around it and let it sit for a few days. This produces a thinner (Indian style?) product. Most American websites suggest keeping it pretty darn warm so that it will be done after just one night. We got out the heating pad, covered the jar with a tea cozy, and put on a scarf and a hat to finish!
The issue is that the heating pad has a safety feature which makes it automatically shut off after an hour. I was so proud and appreciative that everyone teamed in to keep the yogurt warm: we each got up once in the night to check on it, and turn the heating pad back on. I had been warned that the first time you attempt to make yogurt, it will likely not turn out at all. So in the morning, despite all our hard work, my expectations were low. Imagine my surprise and delight when I tipped the jar and found a solid product inside!
It was sooooo delicious and healthy: nothing beats homemade.
How amazing is that? If I can get this to sprout and grow successfully, my brother better have himself some kids for me to pass it down to, because this tree with outlive us all. So we opened up the kit, and inside were some seeds, and a pot with a funny "magic pellet" inside. Supposedly, all you do is add water, and the magic pellet turns into peat. As it normally goes, things did not work out so easily. 
But eventually, after experimenting with different temperatures of water and containers for the peat pot, we got it going. Then we simply planted the seeds, and now we wait. According to the box, since it is winter, it should take about 8 weeks to obtain a sprout. Once that happens, we should get a larger pot, fill it with soil, and plant the peat pot in there directly. Adam made me promise that he can bonsai this little pine tree. It should turn out to be one cute sprout baby/baby tree!!!
