Back in June 2020, which is like ten years in Covid Time, I wrote Top Comments: Time For Another DIDS (Damn I Did Something) Edition, carrying on another old DailyKos tradition, the Damn I Did Something series. As I shared in that diary:
There’s only a few DIDS ground rules, as I understand it:
1. Large, small, or undefinable, if you did it, it’s a DIDS!
2. That’s all the ground rules.
As we approach April 2021, it felt like a good Monday evening to bring another DIDS diary for us to share our DIDSes! I’ll start with mine after the Story Break, and I hope you’ll share yours in the comments!
Here at Top Comments we welcome longtime as well as brand new Daily Kos readers to join us at 10pm Eastern. We strive to nourish community by rounding up some of the site's best, funniest, most mojo'd & most informative commentary, and we depend on your help!! If you see a comment by another Kossack that deserves wider recognition, please send it either to topcomments at gmail or to the Top Comments group mailbox by 9:30pm Eastern. Please please please include a few words about why you sent it in as well as your user name (even if you think we know it already :-)), so we can credit you with the find!
During this long, strange past 13 months and counting, people have developed new hobbies or skills, and for many it’s been baking. I have watched my social media feeds fill with gorgeous, mouthwatering pictures of Baguettes, Boules, Bagels, Creampuffs, Cake and Croissants.
I’m a Type 2 Diabetic who follows an extremely lowcarb Keto way of eating in order to (for the moment) control it without major meds. Wheat Bread is Not On My Menu. I do a lot of keto baking, thanks to the inspirations of my favorite keto food magician, Carolyn Ketchum. But that’s not what I DIDSed this weekend.
My final product, portioned in easy 1 cup servings.
Nope. I finally did something I’ve been dying to try for a year… I made InstantPot yogurt!!! I’ve wanted to do this for several reasons: I love plain yogurt because I can vary the taste so easily; I want the lowest-carb yogurt possible and by controlling the preparation I can do that; it’s SCIENCE I can eat!
There are a zillion recipes on the interwebs for how to make yogurt, about half of which are for InstantPots and that’s before you get into non-dairy options (which I am not, at least not tonight). I used this one as a starting point then winged it a little.
You have two methods to choose from. First, use any milk you choose and heat it to 180F to make sure you end up with yogurt and not some… erm… other option because something else grew instead. Then cool it to 115F and proceed. Or, you can use UHT milk, and skip the heating part.
I used a 52oz bottle of Fairlife ultrafiltered whole milk because it contains half the carbs of regular milk, and added 8oz heavy cream to make my end product creamier and higher in fat. I used the Instant Pot Yogurt setting to heat the milk, then cooled it to 115F as measured with a clean meat thermometer. I swirled it around while it was cooling to avoid hot and cold spots. When it was cooled, I mixed 1cup of my milk-cream mixture with 2Tbs of store-bought, active culture plain yogurt then dumped that back into the Instant Pot. I set the timer for 12 hours (minimum is 8, but I wanted it thick, tart, and with as much of the milk sugar as possible consumed by the yogurt cultures!
I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out! It was thick, creamy, and tart. I didn’t have to strain it at all. Mr. Brillig who likes yogurt but does NOT like the ubiquitous Greek-style yogurt loved it too. I ended up with almost 8 cups of delicious yogurt (which will keep for about two weeks, I’m told) for approximately $6. It would be even cheaper with regular milk and no heavy cream.
That’s my DIDS for tonight, and I’m eager to hear what yours are! After we check out tonight’s trio of Top Comments, Mojo and Pictures, of course!
TOP COMMENTS
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down. Please remember that comment inclusion in Top Comments does not constitute support or endorsement by diarist, formatter, Top Comments writers or DailyKos. Questions, complaints or comments? Contact brillig.
Edit: a submission I missed because I went to eat a cup of yogurt!!
From Zen Trainer:
TOP MOJO
EDIT: I don't know how but this is actually for March 27th. Oops!! I’ll get the proper mojo in tomorrow’s diary!
Top Mojo for yesterday, March 28th 2021, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
TOP PICTURES
Top Pictures for yesterday, March 28th 2021. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment or picture. Thank you jotter!
